I've Always Hated Adventures - A Primer for The Venture Brothers
So going into this fic, I realized that a good portion of bandom probably doesn’t know what The Venture Brothers is. While the fic can be read without prior knowledge of the series, it might help to explain why the universe is the way it is. Hope y’all don’t mind some spoilers.
What Is The Venture Brothers?
The Venture Brothers is an animated series on Adult Swim that started back in 2004 and was created by Jackson Publick, who also voices several characters in the series. The series is focused on the titular Venture Brothers, Hank and Dean, their father Dr. Thaddeus ‘Rusty’ Venture and their bodyguard Brock Samson. It follows the strange, Johnny Quest on crack style adventures they go on and features an extensive and rather hilarious supporting cast that often outshines the main characters. My personal favorite is Dr. Orpheus, the necromancer that rents out a room on the Venture family compound. The series is ridiculous and amazing and cartoony in all the best ways possible.
Superscience
The Venture Brothers exists in a strange world where science and magic coexist with each other, but usually aren’t working together. A good portion of the characters in the show work with science, whether for good or evil. Though, in some cases, the good guys are dicks.
Rusty carries on the work of his father Dr. Jonas Venture and was even a child prodigy with his own Saturday morning cartoon at one point. As Rusty got older though, he failed to live up to the expectations the world had for him. He struggles to get military funding for his inventions and is just generally seen as a sad sack. Plus the fact that the tumor that was removed from his stomach after a particularly strange night at The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become more successful than him doesn’t help.
Necromancy
While it has been shown that magic exists in the world of The Venture Brothers, it’s mostly shown in the form of Necromancy. The series' main Necromancer Dr. Orpheus can raise the dead, but he can also use his powers to see people’s memories, put people to sleep and accomplish everyday tasks, among other things. Him and Dr. Venture are often at odds over Science vs. Magic, but it proves to actually be a similar practice.
The Guild Of Calamitous Intent
For you Whedon fans, think of the Evil League of Evil, but on a grander scale.
Villainy in The Venture Brothers is such a strange thing. In most series, the villains operate on independent means and often have a grudge against the good guy. The Venture Brothers actually uses dictionary meanings of the words ‘protagonist’ and ‘antagonist’ though. The Guild Of Calamitous Intent works with the antagonist side of protagonist-antagonist relations and has a strict honor code as well as PLENTY of rules. Brock even admits he has more respect for the Guild than other groups. The Guild is also the one that takes care of who your arch-nemesis is going to be. It’s either assigned and put on a trial basis (such as the case with Rusty and Sergeant Hatred) or the protagonist puts several possible arches through an interview process. This puts a thorn in the side of some people such as The Monarch, who has hated Rusty since college and wants nothing more than to make his life hell.
The Guild is run by a mysterious figure named The Sovereign and in Season 2, it’s revealed that the current Sovereign is David Bowie, who can shape shift.
The OSI
If the Guild is the ELE, the Office of Secret Intelligence is GI Joe. While the Guild controls a good portion of the Antagonists in the world, The OSI is the one who protects the world from the crazies outside the league. To quote Brock’s mentor Col. Hunter Gathers (who’s very much like Hunter S. Thompson), the OSI has been thanklessly protecting this bigass country of ours since the 2nd American Revolution...
...The Invisible One.
However, the OSI isn’t always the greatest organization either. One character, Billy Quizboy, had his memory wiped after an experience that not only took his hand and his eye, but created The Phantom Limb. He’s pretentious and you don’t want to end up on his shitlist!
So that’s a basic overview of The Venture Brothers. It’s ridiculous, fun and extremely smart. The creators respect their show, their canon and their audience and I highly recommend it to anyone with a wicked sense of humor and a love for anything awesome.
And if this hasn’t convinced you, maybe Mecha Shiva will.
(VB fans are the best)
The Venture Brothers return to Adult Swim for their 4th Season in November. For now, you can backtrack on seasons at Venture Bros. Online.
What Is The Venture Brothers?
The Venture Brothers is an animated series on Adult Swim that started back in 2004 and was created by Jackson Publick, who also voices several characters in the series. The series is focused on the titular Venture Brothers, Hank and Dean, their father Dr. Thaddeus ‘Rusty’ Venture and their bodyguard Brock Samson. It follows the strange, Johnny Quest on crack style adventures they go on and features an extensive and rather hilarious supporting cast that often outshines the main characters. My personal favorite is Dr. Orpheus, the necromancer that rents out a room on the Venture family compound. The series is ridiculous and amazing and cartoony in all the best ways possible.
Click to viewSuperscience
The Venture Brothers exists in a strange world where science and magic coexist with each other, but usually aren’t working together. A good portion of the characters in the show work with science, whether for good or evil. Though, in some cases, the good guys are dicks.
Rusty carries on the work of his father Dr. Jonas Venture and was even a child prodigy with his own Saturday morning cartoon at one point. As Rusty got older though, he failed to live up to the expectations the world had for him. He struggles to get military funding for his inventions and is just generally seen as a sad sack. Plus the fact that the tumor that was removed from his stomach after a particularly strange night at The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become more successful than him doesn’t help.
Necromancy
While it has been shown that magic exists in the world of The Venture Brothers, it’s mostly shown in the form of Necromancy. The series' main Necromancer Dr. Orpheus can raise the dead, but he can also use his powers to see people’s memories, put people to sleep and accomplish everyday tasks, among other things. Him and Dr. Venture are often at odds over Science vs. Magic, but it proves to actually be a similar practice.
The Guild Of Calamitous Intent
For you Whedon fans, think of the Evil League of Evil, but on a grander scale.
Villainy in The Venture Brothers is such a strange thing. In most series, the villains operate on independent means and often have a grudge against the good guy. The Venture Brothers actually uses dictionary meanings of the words ‘protagonist’ and ‘antagonist’ though. The Guild Of Calamitous Intent works with the antagonist side of protagonist-antagonist relations and has a strict honor code as well as PLENTY of rules. Brock even admits he has more respect for the Guild than other groups. The Guild is also the one that takes care of who your arch-nemesis is going to be. It’s either assigned and put on a trial basis (such as the case with Rusty and Sergeant Hatred) or the protagonist puts several possible arches through an interview process. This puts a thorn in the side of some people such as The Monarch, who has hated Rusty since college and wants nothing more than to make his life hell.
The Guild is run by a mysterious figure named The Sovereign and in Season 2, it’s revealed that the current Sovereign is David Bowie, who can shape shift.
The OSI
If the Guild is the ELE, the Office of Secret Intelligence is GI Joe. While the Guild controls a good portion of the Antagonists in the world, The OSI is the one who protects the world from the crazies outside the league. To quote Brock’s mentor Col. Hunter Gathers (who’s very much like Hunter S. Thompson), the OSI has been thanklessly protecting this bigass country of ours since the 2nd American Revolution...
...The Invisible One.
However, the OSI isn’t always the greatest organization either. One character, Billy Quizboy, had his memory wiped after an experience that not only took his hand and his eye, but created The Phantom Limb. He’s pretentious and you don’t want to end up on his shitlist!
So that’s a basic overview of The Venture Brothers. It’s ridiculous, fun and extremely smart. The creators respect their show, their canon and their audience and I highly recommend it to anyone with a wicked sense of humor and a love for anything awesome.
And if this hasn’t convinced you, maybe Mecha Shiva will.
(VB fans are the best)
The Venture Brothers return to Adult Swim for their 4th Season in November. For now, you can backtrack on seasons at Venture Bros. Online.