| Character | |||||||||
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| Jonas Venture | |||||||||
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| I'm wearing a tuxedo and SCUBA gear! | |||||||||
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| 1st appearance: | Careers in Science | ||||||||
| Voice Artist: | Paul Boocock | ||||||||
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Jonas Venture is the father of Rusty Venture and Jonas Venture Jr. He was a brilliant superscientist who was also the founder of the original Team Venture. Jonas is primarily modeled upon Benton Quest, though Silver Age comics figures like Nathaniel and Reed Richards, as well as film heroes Indiana Jones and James Bond, could be cited as additional sources for the character, all ultimately deriving from the pulp magazine scientist-adventurer Doc Savage to some degree. In the episode Orb, it is suggested that he was killed by Kano to prevent him from activating the ORB; as a result Kano has subjected himself to silence ever since.
[edit] Perception versus reality
Most of what is known about Jonas Venture is revealed to the audience by his son's drug (and absorbed fetus)-induced hallucinations and what amounts to hero worship by the current generation of super-scientists, costumed adventurers and even villains. There is no shortage of material evidence attesting that Jonas was the premier super-scientist of his day, having invented human cloning, a nuclear-powered supersonic jet aircraft, a shrink ray and a self-sustaining orbital colony. Furthermore, Jonas Venture was instrumental in the negotiations between the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the general community of heroic adventurers that ensured the safe and honorable treatment of prisoners.
From what has been revealed in actual flashbacks, Jonas appears to have been a more attentive father than his own son, though young Rusty was occasionally exposed to exceptional danger while in his care, most obviously in the testing of amusement park rides for Roy Brisby. Jonas was also stiffly traditional to the point of criticizing his son's long hair.
He was often more consumed with his duties as a scientist than with those of fatherhood. Something 'Rusty' Venture has always maintained is the source of all his problems, a belief that others did not hold.
Evidence of this 'science first, people second' attitude was shown in the episode What Goes Down Must Come Up. After M.U.T.H.E.R flooded the underground bunker with mood enhancing drugs and everyone goes onto a fear-induced hallucinations, Dr Venture rescues his team and then seals the visiting children within the bunker and makes no attempt to retrieve them at a future date.
[edit] Physical appearance
Jonas Venture is clearly symbolic of the failed promise of the Baby Boom generation when compared to their heroic forebears of the World War II generation, and this metaphor is communicated visually. In contrast to his much less accomplished firstborn son, he is taller, athletically built, has a full head of hair and better posture. Jonas is most often seen in a three-piece pinstriped suit under a lab coat or in his adventurer's gear, once again contrasted with Rusty's adherence to his "Speed-Suit" and cabana wear. Jonas Jr. more closely resembles his father than does Rusty, albeit being under 3 feet in height and having a deformed (later mechanical) arm.
