Random Back Issues #156 - Tick New Series #4

You'll care about the oceans when your unrealistic depiction of '50s Americana is swallowed by the rising sea levels. 

As The City experiences record rainfall, it's Board Game Night in Arthur's apartment. This confuses the Tick, because Board Game Night is Friday, and tonight is Thursday, which is Patrol Night. Or is it?

Yes, it is Thursday, though I find it hard to believe every night isn't Patrol Night for the Tick. Bumbling Bee and Rubber Ducky arrive, but find the game selections a bit, eclectic. Instead of "Monotony", they have Confectioner Tycoon, a game the Tick created by combining Monotony with Candyland - you know what, just behold this panel of him explaining it.

Rubber Ducky would rather play a game that was nothing but stabbing him with knives and setting him on fire. I'm unclear if the stabbing is supposed to set him on fire, or that's an unrelated action. Gotta define the rules clearly to avoid loopholes!

Outside, the rising sea level has kicked off a war between a bunch of parody water-themed characters, all documented by Fishboy, to later be turned into a blog post. Look, this came out in 2010, blogs weren't entirely dead yet, especially under the sea. Whatever, point is, you want to see Sgt. Fury mashed up with Ariel, fighting jellyfish in domino masks, or a 1-page Hulk vs. Thing fight, repackaged as "Jumbo Shrimp vs. Oysters Sockafella", this is your comic.

Enough of that! Back in Arthur's apartment, Tick's attempt to sneak off by saying he needs the bathroom is thwarted by the fact he broke their toilet last issue. Salvation comes in the form of Bumbling Bee getting way too intense about World of Risque, allowing Tick to simply walk out the door and observe the big sea battle.

Which is about to get bigger with the arrival of Ichthuhuu, Plunderer of Flesh! An enormous creature with a crayfish(maybe?) head and horses for arms. Not seahorse, actual horses, that have complete sets of fingers for teeth. If I were much younger, that concept would probably traumatize me, especially when the Tick is swallowed.

No big, though, he immediately gets puked out because Ichthuhuu just wanted to talk. The creature finds all this fighting really lame, because no one cares about the oceans. He thinks all these characters should be working to make people care about oceans, or they'd never be able to stop him when he inevitably decides to destroy their homes and eat their children. Properly chastened, they return to the depths, Ichthuhuu stops the rain, answering the question prophesied by CCR, and the Tick can't convince Arthur any of this actually happened. 

{11th longbox, 192nd comic. Tick New Series #4, by Benito Cereno (writer), Les McClane (artist)}