As someone who's read the original Astro Boy manga and knows how messed up his backstory is, I can't even fathom what RoBoy went through in the Venture Bros universe.
@KirbyLinkACW Bro, I believe you can help me try’n to source a memory: the Gai-King cartoon from Japan that was dubbed & broadcast in the USA (could’ve been late 70s, could’ve been early 80s ) had a side-story in it, and in that side-story there existed a character that looked JUST LIKE Rō-Boy, and I was too young to understand everything, but I remember that side story VERY much messed with heart-strings, and had an uncommon sadness in it. (I would LOVE to see all those giant Japanese robot cartoons again… it’d be great if i could see them with the same dubbing that they had when I was in first-grade because part of this quest has to do with ‘scratching an itch’ that is my memory…) But, that wasn’t Rō-Boy embedded in Gai-King, was it ?
Frankly, those off-brand super heroes seemed to be combinations of DC and Marvel like the Amalgam universe. Warriana is Wonder Woman and Thor, Stars and Garters is Captain America and maybe either Superman or Green Lantern depending on your view, and Fallen Archer is a cross between Hawkeye and Green Arrow (that one is the most obvious because he looks like Green Arrow in Hawkeye's costume, physically)
You know what I love most about this show? Both Dc and Marvel exist in the venture bros series. Not like as actually heroes but as comic books and etc. it made me wonder if the heroes and villains of this show got inspired by those comic books or it just happened to be coincidence that they happened to have similar designs and powers. Btw I’m not talking about the creators but the in universe characters of the show.
you do realize the heroes in the show are probably so famous that they have comic books and merch made about them? their stories are probably being stolen or sold to dc and marvel not the other way around just like how miles morales is a huge spiderman fan and bought spiderman merch or like that little boy from iron man 2 had a iron man mask and gauntlet
@@achildnamedhotchick1739or more realistically, since arching is basically just man babies with dangerous toys they based themselves off comic books movies and tv shows because they’re all just losers trying to be the characters in the comics
But what about Bowie, Eno, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, The Buggles, Duran Duran (not named but directly referenced), Björk, Adam and the Ants, Depeche Mode, Prodigy, and The Residents? What about the Groovy gang being famous criminals as well as Scooby Doo? What about the stolen Rembrandt which is an actual stolen Rembrandt? What about the architecture? Architecture, dude! Let's face it, VB is an educational program. We didn't even mention the Star Wars shout-outs practically every episode.
Don't forget The Doors! "Father..." "Yes Hank?" "I want to kill you." "That's nice. Play pirates somewhere else, your father's busy." "Molotov--I want to... COME ON BABYYY WOOO YEAHHH" And oh my god all the Bowie references, especially the scene when the jet crashes. "I've got a message for the Action Man... I'm happy. I hope you're happy too. I've loved all I needed to love." lol
Don't forget about "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" by Damien Hirts. Dr. Dugong needed a shark, but Wide Whale brougth some expensive useless piece of art.
Cool thing I found out recently is that Treister was something of an inspiration for General Ross becoming Red Hulk. So much so that for his final appearance, they made Treister a Red Hulk in homage to Ross
I honestly thought Action Man was a combination of Winter Soldier and U.S. Agent or the Comedian. Also I thought Night Dick was a play on Dick Grayson and Dick Tracey.
There's a bunch of them that take multiple inspirations. This is but one example. Another is Tracter, who has obvious Nick Fury inspiration that wasn't mentioned here.
Couple missed ones were Laugh Riot being a reference to the Comedian from Watchmen, Stab Girl being a reference to Tank Girl, and Dr. Orpheus also being a reference to Dr. Fate. Those and of course all the celebrities shouted out when 21 was talking to 24s ghost before fighting Brock
Night dick is definitely more the spirit mixed with ghost rider. That's part of what makes the show great. It's a love letter to all the good ole' nerdy stuff people grew up on.
There's also reference to Mad Max 3 in the episode with Gargantua 1 destruction. In that episode Hank, sitting on robot's shoulders, asks who runs Bartertown. And in the episode "Venture Libre" Hank says: "When we get there, if he's in a pair of bicycle shorts talking about 'tears in the rain', you run like hell." It's a reference to Bladerunner of 1982
from what i read, Brick Frog was something they came up in highschool where they had a running joke about "the worst possible super villian ever". A frog that just throws bricks.
