Neatorama » Blog Archive » E-Mail » Five Cartoons You Should Look Into

E-Mail Post To A Friend

Email a copy of 'Five Cartoons You Should Look Into' to a friend

Loading ...

74 Comments to "Five Cartoons You Should Look Into"

Xopl
April 18th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
While I’ll admit I enjoyed your summary descriptions of the shows, I don’t think Adult Swim really needs any marketing from Neatorama.

Also… you can maybe trademark a band name, but you definitely can’t copyright one.
Chad
April 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I love all of the above-mentioned shows, but my favorite is The Venture Bros. which is a dysfunctional parallel of Jonny Quest.

I wasn’t really a fan of anime until I got hooked on Cowboy Bebop- great scifi!
SenorMysterioso
April 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Bizarro I love you bizarro
Ali S.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I don’t mind watching Cartoons such as Spongebob Squarepants when I come home or whenever I feel sick and stay in. Then there is my favorite Anime such as Ghost in the Shell (movies and series)…any anime that is catered to adults with great stories and intrigue appeals to me.
kuanes
April 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Bizarro, i’m helping….Bizarro, i’m helping…Bizarro, i’m helping….

-best episode of Sealab 2021 EVAH!
luvpumpkns
April 18th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
tom goes to the mayor is great… and no mention of aqua teen hunger force? best. show. ever.
Nate
April 18th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
OOOH You should add Venture Brothers!!!
mmat
April 18th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
dude, you totally left out The Brak Show and Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Zach
April 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I love love LOVE Frisky Dingo but I don’t know anyone else who watches it. And I can’t get people to pick it up because the plot is so complicated. And FAST! In just the first season, only 2:20 combined run time, Killface launches his plan, Xander makes him into a villain, Watley becomes a crab-man, Grace is transformed into the villain Antagone, Killface gets blinded, Xander gets blinded, Simon becomes a bigshot in the underground rabbit-fight culture, Killface and Xander are kidnapped and pressed into a sweatshop, Sinn takes over the Xtacles, and Simon initiates the Annihilatrix.
What I love most is the repetition of certain themes and phrases like establishing boundaries or did not see that coming or I don’t have insurance.
Dan
April 18th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I’m a HUGE FAN of Tom Goes to the Mayor. The animation is very original and simple, and the humor is right on. The Venture Brothers are fantastic, also. Venture strays away from a lot of the other classic adultswim comedy cartoons; the humor is great, but even without it, it could survive as a superhero/supervillain show (albeit a mighty weird one!)
Another Chad
April 18th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I have to agree with Previous Chad. The Venture Bros. for the win.
gabser
April 18th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
“You want the mustache on or off?”

“Off.”

Pause.

“Too bad.”
Emily M
April 18th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Wow I didn’t know that One of the writers for Space Ghost was Joel Hodgson! I love MST3K! No wonder I finds Space Ghost hilarious.

Also I forgot Metalocalypse existed! I love that show!
SenorMysterioso
April 18th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
We now decree your island the Deathklok home for wayward kitties. Release the kitties!
jim
April 18th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Venture Bros all the way!
Rick in SF
April 18th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Frisky Dingo and Venture Brothers make me laugh out loud.
Mattie
April 18th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I totally agree with the consensus here: Venture Bros. is awesome!

I also REALLY enjoy The Oblongs and hate the fact it only had one season. My very favorite (and I can’t believe you listed Metalocalypse and not this one) is Home Movies. That is a perfect cartoon, if you ask me.
Xavier
April 18th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Correction: the second tattoo Murderface has on his body is “This Mess is a Place,” not “This Place is a Mess.”

And I love how there’s a Killface in Frisky Dingo, and Murderface in Metalocalypse.

And I agree, Venture Bros. is awesome! Go Team Venture!
stacyj
April 18th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
How delightful that there are so many fellow Venture Brother fans out there, that show cracks me up AND in some ways is far more interestingly subtle and clever than most AS shows. Not to mention, I absolutely LOVE Dr. Orpheus, life must be so much more fun when lived so “epically” =)

Though I must agree with Xopl that Adult Swim doesn’t really need more marketing - delighted though I am to see an animation-oriented post there are so many non-AS cartoons out there that folks ought to hunt down, too! The (sadly underwatched, but still occasionally aired) Dave the Barbarian was hilarious in a goofy way, and of course there were things like Clone High (the Marilyn Manson clip still makes my universe sparkle) and The Tick … and except for the mostly atrocious Season 5, Cartoon Network’s Ed, Edd n Eddy is actually quite funny, especially if you remember what it was like to be one of the neighborhood dorks yourself growing up - check out the “From Here to Ed” or “Mirror Mirror on the Ed” if you’ve never seen the show before, they’re delightfully quirky. Cartoons rule - more animation-based posts, please! =)
Paul in Cin Citi
April 18th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Let me also add…The Venture Brothers. Cartoons that make references to both Lydia Lunch and Star Trek are rare. It’s true.
Cheri
April 18th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Yay for Venture Bros! I was so excited to see so many poeple liked that show. New episodes in June I think! Brock is my favorite….
Sise
April 18th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
AwWwww The Oblongs!
Pickles Oblong reminds me of my gramma
marcnm
April 18th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
You shall all suffer the STING OF THE MONARCH!

