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Five Thoughts on the Venture Bros’ “Venture Libre” [Review]

By | June 10th, 2013
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

We’re back with more Venture and more thoughts! But you don’t come to this article for the introduction, do you? No. Of course you don’t.

1. I Love the New Dean

The funniest thing about the new season is what a wrench the New Dean throws into the system. Honestly, it’s not exactly subtle or anything, but it bears discussion: given Dean’s new sense of apathy, the show’s basic function as a Johnny Quest parody can no longer exist. The very thing that this show used to thrive on — that there were two boys who liked to go on adventures with a reluctant father figure — is completely removed from the show.

It’s been on show with the special and the first episode, but this episode really shines why New Dean is so hilarious a concept when Doctor Venture has to call up the stairs to ask his son to on an adventure. It’s a small moment, but it’s easily the most telling and most hilarious in retrospect to think on and sort of absorb as to what this means, both in terms of what is to come and what that means for the very basic dynamic of the entire show. Well played.

2. Hank’s War Journal

“I shall become… a bat.” Fucking perfect. One of the best parts about Venture Bros has always been its celebration of a wide range of pop culture beyond its initial Johnny Quest origins, and a big part of that has been seen in Hank and Hank’s obsession with Batman. To have Hank go on a Bat-binge, to tweak out on coffee beans of all things and suddenly become an actual functional superhero as opposed to the bumbling halfwit that he normally is, is perhaps one of the smartest moments that the show has had in terms of paying off the ideas of the characters.

Given that Venture Bros spends so much time celebrating failure and celebrating Hank’s lack of intellect when paired with his brother, allowing Hank this moment to become the Bat is certainly the best moment of the new season so far. It may stand as the highest point yet.

3. Dr. Venture’s Naivety

One of the things that is so amusing about the show is just how little Doctor Venture gets where he is and what’s going on. For a super scientist, he has a critical lack of awareness of the world around him beyond what happens in an immediate one-inch radius, and even then. So throughout the episode, we got these tiny but great moments of Doctor Venture basically having no idea of the danger he is in or what kind of situation is unfolding — whether it’s his shouting in the woods and blaming it on Sgt. Hatred or farting in a jail cell while an uprising is going on outside. It’s definitely pretty pitch perfect to the type of guy Venture is.

4. Sgt. Hatred’s Secret Origin

Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Were you?

Venture Bros always manages to insert little character moments when you’re least expecting them, but the secret origin of Sgt. Hatred is definitely something I didn’t even remotely see coming. You sort of take for granted a lot of the characters on the show, how they got to where they are and what fuels them, and only a few characters really “need” explanation in terms of their history. Hatred wasn’t one of them, so to insert a few quick flashbacks that tell you basically all you need to know is a rather clever way to insert more life and vitality to that character given how he’s pretty much not going anywhere any time soon.

So, he’s… what, reverse Captain America, then? Like Nuke but with more anger and love for young boys?

5. Not As Many Easter Eggs

Whenever a new episode of Venture Bros airs it pays to really sit, look and listen to what’s going on around you in the episode. There are usually so many little jokes that you’ll probably miss, but this episode seemed not to have it. There were a few visual easter eggs, sure (some of the characters being based on Man-Thing, Oompa Loompas, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Bebop), but it was definitely curious to see a modern episode of Venture Bros with only one direct obscure reference. Usually there’s, like, five or six.

Although, humorously enough last week I lamented the length of the episode as not conducive to how funny the show usually can be, and this week I found myself wishing that the show continued past the half hour point. I’m too damn indecisive to watch television.


//TAGS | Venture Bros

Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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