How dare you forget Firestarter by The Prodigy reference!! R.I.P. But seriously, great video. So many awesome references and homages in this show. Doc and Chris are a bunch of dang nerds and I love and miss them.
I love the idea that every form of pop culture really exists in the venture universe, but is twisted or parodied in some fashion. I personally would love to see a Ben 10 spoof in the future.
Ben 10,000 Ben's watch allows him to become any of 10,000 genders. His watch is full of gender fluid that allow him to "Shim / Herm" in a moments notice.
you mentioned the doom factory but you didn't mention that it was a reference to andy warhols, "The Factory" which was a group of artists during that time that just hanged out a lot together and would collaborate. The villains who inhabit the doom factory are parodies of the artists and actors who surrounded warhol along with being parody of the legion of doom. It surprisingly has multiple layers to it lol, but interesting and worthy of acknowledgement! Also how can you forget street life by the crusaders? Great video though, you were able to open my eyes up to references I never noticed or understood. I never realized that the monarchs henchmen were based on early x-man suits or how dr. orpheus was based on dr. strange. Venture Bros. is just so full of cultural references, I dont blame you if you missed a couple!
Definitely a fun video with some deep, DEEP cut references found and displayed...but also, quite a few pretty glaring omissions. But, that's alright, sometimes that sort of thing just slips one's mind. The ones that REALLY got stuck in my mind were O.S.I. being an amalgam of S.H.I.E.L.D., with infantry uniforms' design and the Hover-Quarters being a stand-in for Heli-carriers, and G.I. Joe, with the more themed/personalized character designs; some of those personalized O.S.I. operatives' outfits were a reference to the Village People's famous costumes; and General Treister had some (pre-Samuel L. Jackson) Nick Fury mixed into the Thunderbolt Ross.
Also in the Monarch’s unauthorized biography are pictures of Dr Girlfriend “skinny dipping with Jim Foetus!!” Jim Foetus is one of the many pseudonyms of J G Thirlwell, the composer of the Venture Brothers. When the Monarch puts on a lifelike mask of Dr Venture, he comments “It’s so smooth, it even feels like skin. Tells me how it feels to be new,” which is a direct quote from The Cure’s “Kyoto Song”.
I love that they keep showing objects/costumes that Augustus St. Cloud has (Bubo the owl, Sigmung the Sea Monster, Goldfinger's outfit, the ball) but those aren't references, Augustus just owns those objects, he even talks about how he had to have the Goldfinger suit tailored to fit him
at 12:06 in Dermott's room is a Dethklok poster from the show Metalocalypse my favorite show and band if I may say lmao. Great video! I love seeing videos of shows referencing other shows.
Catclops was more based on the myriad Nick Fury copies in the comics industry, more than he was Cyclops. I was of the impression he was most closely mocking John Lynch from Wild Storm comics.
Really nice finds! Night Dick also references Dick Tracy. General Traister also references Teddy Roosevelt (that's clearly a Rough Rider uniform). Sgt. Hatred is also a reference to Sgt. Slaughter from G.I. Joe. Your Total Recall pick is spot on for Tiny Attorney - I thought he was a reference to Master Blaster from Mad Max.
The episode "What Goes Down Must Come Up" from Season 3 is full of music references besides The Prodigy, including Bowie's harlequin outfit from the "Ashes to Ashes" video, The Art of Noise, and Devo's General Boy and Booji Boy. The huge number of references & Easter eggs combined with the tight continuity give this show huge rewatchability and make it one of my all-time favorites!
The fallen archer is a mix of hawkeye (color of his costume) and green arrow (hood and mask, blonde beard and moustache) and both of course are archers obviously 😂.
The Action Man is more like old-school Captain America, but in later seasons we were introduced to the modern Captain America (in a skirt) and Wonder Woman parodies.