Ahh I miss Sealab too.
Jsahko
April 18th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Branch out, man. Something that’s not on adult swim perhaps? At least no one favorite’d Boondocks. That show’s barf.

Charlie and Lola (great for kids, fun for adults and always extremely very clever), Mr Meaty (almost cartoon. it’s puppets), Venture Bros. (say n’ more), Bleach (fckin rocks).

Oh yeah, Family Guy = teh suck1!
Nostra
April 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
These are all from Adult Swim. Are there even any mature cartoons(oxymoron?) that aren’t broadcast by this group?
Nostra
April 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Oh, and Sealab is the greatest thing ever.
Phil Nelson
April 18th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Would like to also voice my support of The Venture Brothers.
Erik
April 18th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
My top three (not just Adult Swim!)

1. Venture Bros.
2. Lucy, Daughter of the Devil
3. Invader Zim
kat
April 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
i loved the episode of space ghost when bjork guest starred. even though she annoys the crap out of me, the show was hilarious. several of my friends have cds put out my [adult swim] with all the songs from space ghost. “oh mashed potatoes!”
venture brothers rocks my world and aqua teen hunger force is awesome.

i’m not a huge fan of anime, but i love cowboy bebop and trigun. i would totally become a cartoon if i could either marry nicholas d. wolfwood or spike…. of course both of them die at the end of their series.
bean
April 18th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Harvey Birdman and Venture Brothers are two of the best shows on television, including live action shows and dramas. I’m still pissed that Birdman ended after like three seasons, but at least Venture Brothers is still going strong, and Frisky Dingo is getting better. I just wish adultswim would get rid of all that crappy japanimation and the live action ego stroking junk. adultswim is supposed to be about adult-themed parodies of old Hanna-Barbera characters.
chriscyrek
April 18th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Bite my SHINY METAL ASS
Lemons
April 18th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Every time I see a picture of Metalocalypse, I can’t help but think of Apocalyptica instead. Heavy metal cellos rock.

Shocking as this may be for a college student, I’ve actually never followed Adult Swim, because I’m so used to not having cable channels by now. I keep meaning to catch some of the ‘retooled’ cartoons because I loved Space Ghost and Jonny Quest…I don’t need my cartoons to be grown-up. I’m fine with childish.
Gerry
April 18th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Definitely a fan of Harvey Birdman and Venture Brothers.

Nice to see some real satire being produced….
jessleigh
April 18th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Space Ghost is the best cartoon in HISTORY. I laugh out loud every time I watch it!
Persephone
April 18th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Boondocks is most definitely not barf. Any other cartoons with Samuel L. Jackson voicing a character? Didn’t think so.

For non-adult swim: Rocko’s Modern Life.
Dean Venture
April 18th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Where’s Venture Brothers?!?! 3rd season long time coming this June.
BMnkyStar
April 18th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I am a huge fan of all of these shows, especially Venture Bros.

BTW all of these shows have the most amazing theme songs. In order of my favorites:

1. Harvey Birdman
2. ATHF
3. Sealab 2021
4. Metalocalypse
Jsahko
April 18th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Samuel L. Jackson is definitely a cartoon. He doesn’t need to voice anything to prove that.
SenorMysterioso
April 18th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Yes Persephone there is, Afro Samurai
RL
April 18th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
VENTURE BROTHERS!
kristi
April 18th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Squidbillies is outstandiner than hayell. Main character Early Cuyler is voiced by Unknown Hinson, vampabilly guitarist and world class songwriter. Billy Joe Shaver sings the title song. It is hilarious and irreverent and takes a lot of intelligence to understand and appreciate it. Also Adult Swim.
Steve
April 18th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
No ATHF?!?! Plus for any fans, Home movies is filmed where the recorders can change scripts in the middle of recording!
Justin Lynes
April 18th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
GO TEAM VENTURE! I even call my staff at work “Minions!”
OminousRed
April 18th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
1. ATHF
But you have to watch them from the beginning. If you watch the first Mooninites episode and don’t like it, they show isn’t for you.

