Venus was one of several heroines introduced by Marvel at the tail end of the 1940s. Her title underwent a curious sequence of transformations in comics genres in its 19-issue run, starting as a glamour comic, becoming a romance comics, then a science fiction comic, and finally a horror comic. Throughout her run, Venus always remained the same character: the Olympian goddess with the power of Love, who came to Earth from the planet Venus to live among mortals for a while. It’s interesting to speculate how these adventures jibe with the modern day Marvel Universe. Yes, I know she was involved in the origin of The Champions, and I’m aware that Jeff Parker later retooled the “Avengers of the 1950s” from What If? #9 into the Agents of Atlas, but those appearances are almost mutually exclusive. The most obvious explanation is that she’s not an Olympian goddess at all, but really one of Jack Kirby’s Eternals. That’s not the tack Jeff Parker took, but I guess that’s the difference between a professional writer and a fanboy. Still, it’s fun to imagine that there’s a little bit of truth in both versions of her backstory, especially when one considers one of her early antagonists was none other than Loki. I’ve been curious about this series most of my life, and whereas I expected to enjoy it, I didn’t expect it to fire my imagination to the degree it has. The Marvel Boy, Black Claw, and now Venus Marvel Masterworks make an excellent complement to Jeff Parker’s (now sadly defunct) Agents of Atlas. Volume one collects the humor/glamour/romance run, but the best is yet to come. After the title switches to science fiction/horror, Bill Everett takes over as artist!
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The Carl Barks books initially skipped the first four volumes that had already been printed by another company, probably anticipating fans not being as likely to buy them. They are now in the process of printing these four after all the other volumes are done.
I did not know this! When they started with Vol. 5, I thought they were printing them in the order they thought would sell best, or some other arcane system. "The first four volumes that had already been printed by another company ..." Wow. How obvious. And it didn't even occur to me. Soon it will be moot -- I think we're down to the last one, or the last two. But I'm glad to know it, just the same. Thanks, Richard!
I am one of those "diehards" you mention who prefers MMW's sequentially numbered trade dress.
I did not know this, either! I am learning so many things today. Different strokes, says I.
I also would not mind seeing an Artist Edition dedicated to the Atlas era work of Bill Everett.
The current publishing plan is four Atlas Comics Library editions a year, and one Atlas Artist Edition a year. I think Everett is the most likely candidate for Volume 2. Or Volume 3, at the very least!
Atlas Comics Library Vol. 1: Adventures into Terror was a 2023 release, so Venus is the first of the four presumably planned for 2024. Atlas Artist Edition Vol. 1: Joe Maneely was also a 2023 release, so presumably this year's Artist Edition has yet to be announced.
Using the Superman Sundays as an example, IDW picked up where Kitchen Sink Press left off and released seven volumes.
I have the seven IDW Sundays (two Golden Age, three "Atomic Age" and two Silver Age), but no Kitchen Sink publications. I have a book from some publisher named Sterling that precedes those (1939-43). And I have seven dailies -- one Sterling (1939-1942), three IDW (1942-47) and three more IDW (1959-66). Maybe that's everything available, and maybe not. Hard to say.
So the test flight was simply unsuccessful and Venus hypnotized Dover and dumped him so that Ann would take him back.
That makes sense. Evidently, we're going to have to do a little work ourselves in each story to make these things make sense. However, I'm ahead of that game. I've always nursed the theory that what we read in pre-Fantastic Four #1 books like Venus is what the in-story Atlas Comics published, not the truth. That awaits what Venus (or the girl in Agents of Atlas) herself confirms is true, at some later date. Or possibly what you've theorized, Jeff. The point is, we can't trust what's on the page in absolute terms. Theoretically.
The fact the Jupiter and Mercury (the Roman versions of Zeus and Hermes, respectively) will be accounted for in my "Grand Unified Theory of Olympian Gods"
But you're not there yet!
I did not know this! When they started with Vol. 5, I thought they were printing them in the order they thought would sell best, or some other arcane system.
There's no reason both of these things cannot be true simultaneously. I also did not realize the first four volumes were previously available from another publisher, but Fantagraphics' publishing scedule was all over the place. They did not start with v5 as I recall. They started with v15 or something, then skipped backwards and forwards, filling in the holes toward the end of the run. It was pretty obvious (to me, anyway) they were cherry-picking the best, most popular material first. Get the series off to a strong start, then the completists take care of themselves.
