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fandomhigh_ooc2006-12-24 07:05 am
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Spotlight on Fandoms: The Venture Bros.
Warning: This is not for the faint of heart. A nightmare inexplicably torn from the pages of Kafka...
What is The Venture Bros?
The Venture Bros. is a series that airs on Cartoon Network, as part of the Adult Swim programming block. It was created by Jackson Publick, one of the writers on a little Saturday morning cartoon show called The Tick, which some of you may have heard of.
The show premise is a satirical take on the cartoon classic Jonny Quest (and to a certain extent the classic book series The Hardy Boys), but knowlege of these materials is entirely not needed to enjoy the pure crack that is The Venture Bros., despite canonically being in the Jonny Quest universe.
How much crack? A lot of crack. A whole lot of funny, funny crack.
The Cast of The Venture Bros.
We'll start with our title characters, Dean and Hank Venture. They are not, in fact, truly the 'main' characters of the show, despite first billing in the Season One opening credits.
Dean Venture - The younger of the brothers, by four minutes. He is tall, thin, lanky, and, well, rather shy and effeminate. He dresses in a manner like Buddy Holly, but unintentionally. He has an affinity for Princess of Camelot dolls, Oscar Wilde, and the 'Giant Boy Detective' book series. He also is totally in love with Triana Orpheus (see below). He is nominally 16 years old, but more on that later.
Hank Venture - Hank is the elder brother, and is more outgoing than Dean. He is blond, somewhat athletic, and dresses like Fred from Scooby Doo. He is also a bit of an idiot. Like Dean, he is an excitable youth. He has an obsession with Batman, and sleeps in Aquaman underoos. He also once attempts to use a Nerf football as a weapon. Cause he's smart like that.
The brothers are 16... but were born 19 years ago. Why the discrepancy?
...They've died. Repeatedly, and messily. And each time, their father has cloned them anew. You have an accident prone child, you buy them a helmet. You have death prone kids, you keep a few clone slugs around the house.
But now, onto the two real stars of the show.
Doctor Thaddeus Venture - The son of a super genius adventuring scientist, Jonas Venture, Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture was a boy wonder. This is his greatest downfall, as his life officially peaked when he was about 8. He is now a bitter middle aged man, who has trouble making friends because he has an overinflated ego, which he is completely aware of. He flounders as a scientist as he has no drive other than personal gain, and is lazy about that, as well. But still, he does have a genius IQ and in rare bouts of motivation, he actually can accomplish great things.
He is also a bit of a bastard, as is he isn't above stealing kidneys from his sons, bribing Tijuana doctors, and asking this bodyguard to kill a gross of people so he can complete an order for reanimated walking bombs for the US Military...
Brock Samson - Brock is a mountain of a man, often seen with a blond mullet hairstyle. He is half Swedish, quarter Polish, and quarter Winnebago. The Native American tribe, not the car. He is a member of the OSI, the Office of Secret Intelligence, with a license to to kill (Which he uses. A lot.) He is assigned to Dr. Venture as a bodyguard, part of 'Operation: Rusty's Blanket'. He believes in using a knife over guns, loves his Led Zeppelin, and all in all, totally pwns the world.
Other Characters of Note:
H.E.L.P.eR - Dr. Venture's robot nanny while growing up, now his personal assistant. H.E.L.P.eR is a total spaz.
Jonas Venture Junior, aka "JJ" - Dr. Venture's twin brother, whom only recently revealed himself. How could he have been hidden for so long? He'd been growing inside of Dr. Venture's body, sorta in an mpreg-tumory way. Why? Because Thaddeus had devoured his brother in his mother's womb, when they were both fetuses. When Dr. Venture had this 'tumor' removed, it was, in fact, Jonas' emergence, and he at first attempted to kill Thaddeus, but soon the two came to terms. JJ, despite being a genetic freak (he has the body of an infant, one arm is flipper like, but his head is that of a mature adult) is already more suave, sophisticated, and successful than his brother Thaddeus.
Doctor Byron Orpheus - A Necromancer, stylized after Doctor Strange with a heavy dose of the theatrical. He is over the top, hammy goodness.