2. Venture Bros
Again, watch from the beginning and every episode gets better.

3. Dr. Catz
Also very very funny.

4. Sealab
Hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

5. Space Ghost / Brak
They are the same thing to me. Brak’s episode about spies and Space Ghost with Radiohead were classic.
atanguay
April 18th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Talk about missing the mark…Venture Brothers front and center. I don’t know anyone who’s been introduced to Team Venture that hasn’t gotten sucked in completely.

Favorite Episode : Tag Sale You’re It

“But he was in Depeche Mode!”
Patrick H.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:00 am
People on here were asking for more mature tv shows. I know these have probably been discussed to death, and are no longer in circulation, but you can get them on DVD.

1.) I have to Start with Gargoyles, from Disney. The cartoon ran as a kids show back in 1995-1997, as a three season series. The story involves gargoyles who were betrayed to a viking clan and put under a spell for a thousand years. They wake up in 1995 Manhattan, befriend a detective on the police force, live with a genius IQ millionaire with evil intentions, and generally try to cope with the new world they arrive in. While it sounds like a crappy typical saturday morning pitch, the show deals with some major and even heartbreaking issues. The first season has the detective being shot, and shows her in crutches for the next few episodes. Evil characters become good, while good characters turn evil. The gargoyles relive moments and enemies from their 900 A.D. Scottish past. Magic, merlin, Shakespeare, mythology, and time travel are all excellently blended in. All of it can be traced back to one point in time when one character in the series made one mistake and changed the history of the gargoyles forever. Currently, the series is attempting a comeback. You can still purchase the DVD’s for it on amazon.com, and the original creator of the series is making canon comic books out from slave labor graphics now. If you like Star Trek tng, most of the actors have a role in this series as well. Definitely worth a peek at at least season 1.

2.) Batman - The Animated Series. A gorgeous cartoon that is considered by many to be the definitive Batman experience. Kevin Conroy plays a perfect Batman/Bruce Wayne, while Mark Hammil (Yes, Luke) supplies a brilliantly insane and sadistic Joker as his rival. This show is famous for creating the Joker’s Sidekick Harley Quinn, as well as its beautiful and dark Gotham city. This one is done more as a saturday cartoon, i.e. most episodes are viewed as independant stories. Some villains (notably harvey dent and poison ivy) do have continuing story arcs throughout the series. The Episode arc invovling Robin won an emmy.

3.) Justice League Unlimited, Volume 1. The Justice League has developed many new enemies and everyone has teamed up together to outdo the other. This is the sequel series to Batman The animated series above, and Also Superman The Animated Series released around the same time. The same actors reprise their roles here. The most notable bit about this season is the “Cadmus” story arc, in which the government views the super Heroes as threats to national security. Great stories, amazing arcs, tons of fan service with DC comic characters, and still fun for people not familiar with them. You learn alot about Green Arrow and Black Canary, as well as Supergirl and Batman. I loved this series almost as much as I loved Gargoyles, and I knew almost nothing about them.

There’s three mature, well thought out series for adults. It was intended for kids, but the evolved story lines and characters really resonate with adults. The most powerful of all tv scenes I’ve seen is in Gargoyles. Season 2, City of Stone, Part 4. The three weird sisters of Shakespeare attempt to thwart the plans of an evil gargoyle. 4:15 min into this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i9O88LSw-4&NR=1. It speaks to the exact core of this show, the meaning and what they try to show. It lacks a bit of the punch if you don’t know the characters history, but if you just watch this you can get a good idea of what Disney tried to do when they made it. If you must see just one clip of gargoyles, make it that one!
chriscyrek
April 19th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Home Movies is also genuinely good (that is, you don’t have to be smashed out of your gourd to find it affecting).

So I’m going with Futurama, Home Movies and the Venture Bros. and I am pretty sure these are the best of the best, quality wise.
John
April 19th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I never got into Space Ghost, but Harvey Birdman and Sealab were great!
StacyBee
April 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I will admit I was sticking to an Adult Swim palate… maybe I’ll do a follow-up on non-Adult Swim adult cartoons.

And, wow, I’m floored by everyone’s deep love for Venture Brothers! I’ll DVR it and check it out.
Ariel
April 19th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Home Movies is probably the funniest TV show I’ve ever seen or am likely to see. Venture Brothers is awesome as well. Futurama is funny too, in a more traditional way. As I grew up my tastes shifted from the wacky, random humor of Williams Street to more witty, character driven humor of the shows I mentioned.
Miss Cellania
April 19th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Johnny Quest is still on TV?
Oomi
April 19th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Why do people like Tom Goes To The Mayor? For that matter, why do people like Time & Eric’s Awesome Show as well? I don’t get it.

