Mighty Agrippa, Roman God of the Aqueduct

Mighty Agrippa, Roman God of the Aqueduct
Publication information
Publisher	New England Comics Press
First appearance	The Tick #11, August 1992
Created by	Ben Edlund
In-story information
Alter ego	Marcus Agrippa
Notable aliases	Dexter Fisk
Abilities	Super strength, flight, water relocation

The Mighty Agrippa, Roman God of the Aqueduct is a fictional character from The Tick comics and cartoon series. In the comics he generally operates out of New York City, but in the cartoon series he was generally seen in the general area of The City, possibly in the twin-city Deertown–Hoobleville area. In both media versions, he enjoys hanging out in The Comet Club, a nightclub catering to the Superhero community. He is something of a parody of the Marvel Comics character Thor.

Fictional History

Agrippa is very likely the most powerful superhero in The Tick universe, in that he is actually a god, albeit a low-ranking and latecoming one. Agrippa was the last god to join the Roman Pantheon in the second century, AD, having been voted in as a junior member by the other, more famous gods and goddesses. He was told to show up at Olympus on the following Monday, but when he arrived he found the gates chained shut, with a hastily-scribbled note from the other gods taped to it, saying they'd gone off to "see about starting up something on Venus". The Roman Pantheon has not been heard from since, but Agrippa has hopes that eventually they'll come back for him.

Agrippa's alter-ego is Dexter Fisk, mild-mannered journeyman plumber and "Reformed Protestant". When danger arises, he merely taps his grout trowel on the ground to instantly transform into Agrippa. Agrippa's archnemesis is Thrakkorzog. Lately, Agrippa has become an agent of the Tri-State Superhero Congress in recovering fugitive superheroes, mainly Barry Hubris.

In the cartoon series, he is voiced by Jess Harnell.

Powers and abilities

Agrippa's powers include the obligatory super strength, flight, and invulnerability, but in addition to these traditional powers, he also has complete control over water, and the moving of water from one place to another, as one would expect of the patron deity of the Roman aqueduct system. He can, for instance create columns of water, create or prevent rain, or instantly teleport billions of gallons of water anywhere he thinks it might be more useful.

The Mighty Agrippa Sea, just to the west of The City was created accidentally as the result of one such teleportation, when he was putting out a forest fire by bringing in water from afar. This worked, but alas the forest was located in a large lowland area, and as a result never drained out. It has become a tourist attraction and vacation spot, and several large cruise lines run ships on it, including The Empress of Utah. One small mountain in the area has become an independent island nation.

Bibliography

• The Tick 11, August 1992
• Paul the Samurai 10, May 1994
• The Tick: Karma Tornado 6, October 1994
• The Tick: Big Summer Fun Special 1, August 1998
• The Tick: Big Yule Log Special 1999, December 1998
• The Tick Pseudo Edition 13, November 2000
• Tick & Arthur 1-3, February 1999-June 1999
• The Tick's Big Xmas Trilogy 1-3, December 2002
• The Tick: Days of Drama 1-2, July 2005-September 2005

Source

The Tick Circus Maxiumus #1 (of 4), March 2000