Adventure Time, the hit cartoon from the brilliant mind of Pendleton Ward, has come to San Diego Comic-Con International 2011 in full force.

Not only has Cartoon Network rented out a pizza parlor in downtown San Diego to promote Adventure Time, but they’ve also paid more than two dozen boyish-looking dudes to dress up like the show’s main [human] character Finn (Jeremy Shada). (Yet, I’ve only spotted one real-life Jake (John DiMaggio a.k.a the voice of wise cracking robot Bender on Futurama), the shape-shifting yellow dog who is also Finn’s best friend — as shown in the images below.)

For those who have absolutely no idea why this is so amusing to myself and several others, let me explain. Adventure Time is a cartoon about a boy and his magical best friend dog and the awesome adventures they have in the mystical Land of Ooo. Mostly, these adventures consist of saving princesses and fighting heinous villain types like the Ice King. There are plenty of talking pastries, a Rainicorn (Rainbow Unicorn), and tons of guest celebrity voices like Henry Rollins, Mark Hamill, George Takei, Lou Ferrigno, and Erik Estrada.

Firebreather
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Peter Chung
Starring Dana Delany, Jesse Head
Cartoon Network
Release date: March 22, 2011

Firebreather is a new movie/TV pilot which was on Cartoon Network around Thanksgiving of last year, but is now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Firebreather is based on the Image comic by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn and it follows the adventures of a teenager named Duncan (Jesse Head), as he moves to a new school and deals with the normal high school stuff.

The only difference is that his dad is a 150-foot lizard monster named Belloc (Kevin Michael Richardson). Duncan’s dad is the king of the Kaiju, a race of giants who threaten mankind. Duncan, however, is half kaiju and half human, so while most of the time he looks fairly normal, in times of stress he will get all scaly, grow wings, and breathe fire. As the future leader of the kaiju, Duncan’s father expects him to be tough, while his mom expects him to live as a normal teenager with school and everything else that entails. As the heir, Duncan has to prove himself against other kaiju who are looking to gain power themselves.

The Venture Brothers
Blu-ray | DVD
Created by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer
Starring James Urbaniak, Patrick Warburton
Warner Bros Home Video
Release date: March 22, 2011

It’s time once again for another review of a Venture Brothers DVD set, this time with Season 4, Volume 2. I’ve gone on before about my love for this show, but I think this time I’m going to say exactly why I love this show so much. If you’re looking to see whether you should buy this DVD or not, yes, you should buy it. There are 8 great episodes on here that are well worth the money. If you’ve got a Blu-ray player, then definitely pick up the complete Season 4 Blu-ray, also on sale March 22, 2011. It’s very easy for me to recommend this show to anyone who likes comic books, action, old cartoons, new cartoons, and anything that makes you laugh.

I grew up watching Johnny Quest, and the whole show started as a parody of that show. The premise for Venture Bros. is essentially “What if Johnny Quest really existed, grew up, and turned out to be a failure in life.” It’s this central premise that drew me in at first, but it is the expansion of that premise that has kept me watching.

I’ve been eying this Scooby-Doo Meets Batman DVD for weeks since I saw the price drop to only $5. One of my favorite things about the Scooby-Doo cartoon series was all the famous guest stars, so it was a real treat for me when the Scooby gang teamed up with Batman and Robin back in the 1970s.

Now, they’ll all be teaming up again for an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, called “Batman’s Strangest Cases,” which will air on Friday, April 1 (6:30/5:30c) on Cartoon Network.

Paul Reubens (“Pee-wee Herman”) will host the episode, written by comics superstar Paul Dini, and will reprise his role as Bat-Mite.

The Venture Brothers
Season 4 Volume 1
DVD/Blu-ray
Created by: Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick
Staring: Patrick Warburton, James Urbaniak, Christopher McCulloch
Cartoon Network/Warner Brothers
Release Date: October 26, 2010

I’ll get the easy part out of the way up front; Yes, The Venture Brothers Season 4, Volume 1 is another great set of episodes from my favorite show on TV, so yes, I’m going to give this a guarded recommendation (I’ll explain the guarded part later). The eight episodes on this disc comprise the first half of season four, and while they may not be the best of the series, they are still very funny, and fans of the show are going to want to pick this up. If you haven’t seen the show before I would recommend starting at the beginning, because these episodes are built on a lot of things that have gone on in the show before.

I don’t know if I love the episodes on this disc as much as some of the other seasons. Certainly the absence of Brock Samson (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is a big reason why I don’t enjoy these as much. There are still a number of good episodes, particularly “Hansom Ransom” which features Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) playing a very different kind of super-hero. Other standout episodes include “The Revenge Society” which features the return of Phantom Limb and which may be my favorite episode of the season, and “Self-Medication” which has Doc Venture joining a boy adventurer support group and has guest voices by Seth Green, John Hodgeman, and Patton Oswalt. There are good episodes just not as many as in previous seasons.