Ben Edlund
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| Ben Edlund | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 Pembroke, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Writer, Artist |
Ben Edlund (born 1968 in Pembroke, Massachusetts) is a comic book artist and writer and television screenwriter. He is best known as the creator of the satirical superhero character The Tick.
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[edit] Early life and career
Edlund was born and raised in Pembroke. He attended Silver Lake Regional High School and was voted by classmates as "Most Artistic" for both the 8th grade and 12th grade yearbook superlatives. At the age of 17, without a driver's license, Edlund was forced to ride with friends and frequent their favorite hangouts. One particular destination, the New England Comics store, spawned Edlund's interest in the comic book medium. While still in high school, he began developing his satirical superhero, The Tick, who became the mascot of the New England Comics newsletter. Edlund was offered to create a comic book series based on the character by New England Comics when, due to a production mix-up, the publisher needed a new title fast. Edlund graduated from high school in 1986 and continued to draw his popular character while majoring in film at Massachusetts College of Art. The debut issue of The Tick took a year and a half for Edlund to develop.
While still in college, Edlund was approached by Kiscom, a New Jersey-based toy licensing and design company, who wanted to develop merchandising off The Tick much like the successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a year prior. However, no big television network was willing to take the concept of a Tick animated series. Finally, Sunbow Entertainment, a small New York-based animation company, paired Edlund up with writer Richard Libmann-Smith. After having their premiere episode turned down by FOX, the duo worked tirelessly and got approval with a refined version.
In 1994, The Tick debuted his own animated series on FOX and lasted three seasons. The program naturally led to various toy and merchandising deals, and although this did not reach the phenomenon of the Ninja Turtles franchise, Edlund expressed content in his character as a "much more sincere proposal."[1] Edlund's popular character once again appeared on the FOX network in late 2001 with a short-lived live-action series.
In the late 1990s, Edlund collaborated with indie filmmaker Lisa Hammer and her husband, Eric Hammer, on the film Crawley. In the early 2000s, he was employed by Joss Whedon at Mutant Enemy, first on Firefly and then later on the final seasons of Angel, writing and directing the Hugo Award nominated episode, "Smile Time."
Edlund served as co-executive producer on Point Pleasant in 2005. He is now a consulting producer and writer on the TV series Supernatural. So far, he has written the episodes "Simon Said" (2x05), "Nightshifter" (2x12), "Hollywood Babylon" (2x18), "Bad Day At Black Rock" (3x03), "Malleus Maleficarum" (3x09), "Ghostfacers" (3x13), "Monster Movie" (4x05), "Wishful Thinking" (4x08), "On the Head of a Pin" (4x16) and "The End" (5x04).
He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and child. Ben's father, artist Richard Edlund initially created the bee that was placed on the Pembroke Library's cupola in 1975.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Reber, Deborah Tick Fever Endures: Ben Edlund Talks About the Evolution of Everyone's Favorite Blue Superhero Animation World Magazine, Issue 2.4 (July 1997). Retrieved on 5-16-09.
[edit] External links
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