Someone once said about the mechanics of a TV Series is that the first season is finding your feet, the second season ironing out any remaining kinks and the third is where you let what you've established breathe. All the set up is there, the dynamics in play and the characters(hopefully) established enough to comfortably bounce off each other. And outside of say another Warburton featuring show (you know, the yardstick of comedy that was Seinfeld) has there ever been a show where characters bounce off each other as well?
If it isn't Henchmen 21 and 24 being pedantic about pop culture, it's the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriends surprisingly realistic super villain romance, or Brock Samson humouring Dr. Venture it's a world that is at turns wonderfully fantastical and then hilariously petty and mundane in other areas. These are bad guys who drive Nissans, when they're not flying Giant cocoons. If that sentence doesn't at least pique your interest, nothing will.
If it isn't Henchmen 21 and 24 being pedantic about pop culture, it's the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriends surprisingly realistic super villain romance, or Brock Samson humouring Dr. Venture it's a world that is at turns wonderfully fantastical and then hilariously petty and mundane in other areas. These are bad guys who drive Nissans, when they're not flying Giant cocoons. If that sentence doesn't at least pique your interest, nothing will.
So you might be reading this thinking to yourself, "I have no idea what you're talking about. 21 and 24? The Monarch? I understand these things separately but together they're meaningless!"
If that's the case you're missing out on one of the finest animated series currently being made and easily the best thing to emerge from the Adult Swim stable. Essentially in the Venture Brothers we have a riff on the old cartoon Johnny Quest but set in a world not that different from a Marvel comic book. The titular brothers are two blundering children being raised by their caustic self centred scientist father Rusty Venture and protected by a bodyguard named Brock Samson, one of the finest tough guys this side of Wolverine. Their lives are full of adventures, mummies one day, demonic curses, the next and this is where the show really shines in my eyes. There's a wonderful sense of that no matter how much we're seeing of their lives and antics, we're still missing out on just as many exploits. In an early episode a mummy from an unseen adventure is stowing away on a plane and the attack is just a case of "Oh that darn mummy." No one is fazed and I love that.
It's already a good way into it's third season and if you think I threw you in the deep end at the start of this blog, then I'm doing the exact same thing the creators (Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer) have done with this season. Starting with an episode devoted entirely to Rusty's arch enemy the peerless Monarch and not featuring the heroes in any real context, a casual viewer trying to get into the show will be utterly lost. The following episodes don't pander either as knowledge of this universe is vital, the shows central themes are not reiterated. For the fans this is perfection, a layered super hero mythos but for the unititiated it's absolutely overwhelming. Don't start here. Go back, get the first two seasons and gorge on the pop culture references (Star Wars gets it's own side dish to sustain this kinda lame metaphor) and if you're not sure this is a show for you, ask yourself these questions. Did you like the Tick, Freakazoid, Earthworm Jim, or shows of that ilk? Are you someone who knows the difference between Hal Jordan's Green Lantern and Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern? Are you a David Bowie fan? If you answer "yes" to any one of these questions then watch this show and rejoice that the third season, as odd as it has been so far, has also been very funny!
Also it's given us a lot of great Monarch scenes and this breakout character is my favourite thing about the show! Let's hope Team Venture keeps on going as strongly as this!
If that's the case you're missing out on one of the finest animated series currently being made and easily the best thing to emerge from the Adult Swim stable. Essentially in the Venture Brothers we have a riff on the old cartoon Johnny Quest but set in a world not that different from a Marvel comic book. The titular brothers are two blundering children being raised by their caustic self centred scientist father Rusty Venture and protected by a bodyguard named Brock Samson, one of the finest tough guys this side of Wolverine. Their lives are full of adventures, mummies one day, demonic curses, the next and this is where the show really shines in my eyes. There's a wonderful sense of that no matter how much we're seeing of their lives and antics, we're still missing out on just as many exploits. In an early episode a mummy from an unseen adventure is stowing away on a plane and the attack is just a case of "Oh that darn mummy." No one is fazed and I love that.
It's already a good way into it's third season and if you think I threw you in the deep end at the start of this blog, then I'm doing the exact same thing the creators (Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer) have done with this season. Starting with an episode devoted entirely to Rusty's arch enemy the peerless Monarch and not featuring the heroes in any real context, a casual viewer trying to get into the show will be utterly lost. The following episodes don't pander either as knowledge of this universe is vital, the shows central themes are not reiterated. For the fans this is perfection, a layered super hero mythos but for the unititiated it's absolutely overwhelming. Don't start here. Go back, get the first two seasons and gorge on the pop culture references (Star Wars gets it's own side dish to sustain this kinda lame metaphor) and if you're not sure this is a show for you, ask yourself these questions. Did you like the Tick, Freakazoid, Earthworm Jim, or shows of that ilk? Are you someone who knows the difference between Hal Jordan's Green Lantern and Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern? Are you a David Bowie fan? If you answer "yes" to any one of these questions then watch this show and rejoice that the third season, as odd as it has been so far, has also been very funny!
Also it's given us a lot of great Monarch scenes and this breakout character is my favourite thing about the show! Let's hope Team Venture keeps on going as strongly as this!
No comments:
Post a Comment