Here at Techland, only one television program manages to tie into so many of our geeky obsessions all at once. Superheroes, mythical creatures, action figures and barely believeable sci-fi all flop onto each other on the glorious cavalcade that is The Venture Bros. Cartoon Network’s just started airing the series from the start and Techland’s Hive Mind is taking the occasion to re-watch the exploits of Hank, Dean, Brock and Dr. Thaddeus Venture. Join us as we witness how Venture Bros. evolved over its four stellar seasons.
[Programmming note: Anyone who’s been actually watching the Venture Bros. re-runs has noticed by now that they’re not showing the series in order. Rather than jump around the continuity, the Joint Venture feature’s going to keep going on in series order. This is because we love you, dear reader.]
This week, Michelle Castillo and Graeme McMillan talk about Season 1/Episode 7: “Ice Station Impossible”
MICHELLE: Even if you aren’t a huge comic book nerd, cult movie buff or Saturday morning cartoon geek, you could clearly see that “Ice Station Impossible” was a parody of all those mentioned. The cheesy, punny line about leaving the party early “not that it hasn’t been a blast” has probably been iterated in some variation in almost all spy films. The question about how to pee in superhero suits was finally answered. This episode showed what Venture Bros. loves to do: Poke fun at shows and films that we all love while pointing out how bad and not clever they really are.
GRAEME: There’s something about “Ice Station – Impossible!” that just feels broader than usual. Not that it’s bad – Any episode where Hank becomes a living timebomb that just doesn’t go off because science has failed fits right into the Venture worldview, as far as I’m concerned – it’s more that it’s… off, somehow. As if the show had a bad night but still managed to turn things around. This is a weirdly unsubtle episode. I don’t know if it’s because we actually get to see the “real” Race Bannon die right at the start, instead of an analog (And, before he does die, the inspiration behind Brock is laid bare – especially with the lighting cigarette during parachute fall moment) or because the Fantastic Four parody is so in-your-face.
MICHELLE: I did enjoy when the Human Torch started screaming that it burns and had to be saved by The Thing, but it was painfully obvious when Richard/Professor Impossible started stretching all over the place he was Mr. Fantastic. Venture Bros. is normally a little more subtle. But back to the Fantastic Four, I have to agree with Sally on this one. Their powers make it hard to assimilate into normal life, and Richard/Professor Impossible/Mr. Fantastic is the lucky one even though he caused all their afflictions. “Yeah, super stretchy isn’t so bad by comparison”: Doctor Venture, you may be right.
GRAEME: Even if the Impossible Family is a little too on-the-nose, I really like Professor Impossible, especially for the slow reveal that he may be a super-scientist, but he’s also more than a little creepy: “What are you doing out of your room during business hours?” comes out of nowhere, at first, but by the time he’s shown that he’s perfectly willing to calmly kill Rusty not for coming onto his wife, but for going into a restricted area of the lab, he’s turned into a supervillain in all but name (That, of course, comes later). Stephen Colbert’s acting helps a lot, with its understated self-importance.
MICHELLE: I didn’t realize it was Stephen Colbert until you mentioned it! He did sound familiar. Anyway, Rusty’s wife reminds us that the majority of comic books and action movie women are supposed to be meek, mild people until you get them alone where they use their sexual powers to seduce those around them. Well, unless you are Molotov Cocktease and are a deadly vixen all the time.
It’s also about this time that we first start realizing how annoying Hank and Dean really are. They are completely useless, although you have to admit that Dean Venture’s idea that the next best thing to spy black is cowboy clothes is slightly worth a chortle.
GRAEME: Best line: “Brock! I think I worked out why the plane crashed! There were SKELETONS driving it!”
MICHELLE: Best Line: “Squeaked by with a sympathy D. My Dad died that semester.” A little morbid, but sympathy grades are always worth a laugh.
GRAEME: (Also fun: the hallucinated Sally’s “I know how to keep you warm!” while her crotch starts to glow. Oh, Rusty…)
More on TIME.com:
Emanata: What I’m Grateful For in Comics, 2010