|
Biography: (Courtesy of TV
Tome.com)
In 1988, Ben Edlund launched the comic book that would make
his name known to many comic
and cartoon fans across the nation. It was the tale of a 300
lb., 7ft tall big blue arachnid named
The Tick. It was a character that Ben created a few years
before in high school. The original
series, drawn and written by Ben and published by New England
Comics, only lasted
12 issues, but becamequite popular in the underground comic
world. The creation of a
13th issue is something Ben still hasn't decided against,
but he has become a busy man since.
In 1994, Ben worked with Fox Kids Network to bring The Tick
(and Arthur) to the small screen
in an animated series. The show was a pretty faithful interpretation
of the quirky heroic characters
introduced in the comic book. It became an underground hit
with a cult following. The show lasted
for 3 seasons but eventually succumbed to being marketed as
a kids show. The humor was often
targeted to an older audience and trying to cater the show
to children just stifled its creativity.
Fox wanted something to sell happy meals and figures. The
Tick did just that, for a time,
but shows would come along that Fox saw as better suited to
a child audience.
Comedy Central picked up syndicationrights to the show and
aired it for a while.
There it picked up some more fans and its popularity continued
to grow.
In 2000, Ben began working on the Tick's 3rd incarnation ,
a live action television show.
With the support of Barry Sonnenfeld (Director of Addam's
Family, Men in Black), and the
talent of Patrick Warburton (best known as Putty from Seinfeld)
as the embodiment of big
blue justice, the show had much promise. After a delay of
almost a year after the acceptance
of the pilot, The Tick finally aired. However, a difficult
timeslot, (against NBC's Must See TV
and CBS's Survivor), preemption by Baseball, as well as little
promotion by the Fox Network,
and other reasons I won't get into here (though I could !)
would have the show end after only
8 episodes. It was the second time Fox had mismanaged one
of Ben's creations.
In fall of 2002, Ben was working as a producer and writer
on the Joss Whedon created show
Firefly. He and Joss had worked together before on the screenplay
for Titan A.E. Firefly
was an innovative, character-driven space western. Unfortunately,
Firefly was cancelled after
only an 11 episode run, including the pilot. The only episode
penned by Ben that aired was
Jaynestown. And yes, Firefly was also on the Fox Network,
but we've blamed them
enough today. Currently Ben is writing and producing for Angel.
TICK / BEN EDLUND SITES:
|
The
Blessed Elysium Motion Picture Company
