the venture brothers
what you should be watching
by henrykellogg

When the 4th season of the Venture Bros. started to air on October 12th, it was greeted with a great deal of anticipation. Like most shows on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s nighttime grownup cartoon segment, it has a small but loyal group of followers. The show was inspired by Johnny Quest, a cartoon about a boy adventurer that aired in the 1970’s, but uses the power of parody to create a snarky parody of cartoons in general. The show addresses the everyday life of Dr. Venture, a grown up boy adventurer, and his two sons, Hank and Dean. The show also depicts the life of the Monarch, a super villain with a penchant for monarch butterflies, and his obsession with “arching” Dr. Venture.

The show’s genius comes not from its depiction of action and adventure but instead, its hilarious depictions of the domestic concerns of the everyday life of people living in a universe inhabited by superheroes, villains, monsters, and the Guild of Calamitous Intent, a society of super villains headed by David Bowie. The show addresses such questions as what henchmen talk about in the break room (Who would win in a fight between Champ and the Loch Ness Monster?), how often Bigfoot is actually on Youtube, and what sort of PTSD the average boy adventurer suffers from in his adult life.

It also has a darker side, addressing the pedophilia of Capitan Sunshine and Sergeant Hatred, the drug use and misery of failed expectations of Dr. Venture, and what happens to clones that are rejected because they are too ugly. The show deals with the trials and tribulations of adventurers when they aren’t out killing zombies or saving the world.

In an era of television that asks us to turn off our minds and stare at the tube, the Venture Bros. is a breath of fresh air. It is not replete with the senseless homophobic and xenophobic garbage that Family Guy, American Dad, and other adult cartoons use to make their jokes. Instead of making fun of those who are different with a disdainful eye, the Venture Bros. makes fun of itself, anticipating its own clichés and making light of them. When a character with two heads makes the “two heads are better than one” joke, it is done in an ironic setting realizing the joke is bad, but making it anyways because you can’t have a two-headed character that doesn’t make that joke.

The Venture Bros. presents a universe that is fanciful and funny while willing to go where most cartoons will never go. And cartoons go where sitcoms and the mass of “real life” television would never dream. By creating a new world in television, you can critique the real world or indulge in fantasy. This show is worth half an hour of your week and is what you should be watching.