Over the past few years the Cartoon Network's adult oriented block of programming, "Adult Swim", has given us an eccentric batch of shows. There's the cult classic Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the action-figure hilarity of Robot Chicken, the Death Metal doses of Metalocalypse, and the (sadly not made into a series) one-shot of Korgoth Of Barbaria. Also in that mix is The Venture Bros., a show created by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer (real names Chris McCulloch and Eric Hammer) that takes such classic cartoon adventure fare as Johnny Quest and twists, perverts, and pillages it for the story of the Venture family (sarcastic scientist Rusty and his two dimwitted teenage sons Dean and Hank), their bodyguard Brock Samson, a necromancer neighbour called Dr. Orpheus, and arch rival villain The Monarch and their various mis-adventures that involve them getting into all sorts of ridiculous situations.

The Venture Bros. is about as over-the-top as they tend to get. But unlike a lot of animated shows that skip from one joke to the next with no real purpose, McCulloch and Hammer's show actually carries over plot threads throughout the entire season - in fact, the thing has some continuity behind it. The second season's first episode ("Powerless in the Face of Death") has The Monarch escaping from jail and the story line progresses throughout the season's thirteen episodes ending with the two-part finale, "Showdown at Creation Creek", which brings The Monarch, The Ventures, and all the other characters peppered throughout the season to a big showdown between everyone that even ends with a cliffhanger.

It's this focus on having decent writing amongst all the ridiculousness and off-kilter humour that makes The Venture Bros. a lot better than you might expect. It might be a show that's not meant to be taken overly seriously, and it's a total spoof on a lot of the older Hannah-Barbara adventure cartoons, but there's enough of a heart beating below the surface to endure the characters to the viewer amongst all the chaos.

And chaos is what you'll get as the season shows Rusty becoming more bitter at his failure as a boy wonder turned weak scientist, the two brothers getting into all sorts of mishaps due to their small brains (the best moment coming in "Victor. Echo. November." when a double date leads to Dean enjoying a hand dryer way too much when he spills on his crotch area), and Brock being constantly caked in blood. And there's also The Monarch's bouts of self-doubt and neighbour Orpheus's over-the-top encounters with the supernatural.

Coming into the second season, I'll admit to have only seen bits and pieces of the show and not being very drawn into it. But when you actually sit down, watch the episodes in order, and catch on to the creator's off-beat senses of humour, The Venture Bros. actually becomes quite a charmer. It's filled with enough pop culture references and witty jokes to please and it's thickly-outlined animation style suits the premise perfectly.

That's not to say all thirteen episodes here are pure gold as a few just didn't click for me (the main culprit being, "Guess Who's Coming To State Dinner?", about the ghost of Lincoln helping stop an assassination plot), but this is a genuinely entertaining show that's definitely worth a look. I mean, where else are you going to get a satire of the Scooby-Doo gang that hits all our suspicions about the gang perfectly? And, just for the heck of it, a strung-out Johnny Quest even shows-up in one of the episodes.

Those with a keen ear will recognize the voice of Patrick Warburton ("Puddy" on Seinfeld) as Brock, busy character actor James Urbaniak as Rusty, as well as Dana Snyder ("Master Shake" on Aqua Teen Hunger Force) as Dr. Orpheus' team mate, The Alchemist. (Chris Hartley, 5/3/07)

Directed By: Various.
Written By: Various.

Starring: Various.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: The usual solid visual presentation of most "Adult Swim" discs is carried over here as the colour is vibrant, the picture is clean, and there's no noticeable 'motion blurrs' that tend to plague a lot of animated fare on DVD.

Extras: As with most "Adult Swim" season sets there's not a ton of extra material here as we get deleted scenes for every episode (some are storyboards, others finished animation) as well as the chintzy sci-fi (with dopey narration) featurette, "Tour of Astrobase Go" which gives us, obviously jokey, behind-the-scenes footage of McCulloch and Hammer working on the show.

By far the coolest extra here, though, is the inclusion of commentary tracks on EVERY episode. Most of these sets only contain a handful of episodes, but here every single one gets a go. And they're entertaining to boot being none-too-serious in tone and making for enjoyable listening. Not being a big fan of commentaries, I found these made for a good, never tiresome, listen.