Jackson Publick
When The Venture Bros. premièred in 2004, creator Jackson Publick and partner Doc Hammer could have coasted along on their concept, which centered on adventure and supervillain archetypes slathered in compulsively nerdy dialogue. Instead, they built a rich, self-mocking universe around super-scientist Dr. Rusty Venture, his twin sons Hank and Dean, and their butterfly-costumed nemesis the Monarch. It's easy to make asses out of characters like this, especially in front of Adult Swim fans who grew up on Space Ghost Coast To Coast, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law, and Sealab 2021. The difference is that Publick and Hammer work their plot tangents into a larger story, all while testing the tempers, moral flexibility, and bantering talents of venal heroes and bureaucratically regulated villains. The show's third season throws further shocks into the story. Before Sunday night's première on Adult Swim, Publick spoke with The A.V. Club about story arcs and speed suits.
The A.V. Club: Judging from the first two episodes of the new season, you've got some pretty big shifts planned in the larger plotlines. How far in advance do you decide where it's going?
Jackson Publick: We often start a season with a few goals. We don't have an overall plan, but usually some character's plotline is kind of demanding an arc. Season one, it was Dr. Venture. Season two, it was the Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend breaking up and getting back together. So it's just kind of a general arc, and a kind of shortlist of things we want to accomplish before the end of the season. We seed those things as consciously as we can.
Doc and I are writing separately, often, and turning in our scripts in a row, so one of us will see what the other one did in the other episode and throw that little plot or backstory element a bone. It kind of organically builds on itself, and in the end, it looks a little more like we know what we're doing than we actually do. But we do kinda know what we're doing. [Laughs.]
AVC: Pretty much all the characters in the show are subject to mockery, but you seem to see some value in spending a lot of time with them over the course of a larger plot.
JP: I think it's more fun to grow to love characters who are flawed than it is to present perfect characters. Perfect characters aren't very funny. Certainly my friends are a strange, intense bunch of people, and people's families drive them crazy, but challenging relationships are always more rewarding. It was always our goal to have Dr. Venture be kind of the central character and be kind of an asshole, but somebody that you eventually grow to love. He's a mouthpiece for your snottiest, innermost thoughts, and he can also be a target for cathartic release when he's being too much of an asshole.
AVC: Do you feel that some of the characters are more respectable than others?
JP: Uh, yes. Sure. Certain characters follow a personal code a little more than others. I think Dr. Orpheus is a genuinely decent person, but he's kind of a nerd. He's the one who gets all excited about these things and wants to do good, and he's surrounded by people who make fun of him for it. Brock Samson, yes, he'll kill anybody and he'll screw anybody, but he is clearly living his life by a certain code, and is a little above a lot of the nonsense around him. And he just kind of doesn't take any shit. The boys are good. Hank's a little not as good as Dean, but Hank's also a little crazier, so he'll probably turn out okay. The Monarch is actually a terrible person, but you grow to love him because he's ultimately fragile and flawed, and you feel sorry for him and you can relate to him. He's the guy who explodes at you and then says he's sorry, or he's forced to.
AVC: It feels like the show gives viewers a lot of freedom to choose who they respect or sympathize with.