Here are some from me, references to the Sovereign himself, David Bowie: + The Action Man is a reference to the David Bowie song Ashes to Ashes. + The part where Major Tom (another Bowie reference, Space Oddity) pilots his spaceship into oblivion with Jonas Venture communicating with him, almost everything said are lyrics from Space Oddity or Ashes to Ashes. + Jonas also says something about the TVC15 in that same scene, 'TVC15' being a song from Station to Station, another Bowie album. + When Bowie morphs back from being in cigarette form and punches Iggy Pop, he says "make way for the homo superior!" This is a lyric from 'Oh You Pretty Things' from Hunky Dory. + 'The Diamond Dogs' are referenced many times throughout the show as Bowie's hunter-soldiers, which references the concept album and song Diamond Dogs. They fill a similar role in the album's story. + Dean exclaims "it's like Dracula versus Yoda in there!" when Bowie is fighting Phantom Limb, which COULD be a reference to the fact that Bowie once played a vampire in 1983's The Hunger. Perhaps the Yoda part is a reference I don't get, or not a reference at all (seems unlikely given that this is Venture Bros). + David is called 'the thin white d*****' as an insult at one point, a reference to his 'Thin White Duke' character. + When Brock says "you're lucky I don't kill you right here after what you pulled in Berlin", he is likely referring to the time Bowie spent in the German capital creating the so-called 'Berlin trilogy', often thought of as Bowie's finest work (Low, Heroes, and Lodger, though yes, I know, Lodger may not have been written there). + Bowie helped Iggy Pop reach a larger audience, helping produce one of his albums and playing drums on his most famous song, 'Lust for Life' (which is also referenced in the show if memory serves). Klaus Nomi was likewise a sort of niche celebrity Bowie worked with and dramatically raised the profile of, peaking with the Saturday Night Live performance that received rave reviews (December 15th, 1979). Iggy and Klaus being Bowie's personal henchman is, I imagine, a reference to how Bowie brought both to their widest audience and most critically lauded performances, which they could not surpass on their own. + When Iggy initially betrays Bowie, he laments "thirty years of playing the idiot". This is a reference to the title of the aforementioned Bowie-produced Iggy Pop album, entitled 'The Idiot'. + At the wedding Brock warns Bowie "don't enter until the second verse", to which Bowie responds "I know when to go out!" This is a reference to the song 'Modern Love' off of the album 'Let's Dance', which opens with Bowie saying 'I know when to go out/I know when to stay in/Get things done' before he begins singing. --------------------------------- I have no doubt there are MANY more Bowie references, these are largely off the top of my head, combined with watching two clips on YT to get specific lines right/make sure I am not misremembering. I also didn't include any where they *directly* referenced something (for example, when one of the henchman tells Bowie he thought 'Hours...' was underrated). Wasn't there a Scooby Doo spoof episode? Maybe I missed that you mentioned that. Also, I think the bow and arrow guy is an amalgamation of Hawkeye, yes, but also Green Arrow (facial hair, hood). I also think Underbite is a composite as well, Dr. Doom as you mentioned but also Apocalypse, the X-Men villain. [Yes, I know how old this video is, but I enjoyed writing this and who knows, maybe someone else will enjoy learning about these references :)]
I responded to your other comment but seriously thank you for posting this, I completely missed a few of these! Like Iggy Pop's album The Idiot, and Bowie saying "I know when to go out." Modern Love is one of my favorite songs and somehow that one flew right past me lol
Captain Sunshine was also a reference to Saturday morning superhero shows when the narrator explains how the Captain actually becomes more powerful thanks to Monarch's weapon. Also, "Sunshine Superman" was a hit for the singer Donovan back in the '60s. ("Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me....")
Pretty good video but what about all the doom factory people? Theyre almost 1:1 parodies of the the Legion of Doom, even their intro scene is just the legion of dooms intro scene reanimated. Funfact: That flashback with Dr.Z and action johnny with the dog and the anubis head is also an old scene from Johnny Quest but reanimated.
Also, I took Boggles the Clue Clown as a double reference to Joker & the Riddler. Also, I'm pretty sure that Laugh Riot is partly based on The Comedian.
There are also some references to classical music as well! Guatav Holst’s “Mars” from The Planets was used when the monarch gets out of jail and calls 21 and 24. “Jupiter” was also used, I believe in the wedding episode Edit: “Mars” was a big inspiration for the imperial march in Star Wars
I think Boggles is a combo of Joker and Riddler. And Fallen Archer is a combo of Green Arrow and Hawkeye. And the Venture Bros. themselves are a combo of Johnny Quest and the Harvey Boys.
The into scene for Brown Widow is um... Hard to forget. If you ever wondered what a blown out orifice filled with white frosting looks like when it's being cleaned by a giant swab it will more than satisfy your curiosity. I think I need to get my hands on one of those little doodads from Men In Black so I don't have to think about it anymore.