Triana Orpheus - Dr. Orpheus' goth, purple-haired daughter. She's a bit on the sarcastic side, and the object of Dean's affections.
The Villains:
The Monarch - The Monarch was, up until the season 2 finale, Dr. Venture's Archnemesis. He is a villain much like the classic Batman villains. He is themed entirely after Monarch butterflies, who supposedly raised him as a child after surviving a jet crash that killed his family. He's not a good villain, and he lives off a trust fund he inherited from his dead parents. He obsesses over killing Dr. Venture, and... can't seem to do it.
Doctor Girlfriend - The Monarch's second in command, a woman who dresses most often in the manner Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It is rumored that Dr. Girlfriend is actually a transsexual, given that she has a deep, manly voice (and is, indeed, voiced by a man). She is a competent supervillian, indeed much more competent than The Monarch. And yet, for some reason, she loves him...
21 and 24 - Two of the Monarch's henchmen (who are, in fact, numbers, and not free men). They are a bumbling pair of hilarious fellows, much like Laurel and Hardy. 21? Is a total geek. He owns Magic cards and Lord of the Rings replica swords and stuff like that. He's made of awesome.
Phantom Limb - the other supervillain of note, Phantom Limb is a slick, gentlemanly villain. He is wonderfully smarmy, and can kill people just by touching them. He is a rival with The Monarch for Dr. Girlfriend's affections.
There are many more characters as well, but I have outlined most of the major players.
So what's it really about?
The Venture Bros is about humor. About not taking anything truly seriously, about how everyone ends up with their own little failures. It's the misadventures of two boys who wish they were super-awesome kid detectives, a bitter scientist who can't get out of his father's shadow, and a secret agent who while being awesome, is possibly the worst secret agent ever.
It's about fun. And turning into giant caterpillars. And David Bowie transforming into a pack of cigarettes. Giant angry gay gorillas. Disturbing villain foot fetishists. Wanting to be President of Calendars. Fake ghost pirates. Jonny Quest being a crack addict. Snakemen on a plane. Womanaconda. Molotov Cocktease. Cracked out dreams involving pink dolphins, being attached to your nake father via an umbilical cord, or a woman revealing her breasts which each look like your own face. The Groovy Gang, the most twisted Scooby Gang ever. The Impossibles, the worst Fantastic Four ever. It's about crack. Lots and lots and lots of crack.
So Why Should I Watch It?
Because it is just drop dead funny. Very few shows get me to laugh as hard and as much as Venture Bros does. Its humor ranges from stupid low humor gags to seriously intelligent and layered jokes. It works on multiple levels, and actually manages to stand on its own feet with its storylines, and not be entirely dependant on random pop culture gags for its humor (no offense, Seth MacFarlane). Because no other show can have an episode be an exploration of teenage adolescent infatuation, as well as a spoof of James Bond and Apocalypse Now, with a dash of Hunter S. Thompson.
Because I really think, unless you are easily offended or highly sensitive, that you'll love it.
Links!
You Tube? Is my friend.
3 whole episodes. Ghosts of Sargasso, Trial of the Monarch, Dia los Dangerous. Dia los Dangerous is the first ep of the show.
- Entirety of Powerless in the Face of Death, the first ep of Season 2.
Brock Samson pwning a car
Dean and Hank getting ready for a date
The Groovy Gang
The Monarch discussing his LiveJournal (sound synch is sadly off)
A bunch more full episodes.
Doc Hammer's DeviantArt post for a DIY Triana costume. Doc Hammer is a voice actor on the show.
Wiki's Episode Guide
All Venture Brothers Icons I have Ever Made
The Official Site
The Season 1 DVD at Amazon. Sadly, no longer selling for the awesome price of $9 as it was about a week ago.
A Very Venture Christmas on Adult Swim's online "Fix"!
And now... I open myself up for questions and comments. I know there will be many.
What is The Venture Bros?
The Venture Bros. is a series that airs on Cartoon Network, as part of the Adult Swim programming block. It was created by Jackson Publick, one of the writers on a little Saturday morning cartoon show called The Tick, which some of you may have heard of.
