The Doom Factory

The Doom Factory
Group on The Venture Bros.
First Episode	It Happening One Night
Purpose	Loosely aligned group of supervillains
Current Members	Wes Warhammer Frigid Serpentine Eenie-Meanie Gerard the Gorilla Black Maria Trashenstein Ultra-Violent Billy Maim She-Hemoth Hard Candy
Base	The Doom Factory, Gowanus Canal

The Doom Factory is a group of ten of the most ruthlessly self-involved villains on Earth who loosely align forces against the powers of good. They are all sycophantic clingers-on to the genius of their leader, Wes Warhammer, and operate from an underwater base in Gowanus Canal, also called The Doom Factory.

History

They were the latest villains sent to arch Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture as part of Wide Wale's Fiends and Family Plan. The group flew their base to Columbus Circle, casually invaded the top floor of the VenTech Tower, and hosted a surreal party there while robbing Dr. Venture blind. After the Doom Factory departed the building on their flying base, they were killed when their base exploded courtesy of The Blue Morpho.

Members

The members of The Doom Factory are all based on Warhol superstars and Factory hangers-on combined with supervillains from DC Comics.

• Wes Warhammer: Andy Warhol / Lex Luthor
• Frigid: Brigid Berlin / Captain Cold
• Serpentine: Ondine / Sinestro (and possibly the Riddler)
• Eenie-Meanie: Edie Sedgwick / Bumblebee
• Gerard the Gorilla: Gerard Malanga / Gorilla Grodd
• Black Maria: Paul Morrissey / Black Manta
• Trashenstein: Joe Dalessandro / Solomon Grundy
• Ultra-Violent: Ultra Violet / Star Sapphire
• Billy Maim: Billy Name / Cheetah
• She-Hemoth: Holly Woodlawn / Giganta
• Hard Candy: Candy Darling / Bizarro

Capabilities

Henchman 21 looks up Wes Warhammer and his Doom Factory in the Guild of Calamitous Intent Digital Hall of Records. Here are the visible portions of their entries:

• HEADQUARTERS: The Doom Factory
  • Aquatic resting. Capable of flight for short distances (40 miles with safe return.) The fuel needed for long distance travel can not be stored in the tanks as installed at the present time.
  • Weapons: Level 10-04 (low intensity lasers, 15 antipersonnel heatseeking missiles with veritable payload. Projection of ghost imaging, or pointless files of celebrities, loudspeakers with a 136db capacity.)
• ATTACK MODES:
  • The Warhammerian HAPPENING: An event based assault on the home, belongings and person of his intended arch. Wracking up huge phone bills, clogging toilets, emptying food stores, etc. The victims are often coerced into shameful or compromising movies and photo-shoots that are later used as blackmail.
  • The Warhammerian INSTALLATION: Smaller than the Happening, the Installation is a makeshift room where tedious collection of found objects [...]

Episode Appearances

• It Happening One Night
• The Rorqual Affair (dream sequence with Wes Warhammer)

Trivia

• The Doom Factory are a parody mash-up of the Legion of Doom and the Warhol Superstars (flocking to Andy Warhol's The Factory). Most, if not all, are a combination of the two.
• The Warhol personalities parodied are: Wes Warhammer/Andy Warhol, Frigid/Brigid Berlin, Serpentine/Ondine, Eenie-Meanie/Edie Sedgwick, Gerard the Gorilla/Gerard Malanga, Black Maria/Paul Morrissey, Trashenstein/Joe Dalessandro, Ultra-Violent/Ultra Violet, Billy Maim/Billy Name, She-Hemoth/Holly Woodlawn, Hard Candy/Candy Darling.
• The Legion of Doom/DC parodies were: Wes Warhammer/Lex Luthor, Frigid/Captain Cold, Serpentine/The Riddler, Eenie-Meanie/Bumblebee, Gerard the Gorilla/Gorilla Grodd, Black Maria/Black Manta, Trashenstein/Solomon Grundy, Ultra-Violent/Star Sapphire, Billy Maim/Cheetah, She-Hemoth/Giganta, Hard Candy/Bizarro.
• Most of Wes Warhammer's dialogue comes from the film I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), though the part about the gold watch comes from a scene in The Doors (1991), where Andy Warhol played by Crispin Glover gives Jim Morrison a gold telephone. The line "You're the boss, Applesauce" is from Guy Pearce's depiction of Warhol in the film Factory Girl (2006).
• Frigid's ice rays are similar to Captain Cold's cold guns, but attached to Frigid's breasts. Brigid Berlin's "Tit Prints" were artworks created using her bare breasts. Berlin would dip her breasts into multiple colored paints and then create a print by pressing them down onto canvas/paper.
• Eenie-Meanie's costume is likely both a reference to Edie Sedgwick's well-known striped shirt, as well as the DC Comics member of the Doom Patrol, Bumblebee (who also has the ability to shrink her size).
• 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. In addition, The Black Maria was the name of Thomas Edison's film studio, the first production studio in America.
• Trashenstein appears to reference Solomon Grundy and Andy Warhol's films Trash (1970) and Flesh for Frankenstein(1973). Warhol and Morrissey collaborated to create the films Trash (1970) and Flesh for Frankenstein, with Dalessandro acting in both. In the former he wore a headband; in the latter he played Frankenstein's monster.
• She-Hemoth's growing powers and cheetah costume are a reference to Giganta, who originally wore a cheetah print costume.
• Billy Maim has claws similar to DC villains Cheetah or Catman, but also to Marvel's Wolverine . Billy Name famously wore sunglasses and a striped shirt. The striped shirt is also similar to clawed horror villain Freddy Krueger. Jackson Publick has said that Billy Main is "not based on any specific Legion of Doom character, but gets to slash the couch the way Cheetah does."
• The silver sombrero-like shape of their headquarters is a reference to a sculpture in the reception area of Andy Warhol's "Factory", as well as a reference to the Legion of Doom headquarters.
• The Doom Factory boxes are parodies of Warhol's Brillo Boxes.
• The film of VenTech Tower is a parody of Warhol's Empire (1964).
• Andy Warhol and Billy Klüver's "Silver Clouds", metallic mylar-balloons filled with helium, are seen in both the Doom Factory headquarters and being filled at the VenTech Tower. Venture discovers his home has been "silverized" in the same style as Billy Name's apartment and Warhol's Factory, with silver paint and foil. There is even a payphone which was present in Warhol's Factory.
• Valerie Solanas, who shot Andy Warhol, was previously lampooned as Val, the Velma analogue in ¡Viva Los Muertos!.
• Jackson Publick did uncredited voices for Frigid and Gerard the Gorilla. Doc Hammer did the grunt for Trashenstein.

Gallery

The Doom Factory's headquarters

Prepping for the Happening

Billy Maim with Doom Factory box

Filming with Trashenstein