New England Comics (NEC)
Newsletter #14:
First appearance of the Tick

New England Comics, July-August 1986.

This newsletter features the first published Tick comic strip by Ben Edlund.

The page with the short story contained the following intro: "Save your NEC NEWSLETTER #14: Why? Because it features the first appearance ever of the Tick!! Who's the Tick? He's the creation of a skilled young artist named Ben Edlund. Other than that, we don't know much as the Tick is a pretty mysterious character. We'll all be learning more about him as his adventures continue in the NEWSLETTER. And it's not totally beyond the realm of possibility that the Tick may appear in his own comic book one day. Stay tuned:".

The story begins with the Tick incarcerated in Minnesota Community Clinic, in the care of Dr B. Honeydip and his assistant Peaker, after a previous altercation with some students in the Rocky Mountains:

The story continues in Newsletter #15 and is also reprinted in reprints of The Tick #1 (New England Comics 1988 series).

Original copies of Newsletter #14 were sent out to customers by NEC in 1986, these did not include any certificates, however, some copies from stock were sent out much later and were signed and included a certificate of authenticity such as the one below:

Despite these being printed on newsprint paper (hence could be faked more easily than other comics), CGC had recorded 4 gradings of #14 in early July 2017 and acknowledge the "1st appearance of The Tick" on the label. CGC also had 1 grading of #15 ("2nd appearance of The Tick") recorded, again in early July 2017.

These newsletters are quite hard to come by today, maybe many who received them from NEC did not heed the statement in the intro to the comic strip and save the newsletter as suggested.