8 great superhero series that have nothing to do with Marvel or DC

The Venture Bros. — Adult Swim, available on Hulu

The Venture Bros. has been through a lot of phases in its long life. It started waaaaaaaay back in 2004 as a riff on old Hanna-Barbera cartoons like Jonny Quest, and along the way turned into something very different. Nominally, the lead characters are pill-popping super-scientist Rusty Venture, his hulking bodyguard Brock, and his over-enthusiastic teenage sons Hank and Dean. But the show could not stop adding new characters and wrinkles to its universe, from the necromancer Dr. Orpheus to the butterfly-obsessed supervillain the Monarch to the crime-fighting Office of Secret Intelligence and on and on until, seven seasons and 14 years later, it had built a mythology as dense as anything from Marvel and DC, all of it simmering in a sauce that’s one part earnest coming of age drama, one part caustic comedy, and several parts obscure pop culture celebration.

I’ll put it this way: at one point Doctor Venture is hunted by a group of supervillains modeled after both the Injustice Society, from DC Comics; and members of Andy Warhol’s Factory, from the New York City art scene of the 1970s. If that sounds like the kind of thing that appeals to you, The Venture Bros. is worth checking out. If you don’t know what to think of it, it’s still worth checking out.

There’s nothing quite like The Venture Bros. on TV, which was why I was so upset when it was cancelled after its seventh season, despite that season ending on a cliffhanger. It’s not like the show hasn’t had a long life, but I wasn’t ready for it to end, so maybe if enough people pick it up HBO Max or someone else will be persuaded to revive it.