The show premise is a satirical take on the cartoon classic Jonny Quest (and to a certain extent the classic book series The Hardy Boys), but knowlege of these materials is entirely not needed to enjoy the pure crack that is The Venture Bros., despite canonically being in the Jonny Quest universe.
How much crack? A lot of crack. A whole lot of funny, funny crack.
The Cast of The Venture Bros.
We'll start with our title characters, Dean and Hank Venture. They are not, in fact, truly the 'main' characters of the show, despite first billing in the Season One opening credits.
Dean Venture - The younger of the brothers, by four minutes. He is tall, thin, lanky, and, well, rather shy and effeminate. He dresses in a manner like Buddy Holly, but unintentionally. He has an affinity for Princess of Camelot dolls, Oscar Wilde, and the 'Giant Boy Detective' book series. He also is totally in love with Triana Orpheus (see below). He is nominally 16 years old, but more on that later.
Hank Venture - Hank is the elder brother, and is more outgoing than Dean. He is blond, somewhat athletic, and dresses like Fred from Scooby Doo. He is also a bit of an idiot. Like Dean, he is an excitable youth. He has an obsession with Batman, and sleeps in Aquaman underoos. He also once attempts to use a Nerf football as a weapon. Cause he's smart like that.
The brothers are 16... but were born 19 years ago. Why the discrepancy?
...They've died. Repeatedly, and messily. And each time, their father has cloned them anew. You have an accident prone child, you buy them a helmet. You have death prone kids, you keep a few clone slugs around the house.
But now, onto the two real stars of the show.
Doctor Thaddeus Venture - The son of a super genius adventuring scientist, Jonas Venture, Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture was a boy wonder. This is his greatest downfall, as his life officially peaked when he was about 8. He is now a bitter middle aged man, who has trouble making friends because he has an overinflated ego, which he is completely aware of. He flounders as a scientist as he has no drive other than personal gain, and is lazy about that, as well. But still, he does have a genius IQ and in rare bouts of motivation, he actually can accomplish great things.
He is also a bit of a bastard, as is he isn't above stealing kidneys from his sons, bribing Tijuana doctors, and asking this bodyguard to kill a gross of people so he can complete an order for reanimated walking bombs for the US Military...
Brock Samson - Brock is a mountain of a man, often seen with a blond mullet hairstyle. He is half Swedish, quarter Polish, and quarter Winnebago. The Native American tribe, not the car. He is a member of the OSI, the Office of Secret Intelligence, with a license to to kill (Which he uses. A lot.) He is assigned to Dr. Venture as a bodyguard, part of 'Operation: Rusty's Blanket'. He believes in using a knife over guns, loves his Led Zeppelin, and all in all, totally pwns the world.
Other Characters of Note:
H.E.L.P.eR - Dr. Venture's robot nanny while growing up, now his personal assistant. H.E.L.P.eR is a total spaz.
Jonas Venture Junior, aka "JJ" - Dr. Venture's twin brother, whom only recently revealed himself. How could he have been hidden for so long? He'd been growing inside of Dr. Venture's body, sorta in an mpreg-tumory way. Why? Because Thaddeus had devoured his brother in his mother's womb, when they were both fetuses. When Dr. Venture had this 'tumor' removed, it was, in fact, Jonas' emergence, and he at first attempted to kill Thaddeus, but soon the two came to terms. JJ, despite being a genetic freak (he has the body of an infant, one arm is flipper like, but his head is that of a mature adult) is already more suave, sophisticated, and successful than his brother Thaddeus.
Doctor Byron Orpheus - A Necromancer, stylized after Doctor Strange with a heavy dose of the theatrical. He is over the top, hammy goodness.
Triana Orpheus - Dr. Orpheus' goth, purple-haired daughter. She's a bit on the sarcastic side, and the object of Dean's affections.
The Villains:
The Monarch - The Monarch was, up until the season 2 finale, Dr. Venture's Archnemesis. He is a villain much like the classic Batman villains. He is themed entirely after Monarch butterflies, who supposedly raised him as a child after surviving a jet crash that killed his family. He's not a good villain, and he lives off a trust fund he inherited from his dead parents. He obsesses over killing Dr. Venture, and... can't seem to do it.
