The Venture Brothers came to San Diego Comic-Con and spoke to a packed house filled with some of the best cosplayers in all of fandom. All the fans in the crowd waited with baited breath for the announcement of when season five would premiere. Their anticipation was paid off when show creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer told them that they would get a Halloween special for this year, with new episodes starting in early 2013.

The crowd was then treated to an animatics preview of the upcoming season. The preview had plenty of laughs and included shots of Sgt. Hatred with bitch tits, Doc Venture and Billy Quizboy doing a ventriloquist act, and the promise that Brock Sampson will be in the whole season. We also learned that The Monarch is a big Game of Thrones fan, but that Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is not. Judging from the limited footage shown, it looks like we’re in for another excellent season.

Several guest stars were announced for the upcoming season. J.K. Simmons will guest star in the Halloween special. Other guest voices for the season include Aziz Ansari, John Hodgman, Tim Meadows, Gillian Jacobs, and Paget Brewster.

One other thing that was announced is that there will be another hour-long special between seasons five and six.

It’s always a blast to see Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer riff off each other. They are basically a stand-up pair, and they had the whole crowd laughing throughout. You have to be careful when asking a question, because they will just talk for 10 minutes, and you will never get an actual answer. If you ever get a chance to go to a convention that features a Venture Brothers panel, I highly recommend taking the time to go.

Now I will go and start a countdown to the day when the next episode premieres.

Here’s a shot of just some of those cosplayers I was talking about earlier.