| Black Maria | |
|---|---|
| The Venture Bros. character | |
 | |
| First appearance |
It Happening One Night |
| Last appearance |
It Happening One Night (died in explosion) |
| Voiced by |
Mark Gagliardi |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Supervillain |
| Notable characteristics |
Camera for a head |
| Current Alliances |
The Guild of Calamitous Intent The Doom Factory |
Black Maria was an avant-garde supervillain and a member of a legion of New York-based villains called The Doom Factory.
History[edit | edit source]
Wes Warhammer and, by extension, The Doom Factory received arching rights to Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture as part of Wide Wale's Fiends and Family Plan. The villains threw a "Happening" in the penthouse of VenTech Tower, distracting Dr. Venture while they stole his scientific equipment and inventions.[1]
While the rest of the legion set up the "Happening", Black Maria stayed in a back room of the penthouse with Wes Warhammer, filming Trashenstein. A panicked Dr. Venture entered the room only to be greeted by Warhammer, who has Black Maria film him while instructing Venture to "be yourself". Once Dr. Venture was shirtless and absorbed in the spotlight, Wes Warhammer slipped out to the "Happening", leaving Venture behind with only Black Maria watching (and filming) him.
He apparently died along with the rest of The Doom Factory when their flying headquarters was blown up by the second Blue Morpho.
Episode Appearances[edit | edit source]
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Black Maria is a parody mash-up of DC Comics villain Black Manta and Warhol superstar Paul Morrissey.
- Black Maria uses the camera on his head in lieu of traditional film equipment. He also carries a boom mic on a pole for capturing audio.
- Black Maria represents both Paul Morrissey, a regular filmmaking collaborator and cinematographer for Warhol's films, as well as Warhol's extensive camera collection, including his iconic Polaroid Polavision film camera.
- Jackson Publick said "Black Maria is Black Manta matched up with Paul Morrissey, who shot most of the Warhol films. He's the cameraman, so he's named after Edison's first film studio, the Black Maria."[2]
