The Mantis-Eye Experiment

And what of your other [straight] characters? What’s your mindset [when writing for them]?

Doc Hammer: Jackson and I are not gay and we’re not supervillains and we’re not women. We’re not any of these things. We draw upon them the same way we would any other character. If you write for a character that has the same sexual preference as you, doesn’t matter, they’re not you. So when we write a gay character, it’s just one more thing that he has.

Jackson Publick: Yeah, we write them differently but no differently than all the real character specifics that we take into account when we’re writing anybody else.

The Venture Bros. (Adult Swim): Creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer will discuss their original series and answer fan questions. Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, [Friday] 11-11:45 a.m.

VENTURE BROTHERS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL -- This October on Adult Swim, the Venture Family fills your Halloween goody bag with fun-sized Truth. Created and directed by Jackson Publick and written by Publick and Doc Hammer, both of whom also provide voices for the special, the Venture Brothers Halloween Special is being animated by Titmouse, Inc.

After yesterday's speculation on season 5, Jackson was nice enough to give me some more specifics on what exactly is going on. On how the episode production pipeline is going he had this to say (emphasis mine):

Things are moving briskly over here at Venture Central/AstroBase/Titmouse. The first episode just shipped to Korea. But you're wrong about one thing--it doesn't take nine months to animate overseas. Nine months is more like the time it takes to complete an episode from initial design to final edit, so it includes pre-production. Actually, it's more like ten months, since we began design on the first episode the first week of the new year, and we'll be delivering it to the network in early October. According to our schedule--and assuming we keep to it--all ten episodes will be completed and delivered by the end of January. Which is roughly when we're supposed to premiere the fifth season.

So, new Venture Bros. to kick off the new year? Sounds like a plan! Jackson also noted that he and Doc likely will be attending all three conventions this summer (SDCC, Dragon*Con and NYCC) and they promise to show off whatever they have ready at the time. SDCC comes a little too early in production so they might not have any stuff to show off just yet, but Dragon*Con and NYCC will "maybe kinda" have some sort of trailer.

And finally, he promises that he still loves you all and will start posting art and whatever else on his LiveJournal fairly soon. Thanks, Jackson!