Greetings, citizens! Robogeek here, after a year-and-a-half absence. Hey, I've been busy. With... stuff. But something compelled me to return. A revelation too important not to impart. Knowledge too sacred not to be shared.

Sure, I've been terribly tempted of late to submit reviews of SKY CAPTAIN and BEFORE SUNSET and HERO and GITS2: INNOCENCE (and SPIDER-MAN 2 and THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN), all of which I dearly love. But they have not gone wanting for attention and support on this site -- nor has LOST, my favorite new network show this year. (Though I would humbly submit that FX's RESCUE ME is worthy of more attention, as is Fox's ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, but I digress.)

No, the thing that pushed me over the edge is a little slice of genius called THE VENTURE BROS. It is quite simply the greatest thing Cartoon Network has ever produced.

Now, just so you know, I've been a Cartoon Network devotee since the dawn of its existence. I diligently watched the Cartoon Planet New Year's Eve Marathon in 1996, and still have it on tape. I proudly own the ultra rare Cartoon Planet Band: Modern Music for Swinging Superheroes promo CD. I've seen every episode of SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST. I love SEALAB 2021 (though admittedly less so since the loss of Murphy). I love JUSTICE LEAGUE (though I wish there was more Dini; "This Little Piggy" was brilliant!). And of course who doesn't love SAMURAI JACK and DEXTER'S LABORATORY? Hell, Cartoon Network even assuaged the pain of the prequels by giving us CLONE WARS (which is kinda what I thought the whole point of the prequels were).

But THE VENTURE BROS. towers over all. It is unbridled brilliance, unadulterated insanity, unapologetic glee. It has no right to exist in a rational universe. Thankfully, we don't live in one.

How on earth to describe THE VENTURE BROS.? The simplest way may be "Johnny Quest on crack," though that's a grossly unfair simplification. It's the brainchild of Jackson Publick (aka Chris McCulloch, Ben Edlund protégé and former writer for both TICK series), and is equal parts love letter to and brutal parody of vintage '60s adventure cartoons like Johnny Quest, with a dash of Scooby Doo and The Hardy Boys thrown in for good measure. (And if you missed last week's wickedly ingenious tour-de-force riff on The Fantastic Four, I whole-heartedly pity you.)

Doctor Venture (voiced by James Urbaniak, who you may recall as Robert Crumb in AMERICAN SPLENDOR) is sort of a pill-popping, maladjusted, Bizarro World grown-up version of Johnny Quest, saddled with the burden of never quite living up to his legendary father, while also dealing with two dim-witted sons of his own -- the eponymous Venture Bros., Hank and Dean (voiced by McCulloch and Michael Sinterniklaas), who wear Aquaman and Spider-Man underoos. Thrown into the mix is Dr. Venture's archetypal bodyguard, the badass Brock Samson (voiced brilliantly by Patrick Warburton), who's perpetually a hair-trigger away from unleashing wanton violence.

I could go on and on but I don't want to spoil the joy. You should just watch it. Give it a try or two, and I think you'll dig it.

THE VENTURE BROS. is a Noodlesoup Production, and airs on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim Saturday nights at 11pm, with repeats Sunday at 2am, and Mondays at 12:30am and 3:30am. (Times are EST/PST; subtract an hour for CST.)

Go Team Venture!

Robogeek

P.S.: The good folks at IGN FilmForce have lots of great Venture Bros. coverage, interviews and such.

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