Writing for New York Magazine’s Vulture blog, Heidi MacDonald chats with Jackson Publick, creator of the Venture Bros., about the show:
It does tie in with the whole theme of the show the way it’s evolved. It started out as a parody of Jonny Quest, and now it’s become this meditation on failure.
I probably wouldn’t have put it into those words or thought about it philosophically, but I guess it always was. The main character for me has always been Dr. Venture, and his story is one of a failed boy adventurer. Plus, I was always interested in the rust that’s accumulated on the Space Age.Do you ever have a hard time not letting Brock take over, since he’s the only person who is competent?
Actually we have a harder time remembering to write cool shit for him. A lot of fans, particularly younger ones, were upset that in season two every episode didn’t have Brock seeing red and flipping out and tearing people in two. It became more fun to play him against type and put him in nanny predicaments. But we remember to make him kill stuff or fuck stuff every once in a while.
Related: The Onion’s A.V. Club also talks with Publick