Doctor Girlfriend - The Monarch's second in command, a woman who dresses most often in the manner Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It is rumored that Dr. Girlfriend is actually a transsexual, given that she has a deep, manly voice (and is, indeed, voiced by a man). She is a competent supervillian, indeed much more competent than The Monarch. And yet, for some reason, she loves him...
21 and 24 - Two of the Monarch's henchmen (who are, in fact, numbers, and not free men). They are a bumbling pair of hilarious fellows, much like Laurel and Hardy. 21? Is a total geek. He owns Magic cards and Lord of the Rings replica swords and stuff like that. He's made of awesome.
Phantom Limb - the other supervillain of note, Phantom Limb is a slick, gentlemanly villain. He is wonderfully smarmy, and can kill people just by touching them. He is a rival with The Monarch for Dr. Girlfriend's affections.
There are many more characters as well, but I have outlined most of the major players.
So what's it really about?
The Venture Bros is about humor. About not taking anything truly seriously, about how everyone ends up with their own little failures. It's the misadventures of two boys who wish they were super-awesome kid detectives, a bitter scientist who can't get out of his father's shadow, and a secret agent who while being awesome, is possibly the worst secret agent ever.
It's about fun. And turning into giant caterpillars. And David Bowie transforming into a pack of cigarettes. Giant angry gay gorillas. Disturbing villain foot fetishists. Wanting to be President of Calendars. Fake ghost pirates. Jonny Quest being a crack addict. Snakemen on a plane. Womanaconda. Molotov Cocktease. Cracked out dreams involving pink dolphins, being attached to your nake father via an umbilical cord, or a woman revealing her breasts which each look like your own face. The Groovy Gang, the most twisted Scooby Gang ever. The Impossibles, the worst Fantastic Four ever. It's about crack. Lots and lots and lots of crack.
So Why Should I Watch It?
Because it is just drop dead funny. Very few shows get me to laugh as hard and as much as Venture Bros does. Its humor ranges from stupid low humor gags to seriously intelligent and layered jokes. It works on multiple levels, and actually manages to stand on its own feet with its storylines, and not be entirely dependant on random pop culture gags for its humor (no offense, Seth MacFarlane). Because no other show can have an episode be an exploration of teenage adolescent infatuation, as well as a spoof of James Bond and Apocalypse Now, with a dash of Hunter S. Thompson.
Because I really think, unless you are easily offended or highly sensitive, that you'll love it.
Links!
You Tube? Is my friend.
3 whole episodes. Ghosts of Sargasso, Trial of the Monarch, Dia los Dangerous. Dia los Dangerous is the first ep of the show.
- Entirety of Powerless in the Face of Death, the first ep of Season 2.
Brock Samson pwning a car
Dean and Hank getting ready for a date
The Groovy Gang
The Monarch discussing his LiveJournal (sound synch is sadly off)
A bunch more full episodes.
Doc Hammer's DeviantArt post for a DIY Triana costume. Doc Hammer is a voice actor on the show.
Wiki's Episode Guide
All Venture Brothers Icons I have Ever Made
The Official Site
The Season 1 DVD at Amazon. Sadly, no longer selling for the awesome price of $9 as it was about a week ago.
A Very Venture Christmas on Adult Swim's online "Fix"!
And now... I open myself up for questions and comments. I know there will be many.
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"Dean, are you touching your brother inappropriately again?"
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"Oh, come on, like you boys haven't ever experimented with each other?"
"...DEAN!"
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I am eagerly awaiting the season 1 box I am getting for Christmas. :D
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Ooo! There's a Venture Bros. marathon on tomorrow night when Adult Swim starts. So says my TV.
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Oooo. And, oh! They have the Venture Christmas Special on Adult Swim Fix, right now! *goes to add to list of links*
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And yes, I think you'd like it too. Especially given our similarities in senses of humor.
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Well worth friending for any VB fan. Yes, it's his very own LJ.
I have to mention, despite the fact that I'm probably the only person here who has any clue who the man is, that JG Thirlwell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clint_Ruin) is the genius behind the music (http://www.last.fm/music/Foetus) and the initial reason I gave a damn that the series existed.
Then the crack won me.