Very Nice, but you missed a good opportunity right after the Sphinx reference: David Bowie. The character of Sovereign (I’m guessing he was the leader of Sphinx), was a dead ringer for Bowie, with the skinny frame, short blonde hair, and the distinctive mismatched eyes. He was shown in his true form in Red Death’s flashback of what happened when a younger Red Death and his companions stormed the space station the same night the Movie Night massacre happened (during which all of the would be villains were killed, except for Red Death. After scolding Red Death for his massive blunder, The Bowie-Esque character changed into the leader of Sphinx, who set off the Pyramid Wars. Just saying; other than that, great job!
I thought action man was inspired design-wise by man-at-arms (he-man) also, brock's backstory is inspired by the 1930 novel Gladiator, it's the same as the protagonist's reason why he ran away from college (guilt from accidental murder of a fellow football player)
In the intro to the season one episode 'Ghosts of the Sargasso' as the spaceship crashes they use lyrics from David Bowie's _Space Odyssey_ as dialog: "I'm feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very much" "She knows!" "Ground Control to Major Tom Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom?"
Brainulo is a reference to like a dozen silver age villains. Big headed space-gremlin is practically an archetype. The creature king from space ghost and the Great Gazoo are two examples.
This video's good so far though I am a little disappointed that you didn't put in snippets of music from the musicians that were referenced like Hamon Beat does for his music references in JoJo's Bizarre Adventures videos.
"I was going to 'The Batcave' when Nick Fiend was still the doorman". The Batcave was (is, hopefully) an alternative club in London and Nick Fiend founded the amazing (post punk, I guess) group 'Alien Sex Fiend'. Take a listen.
Also big three you missed the alchemist based on dr Druid a marvel comics character from the old suns of midnight comics and shore leave is directly based on shipwreck and lastly the master is basically the ancient one
I have some suggestions/corrections on the comic book front. King Gorilla-Monsieur Mallah Prest-O Change-O -Impossible Man Night Dick-The Spirit Action Man-Peacemaker Otto Aquarius-Namor Wild Fop-Joker Boggles, The Clue Clown-Riddler Stars & Garters-US Agent Jonas Venture-Doc Savage Steppenwolf-Man-Bat Scorpio-Batroc Ze Leaper Frigid-Captain Cold Wes Warhammer-Lex Luthor Stab Girl-Harley Quinn Laugh Riot-The Comedian Think Tank-MODOK Sgt. Hatred-Nuke Manotaur-Man-Bull
It always cracks me up the way they remake a character and when they first make an appearance it looking for who it is in the comics... also the way they did Mr. Fantastic is hilariously wrong, Susan asks him “what’s more important than ur family?” And he says “science”. That’s exactly the problem he has in the comics. 🤣
@@StanSeder You're welcome. I didn't know if it was maybe an error in translation, presuming the possibility that English isn't your first language, or that if it is maybe that your mind was getting it mixed up with _Attack on Titan._
Fat Chance is likely a reference to Chunk, a Flash character who became obese due to a scientific mishap but now has access to a pocket dimension Loads of bands get namechecked including The Buggles, The Residents, Adam and the Ants, Depeche Mode, and The Stooges. Booji Boy and General Boy of Devo fame show up in Season 3, Episode 7. In the same episode, one of the Rustys is a dead ringer for the singer in the Firestarter music video by Prodigy.
Catclops is far more Nick Fury than Cyclops. And the Action Man is a military action figure from the UK in the 60's what was their take on the original GIJoe 12" action figure.Tosh Tompkins of the Crusaders Action League is named Stars and Garters, which is a deep cut to a phrase Hank McCoy (Beast) from the X-Men used to say "Oh my stars and garters!"
I'm sure Laugh Riot at the diner scene with Red Death, Vendata and Mr Fahrenheit was an amalgam of Krusty and the Comedian, with the three tufts of green hair and the body armor with smilies.
Here to try to dispel a common misconception. Gaetan Dugas was not 'patient zero'. He was patient O (the letter). He was labeled this because he was an outsider, a non-resident just visiting the community that was being studied for the disease. I believe the source of this confusion is And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts who misinterpreted the source he was reading and highlighted Dugas as a villain in his book. While Gaetan was a selfish asshole whose actions directly and indirectly contributed to the deaths of dozens of people, there is no evidence that he was responsible for bringing the disease to the U.S.A, Canada, or California. The idea of patient zero only exists because of this miscommunication and there are no epidemiology studies that refer to a patient zero prior to this.
