Against all odds, Cartoon Network is becoming the hip network du jour. Its Adult Swim lineup is an enormous hit on college campuses, thanks in no small part to the network's shrewd use of college students to host keggers and give away schwag to their peers. The Navel Lint Network could become a campus sensation with that strategy.
Be that as it may, there's some great stuff to be discovered on Cartoon Network. My latest find is The Venture Brothers, a sensational homage to the adventure shows of yesteryear. The formula is lifted straight out of Jonny Quest-- two boys have adventures with their scientist father and a beefcake protector-- but refracted through a Gen-X lens that simultaneously updates the genre and retargets it at a more mature audience. If I mention that muscle-man Brock (voiced by Patrick Warburton) lusts after Russian femme fatale Molotov Cocktease and dispatches any threat with indiscriminate violence, the boys' father sports a hipster goatee and can't stand his children, and the boys hold each other down and dangle loogies over their faces, you'll get the general idea-- Jonny Quest was never like this. The artwork is crisp and bold, the writing witty and engaging, and the opening credits captures the style and conventions of the sixties adventure genre to perfection. It's funny, engaging, clever, and brilliantly executed. I'm hooked.
Posted by Peter at September 5, 2004 01:59 PM