Even amid its humorous portrayals of boys’ fiction, this show remains one of the most accurate portrayals. All its heroes and antagonists share similar narrative arcs and emotional baggage.
Brock, who serves as the family bodyguard, struggles through a problematic coming-of-age journey, while Rusty Venture is struggling with his deep flaws and insecurities.
Characters
The Venture Bros are an irreverently stupid family. Each brother combines intense physicality with cerebral abilities in equal measures; their absurdist antics provide plenty of laughs. Created as an homage to Hanna-Barbera style tackiness, they make ideal slacker heroes.
Squabbling between them results in many comically outrageous situations, but they always find a way out. Sometimes, this means being saved by Dr. Venture’s clones – who often have similar looks but are likely to die before being detected by anyone else.
As the series progresses, the characters become even more complex. Dr. Entmann is a prime example – an antagonistic presence who comes with baggage like his failed love life and inept father. While at heart a good guy, Dr. Entmann sometimes exhibits self-pity or displays feelings of entitlement.
Season three was where the series truly flourished, upgrading to HD animation and ditching its censors while exploring character histories further and introducing the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Hank and Dean also got closer with their father this season while we met new Team Venture members like Myra Brandish and Dr. Henry Killinger.
Though its main characters are at the core of this show, its supporting cast truly sets it apart. Gary began as an unassuming sidekick who occasionally provided Kevin Smith-style commentary on tropes used throughout, yet eventually developed into his own fully realized character. Other prominent recurring characters include Dr. Girlfriend’s schemer Dr. Girlfriend, super genius Hamilton G Fantomos, and an alien called Henchman 21, who all make their mark on our stories.
The Venture Bros is also remarkable because of how it treats its characters with such respect. Too often, TV and movie characters attempt to subvert genres like space opera or superhero without actually caring about them, leading to disappointing stories that seem condescending toward their audience. One thing The Venture Bros does well is taking its characters’ struggles seriously while still offering humorous jokes – this balance makes the show timeless and enjoyable for its audiences.
Plots
The Venture Bros stands apart from most animated shows. While its counterparts on both Cartoon Network and Adult Swim tended towards straightforward superhero satires and low-stakes fare, Venture’s creators took great pains in weaving intricate plots with lasting characterizations; by season two, it was evident that Venture was becoming much more profound than your typical sitcom.
Rusty Venture is an individual struggling with childhood repression and inferiority complexes, yet he remains remarkably stoic in any situation, always finding an exit strategy when needed. Although he has many enemies as well as love interests, he never loses his sense of purpose and always manages to find a way of accomplishing his tasks.
The Investors are an assortment of thugs and henchmen who work for the Venture brothers, each possessing its distinct personality. Hamilton G. Fantomos, aka Phantom Limb, serves as the show’s primary antagonist; his cunning plans often border on madness, while his luxurious lifestyle may give the illusion that he is just an inept fool. In truth, though, he is pretty complex. Having suffered his own tragic origin story, even The Monarch would need help breaking him apart!
Dr. Girlfriend, Monarch’s immoral attorney, stands out amongst the cast as an impressively intelligent character. With her deep voice and fearlessness when it comes to getting involved, Dr. Girlfriend often marshals Investors into helping her take down Monarch in several episodes.
The Monarch’s henchmen often have different agendas, yet most of them want to live life to its fullest extent. Brock is a prime example of this; when reactivated by OSIS, he quickly recruits former lover and fellow superspy Molotov Cocktease for help mounting an operation at Venture Compound.
Radiant is the Blood of a Baboon Heart is an appropriate title for Venture’s final season. Jackson Publick and Juno Hammer believe this film came together organically as part of ideas they developed during its seventh season and are delighted with how it turned out.
Animation
Venture Bros first premiered in 2003 and ran for over a year, offering viewers an irreverent spoof of Jonny Quest starring James Urbaniak as Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture, his fraternal twin sons Hank and Dean Venture, their bodyguard Brock Sampson (voiced by Patrick Warburton), HELPER robot assistant HELPER and many of their arch-enemies including Baron Von Underbheit and Monarch.
Animation for this show was quite basic and uncluttered, but the characters had distinct personalities, which gave their drawings personality. The dialogue was humorous yet subtle in tone; each season saw more stylization.
In the third season, producers, for the first time, lifted all censorship, and animation significantly improved. At this point, Michael Sinterniklaas and Chris McCulloch as Hank and Dean, as well as Patrick Warburton as Dr. Venture’s confidant and bodyguard Brock, really began to gel together; additionally, Billy Quizboy (a trivia mastermind) and Henchman 21 all made appearances during this season.
Season five was perhaps the most pivotal of Venture Bros’ five seasons. The story became more mature while Team Venture and its cast expanded with new members as well as antagonists. This was when Venture Bros truly transcended its original concept and started becoming something unique all its own.
Adult Swim canceled the show, yet this feature-length finale offers one of TV’s most insouciant comedic creations a fitting end. Both DVD and Blu-ray sets contain all eight episodes from this season, along with audio commentary by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, deleted scenes, and an exclusive behind-the-scenes mockumentary documentary.
Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart unveils dark secrets from our heroes’ pasts while providing them with an intriguing future to explore. This bittersweet ending to an unforgettable ride may leave some loose ends unresolved for now, but it is an appropriate conclusion to a show so often about regret.
Reviews
Early in Venture Bros’ early years, it was all fun and laughs, but as its popularity grew, so did its quality. Animation and characterization improved significantly while storylines and characters deepened more. While at first Venture Bros was meant as a send-up of space age and Jonny Quest-type adventure cartoons, it found its niche by expanding on its world with heroes and villains such as Monarch; McCulloch and Hammer did an outstanding job of turning her into more than a mere foil for Hank.
This show offers a well-developed cast of characters and does an outstanding job of portraying their emotional moments realistically. While its humorous elements may make for easy entertainment, this series also serves as an examination of family and relationships under threat from various forms of evil forces. While not suitable for newcomers to comedy shows, if you enjoy humor alongside deeper themes, then this series should definitely be watched.
Venture Bros has long been one of Adult Swim’s stand-out animated series. Its dynamic mix of humor, self-parody, and impressive character development will surely leave an indelible mark in fans’ minds as Radiant is the Blood of Baboon Heart closes out this exciting chapter of adult swim programming – go Team Venture!
