A late-90s series running concurrently with The Tick and Arthur (which I'll get to if I can ever find the final issue), Heroes of the City was an anthology, with several shorter stories in each of its 6 issues. Some focused on the main characters, but also stories exploring the other heroes of The City.
The book actually starts with Arthur blowing up at the Tick for taking him for granted and treating him like a servant. In the tradition of Boxing Day, this leads to Tick trying his hand at sidekicking, though not for Arthur. Instead, he works for several other heroes, such as Super Pilgrim, who makes the Tick rent dirty videos, which Super Pilgrim is confiscating for morality reasons. Yep, just to protect the citizenry from such filth. No other reason!
A couple of those issues show Arthur attempting the life of a solo hero while the Tick explores sidekicking. Rescuing a kitten from a tree doesn't go well, but he saved a man from choking and stopped a convenience store robbery with a gallon of milk. Successes to build on! To be fair, Tick's attempt at cat rescuing in issue 5 doesn't go much better.
Most stories are silly as you'd expect from the Tick's universe. Issue 6 is devoted to Tick and Arthur getting jobs, because Tick thinks civilian identities will protect them if the UPS man turns evil. Paul the Samurai and his assistant Ashley (formerly ninja lady Oedipus) tangle with a heartbroken Paul Bunyan. There's a 3-parter where Arthur's girlfriend(?!) imagines herself as a cheerleader-themed superhero, whose pom-pons have more tricks than Batman's utility belt. That one got at least one complaint letter about how Myndi was depicted with basically beach balls for boobs. Not sure if that person was assuaged when it turned out to be a power fantasy by Myndi herself.
Then there's issue 4, where, besides Part 1 of the Paul the Samurai story, you have one story about "Red Eye", a Tales from the Crypt-style thing about a mysterious hitchhiker who leads you to doom. Especially if you won't let him order off the dinner menu after 10. And then a story about the Crazy Blue Rocket that reveals he used to be a James Bond figure in a nice suit, with a teen ward. Now he's a deranged man eating flavored paste, replaying memories of his past life as he crash lands throughout the City.
Those are the only two stories in the six issues that take a scary or sad approach, so it makes for an abrupt tonal shift.
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