Mantis-Eye At NYCC 2011: Venture Bros. Panel
The Venture Bros. panel at NYCC continues to be one of the most popular panels at the convention and given the massive size of the IGN Theater and the fact that it was packed full of people this year proved no different. Sadly, with the Shallow Gravy special already aired and season five in pre-production there wasn't much for Jackson and Doc to actually talk about. Their theme for this panel (and much of the day) was that they were jet-setters who just flew in from somewhere on their private jet because they remembered that they had to be at New York Comic Con. They were away pillaging a native village and exploiting the inhabitants and doing things like drinking and getting into fist fights (because they're burtal martial artists). The facade was completed by their tuxedos with untied bow ties and partially unbuttoned shirts as well as their martini glasses (which were later revealed to contain water).
However, in Jackson's words: "We've got nothing." So instead a few questions submitted via the Adult Swim website were answered. Mind you, many of the questions were pretty silly and caused a weird tangent or two, but these tangents are the reason we love Jackson and Doc, and the reason to see them speak at a panel.
Of course the subject of a Rusty Venture came up, and Jackson and Doc more or less confirmed that what Brock said in the episode ('masturbating to a scar') was likely the correct one since Dr. Venture isn't a triumphant sex act in any way. Jackson did note that he thought it might involve a barrel of some sort. Related to that subject, one of the least informative but funniest questions asked was who you would rather get Rusty Venture from: Shoreleave, Henchman 21 (Gary), Dr. Mrs. The Monarch or HELPeR. They threw out Dr. Mrs. right away since she was the most obvious answer and from the remaining choices Jackson selected Shoreleave ("because he's probaby going to be really good at it") and Doc went with Henchman 21 because he's very "plush." It was also decided that the optimal homosexual situation, given the characters, would be Shoreleave, glory hole, mouth. So just in case you were wondering.
Another question posed was how to find the "Escape to the House of Mummies, Part I" easter egg on the season two DVD, which of course they admitted was not actually an easter egg since it would involve them hiding actual content that they would have slaved over.
At some point while talking about their writing process and where they keep ideas, Doc noted that his phone also contained things unrelated to The Venture Bros., namely a list of things that he didn't want to hear people say. He then proceeded to list off all the things on his list. Presented with additional comments, and thanks to IGN for getting all these:
Hot mess.
Literally, when it's not a literal situation.
Totes.
In my humble opinion. ("It's like just going, 'I'm a great big douchebag.'")
Redonkulous.
Awesomesauce. ("Time's up on anything-sauce")
In your face.
Rocking out.
It is what it is. ("Basically, you just lost an argument")
Conversate ("Not a word, people")
Underwhelm (Hammer then decided to add "meh" to his list)
Sick puppy.
Big time.
Take it to the next level.
Get your 'blank' on. ("Oh, I'm gonna get my water on!")
Go big or go home.
Wow factor.
Pure win.
Rawk.
Bring your A game.
'Meh' was also added to the list during the panel when Jackson said it when Doc mentioned 'underwhelm' (which Jackson pointed out was a real word). The other major tangent was Doc's story about not being able to escape his apartment because the door sometimes gets stuck from the inside and all the old ladies he lives on the same floor as were too scared to help him out. Doc also apparently doesn't have internet or cable TV at his apartment since he doesn't want to be distracted.
Other questions answered (some not for the first time) include if or not Ghost Robot was actually dead: he's a ghost, which is already dead, and a robot, which was never alive to begin with, so you do the math. Venturestein will return, Col. Gentleman will possibly be dressing his dog up as buildings this season and 21 is not Hank's father (what?). After this they decided to answer some questions from the actual audience with most of them getting the usual "if it happens it'll happen in the show", though someone did ask the particularly hilarious question if Jackson and Doc had day jobs to "support their art." Jackson of course pointed out that they get paid a bunch of money to do what they do.
All in all we got some goofy and silly questions since it's one of those between-seasons panel, but some interesting things were answered and as always a fun time was had. Next year's crop of Venture Bros. panels are sure to be exciting since they will likely be deep into production by that point, though they still likely won't answer your questions about if or not Molotov is alive or if Kim is ever coming back.
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