jamesurbaniak

(S03E07) Now, that was a Venture Bros. episode. In fact, throw the cake and eat some confetti, because I think I may have a new addition to my top five favorite episodes. After my less-than-confident review of last week's episode, "Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman", this was a very pleasant surprise. The episode didn't have any real ties to previous ones, but we got the chance to explore yet another part of the compound and some dark secrets of the original Team Venture.

%Gallery-27508%

Once again proving that I will listen to any nonsense Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer spit, I fought crippling 3AM sleepiness just to get through this commentary (hidden under the "Extras" buttons) for the latest Venture Bros. episode, "The Buddy System". That's right, no need to wait for the Season Three DVD to come out, because you can learn about Doc and Jackson's thoughts on above ground pools right now. Best of all, it's video, so we feel the full impact of their wildly off-topic conversations and also get to admire how these two look more like rock stars than the minds behind Metalocalypse. Compared to their DVD commentaries, though, they managed to offer quite a bit of episode-specific information.

(S03E05) In last week's review for "Home Is Where The Hate Is," I mentioned how I felt the season so far has all been set-up, set-up, set-up and we're still waiting for the punchline. I mean, it's been hilarious and beautifully animated set-up, but it's been set-up nonetheless. With "The Buddy System," we're finally getting back to everyday life on the Venture compound. It feels good to get a better sense of the family's present.

%Gallery-26381%

(S03E04) Wow! An episode with absolutely no flashbacks or crazy hallucinations. That's a change. However, this was definitely the slowest episode out of the four that have aired, and I feel like we are missing something. Don't get me wrong. I have loved just about everything from this season, but it seems like we should be a bit further at this point. Only now do we see the direction for the rest of the season and who our major players are going to be. It's been two hours of set up. When are we getting the punchline?

%Gallery-25865%

(S03E03) The Venture Bros. has some of the most incredibly strong secondary characters in the entire cartoon universe. I love their intricate back stories and the delicate explanations of their tendencies and motivations. It's like Lost, but with more robot hands and bad break-ups. That said, is Season Three going to be the season of back stories? I mean, seriously. The first episode was all about the origin of The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend, the second was an in-depth exploration of Rusty's past affecting his future, and "The Invisible Hand of Fate" taught us more than we ever wanted to know about the early days of Billy Quizboy and Pete White.

%Gallery-25199%

(S03E02) After the season premiere left us with a depressing lack of Venture, this episode more than made up for it, taking place entirely on the family's compound. Plus, bonus Henry Killinger (and his magic murder bag)! "The Doctor Is Sin" marked a turning point in Dr. Venture's character and vulnerabilities. I don't really mind when an entire episode sacrifices fast-moving plot and crazy ninja fights to allow a character to come to critical realizations about himself/herself, as long as said realizations affect his/her future actions. I cannot begin to explain the frustration I feel when seasons carry on as if these moments never happened. Here's to hoping that Dr. Venture's new awareness of his occasional villainous tendencies provide some interesting changes in upcoming episodes.

%Gallery-24571%

(S03E01) It's tough to believe that it has been over a year and a half since we last saw The Venture Bros. Granted, last season's cliffhanger wasn't quite as intense as Hank and Dean's death in Season One, but that didn't stop fans from speculating about Dr. Girlfriend's confession all through those twenty months. "Monarch, I'm..." what? Pregnant? A man? Ready for round two?

Even though I was looking forward to a bit of closure on that, I was also excited about hearing from the Ventures. Strangely enough, there was a surprising lack of Ventures in this episode of The Venture Bros. Instead, we got a whole lot of backstory about the Monarch, Dr. Girlfriend and good ol' Phantom Limb. It didn't pack the punch that one would expect from a season premiere, but it certainly delivered all the amazing things that one would expect from the show. I mean, apart from the actual Venture brothers.

%Gallery-24074%

Those of you Venture Bros. fans that watched the Season Three teaser I posted in my NY Comic-Con report probably didn't catch all the jokes. After all, the footage was a recording of a recording and the massive auditorium was packed with people screaming and laughing throughout the entire thing. Heck, I was actually there in-person and I could barely tell what was going on.

Quickstop Entertainment has finally posted high-quality versions of the exclusive teaser. Now you can watch it crouched over your laptop, ears pressed to your cheap speakers, the way media is meant to be enjoyed. Regardless, it looks like we are in for quite a season. According to Jackson Publick, Doc Hammer only had three and a half completed episodes to use for this trailer and this is definitely not a collection of the best of Season Three. If the best is truly still to come, then I'm sure the new season, starting June 1, will be nothing short of crazy spectacular.

Jackson Publick has announced on his livejournal that season two of The Venture Bros. is scheduled to be released on April 17th. He and Doc Hammer are currently finishing up the supplemental material for the set which includes commentaries for every episode. If you've seen the season one set, and listened to the commentaries there, they are sometimes rambling, and often off-topic, but always entertaining.

This go round James Urbaniak and Mike Sinterniklaas are also featured on some of the commentaries. In addition to that, you can look for more live action Venture Bros. and some 30 deleted scenes. Jackson also links to the season one set on Amazon which is now going for a ridiculously low price of $8.99. Just in time for Christmas.

[ thanks Lacey ]

(S02E13) What a beautiful way to wrap up a season. Even the weakest parts of the episode were tremendously enjoyable.

There's a whole new order set up for the third season (which Adult Swim should greenlight, if they know what's good for 'em)... The Ventures and The Monarch have become friends (and if not "friends", then "non-enemies") and Phantom Limb is now a completely rogue villain (he has strayed from the Guild). Maybe P. Limb will recruit Triana's friend, Kim, to do his bidding. Maybe Brock will continue to train/work with the henchmen. Maybe, now that the Cocoon has been destroyed, The Monarch will start renting space in the Venture compound, like Doctor Orpheus (hilarity would surely ensue). There's a whole world of possibilities and I couldn't be more excited.

(S02E12) Did I enjoy this episode? To put it simply... I think my brain exploded before the title sequence was over.

Even God couldn't handle the extreme levels of awesome... He attempted to delay the episode by throwing some lightning and striking the plane carrying the episode (if you didn't believe the bump explaining the situation, Jackson Publick commented on it here). Needless to say, even God Himself couldn't take down The Venture Bros.

By the way, this episode didn't premiere on The Fix (maybe for the reason mentioned above?), but it's on there now.

(S02E06) I am seriously amazed. Somehow, every episode manages to one-up the episode preceding it (or come close to doing so). I mean, the "House of Mummies" and "Twenty Years" are still my all-time favorites, but this episode was wickedly strong. Not as much action as "Twenty Years", but quite a bit of melodrama and loads of funny moments. I kind of feel like if a bad or barely decent episode comes up soon, it's just going to hit even worse because these past few episode have been so great. I really hope this trend of awesomeness (for lack of a better word) continues. No pressure, Doc and Jackson.

(S02E05) It's been two weeks since a fresh episode of The Venture Bros. Two viciously agonizing, heinously miserable, adverb adjective weeks. However, "Twenty Years to Midnight" made the wait completely worthwhile. The amount of action was a nice surprise, a true throwback to the show's original roots: a take-off of the 60's cheesy, mystery-adventure cartoons. All these amazing elements have caused me some inner conflict. See, in my last VB post, I said that "Escape to the House of Mummies Part II" had become my favorite... Well, now I don't know how to feel. My heart is now painfully torn between a Doc Hammer script and a Jackson Publick script! Ohh, "Twenty Years" is truly worthy contender for my love. The guest appearance by Stephen Colbert didn't hurt, either.