12 ounce mouse made my eyes & ears bleed.
Fustercluck
April 19th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Boosh! and/or Kakow!
Alannah
April 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Throw my two cents in — Venture Brothers all they way. GO TEAM VENTURE!

Also, I still love Pinky and the Brain.
Thomas
April 19th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
1) Boondocks kicks ass, sorry you don’t get it.
2) Frisky Dingo isn’t funny. It just isn’t. I’ve watched all of it, and the characters suck, the plot is nothing special, and through all of it, I never laughed once.
3) Go Team Venture!
4) The Critic. Just saying.
a_mama
April 19th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
“Barnaby Jones!” I nearly peed myself during that episode. I love Frisky Dingo.

And the Venture Brothers that showed the boys getting killed over and over was priceless.
Shrike
April 19th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
You are missing one of the most underrated cartoons ever on Adult Swim: Perfect Hair Forever. A surrealist spoof on traditional anime stereotypes, it’s not to be missed., though I don’t think it’s on anymore.
stef
April 19th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Space Ghost is probably the best show they’ve ever had on there! But a lot of the others are great also. Sealab has a special place in my heart because my grandaddy, George Dowling, was a part of SEALAB II. Go to https://www.keyportmuseum.cnrnw.navy.mil/html/sealab_ii.htm
and he’s in the second to last photo on the page.
Ghost Pirate!
April 19th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Go Team Venture! And please, please, please, please, please, please Adult Swim enough with the anime!
clairmonde
April 19th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Home Movies is the best. Not an Adult Swim creation, but a convert after UPN canceled it. Brendon Small co-created Home Movies and also created Metalocalypse. I also adore O’Grady which if you love Home Movies you’ll recognize Melissa & Jason.

Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law sucked without Stephen Colbert. Sucked!!!! weep Season 1&2 are the only ones worth watching.
Carruthers
April 19th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I think all the animated shows on Adult Swim that are supposed to be funny are just cynical and unfunny. There’s never any actual “cartoon” funniness - as in, say classic Warner Bros. Looney Toons. All of the “humor” is in the dialog - and the vast majority of it is cynical parody. Some of the characterizations of celebrities in Robot Chicken can be quite well observed, and the low-budget, low-skill ethic of the animation probably involves more artistry than it appears. But the relentless cynicism in that show, as in most of the others just becomes monotonous.
Robert
April 19th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Erik wins!

“My top three (not just Adult Swim!)

1. Venture Bros.
2. Lucy, Daughter of the Devil
3. Invader Zim”

My list exactly!

Plus, when we lived in Atlanta good fortune + blogging acquaintances =ed a phone call from Killface to my wife for her birthday.

We have much love for the Frisky Dingo boys in this house.
Tony LaRocca
April 19th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
How could “The Venture Bros.” not be on the list?

I’m a major fan of Adult Swim, but did you really need to post a commercial for them?
ted
April 20th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Some cartoons have their moments, but you have to sift through a lot of crap to find them.
Deville
April 20th, 2008 at 10:04 am
I need to say, sebben and sebben is not a play on a drink.

It’s a play on the lawfirm Seiben & Seiben.
kate
April 20th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Venture Brothers

Futurama

O’Grady
J of The sandhills
April 20th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
1. Boondocks
2. Frisky Dingo
3. and dang it, Squidbillies
Ron
April 21st, 2008 at 12:09 am
Space Ghost is probably the greatest show in the history of television; I never knew each week how psycho it would be!
Jae
April 21st, 2008 at 6:48 am
What, no Xavier: Renegade Angel?
Steve
April 21st, 2008 at 8:26 am
Squidbillies… UH is the Kang, ’nuff said. Also love Sealab 2021 (own four seasons), Brak Show (three), Harvey (three). Flintstone as the Dabba Don was over-the-top.
Katie
April 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
1. Venture Brothers
“That whore stole my Stanza!”
2. Home Movies
“Its called gingivitis.
Oh, like on TV!
Right. Or in the movies.
Right….”
3. Tom Goes to the Mayor

I just can’t find the appeal of Squidbillies……
Weakly
April 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Why are we hearing about these shows now? Is it 2003 again?
ffresh
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:40 pm
home movies… anyone?

home movies is better than anything.

tom goes to the mayor is a close second, maybe
Ogre
April 24th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Well, I was hoping to find something interesting here, but instead got an advertisement for Adult Swim… very, very disappointing.

Want your own avatar? Get one for free at Gravatar!