Evidently, we're going to have to do a little work ourselves in each story to make these things make sense.
You aint' kidding!
But you're not there yet!
To complicate matters, next issue introduces (wait for it)... THOR.
This is why I chose to wait with my GUTOG: because I didn't know what would come along to contradict it.
I'm ready to go with #11. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post, but do you want it now?
I'm ready to go with #11. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post, but do you want it now?
Oh, sure, don't wait for me. I expect I'll get Venus on Tuesday, because that's what experience suggests, but there's no guarantee.
Sorry, I got caught up watching MST3K last night.
VENUS #11:
1st Story: "The End of the World!" - The Earth is hurtling into the Sun for apparent reason. Venus sues Jupiter for help, but he is unable t provide any assistance except to steer Venus toward a mortal named Michael Templar, who lives in a "desolate old house... on the rock-bound coast of Maine." As it happens, Templar is the scientist responsible for the earth plunging into the Sun. He fell in love with a cruel, selfish woman named Elsa, but she rejected him so as not to be tied to a "struggling, plodding researcher" for the rest of her life, which inspires him to throw himself into his research in an effort to win her over.
His plan: "There! It is done at last! The juxtaposition of these two elemants will cause the Earth to move closer to the Sun! I will set the energy in motion... and then announce to the world that, unless I am paid ten million dollars, I will not reveal the forula that will save the world from destruction but the heat of the Sun!"
It is at this point we are introduced to his bland, mousey lab assistant, Maria Storm. She wears glasses and keeps her hair in a bun, so we can already guess where this story is going. By the time Venus arrives on the scene, Templar is so upset that he has forgotten the formula which would reverse the Earth's course, anyway. Nevetheless, she contacts Elsa in an effort to convince her to save the world, but she's too busy partying. Then she calls on her handmaidens (this time it's Cleopatra, Juliet, Salome, Helen of tray, Liti, Du Barry, Bilitis and Psyche) to give Maria a makeover. As soon as Templar lays eyes on Maria he remembers the formula and the Earth is saved. "The plot is ridiculous, the science is impossible, the theme is superficially sexist," says dr. Vassallo, "but Roth's beautiful artwork nearly redeems it."
I assume that all these stories "happened" in one form or another, but someone at Atlas "punched them up" a bit for the comic book marketplace. Let's try to work this story into continuity by figuring out what "really" happened. The Earth didn't really leave its orbit to head toward the Sun, but what did happen? It's got to be a metaphor or an allegory for something. Today I would suggest that Templar research somehow pertained to global warming, but what would it have been in 1950? Something to due with nuclear war I would guess. I'll say his research had something to do with nuclear power and the threat was more imagined than actual.
Michael Vassallo on Venus #11: "Issue #11 drops to standard size and takes a hard turn to science fiction. The cover artist is unknown but it's someone I've seen in many Timely books of 1949/50. Two cover banners scream 'Strange Stories of the supernatural' and 'Stories to Stagger the Imagination!' this genre change is abrupt and is part of two trends: 1) The collapse of the romance line as Goodman gutted his line from thirty-two romance titles down to five, and 2) the expansion of the SF/horror titles begun in 1949 with Amazing Mysteries, the changeover of Marvel Mystery Comics to Marvel Tales, and te change of Captain America Comics to Captain America's Weird Tales and subsequent cancellation. (Within four months, Goodman even tried to revive his only successful science-fiction pullp magazine, the Marvel Science Stories. It would last only six more issues, but the SF/fantasy/horror comics titles flourished.)
2nd Story: "Beyond the Third Dimension" - "Among a group of journalists interviewing a famous scientist is Venus, editor of Beauty magazine." I don't know why it is a fashion magazine is covering all these science stories, but here we are. Dr. Buffanoff claims to have invented a machine which can "go into the world beyond the third dimension," and right off the bat we move into some shaky scientific territory. I always thought the three dimensions were height, width and depth, but Buffanoff claims that "the world as we know it consists of two dimensions... space and time! Beyond that is the third dimension! What that is we can only guess! But beyond even that... may be the answer to the perpetual riddle of life and eternity!"
Dr. Buffanoff plans to use the machine on himself, but he may not come back. Venus doesn't feel he should take that risk, so, "later in the dark of night, Venus, dressed as the goddess she really is, returns to the laboratory and the mysteries of the forces beyond the third dimension!" Her intention is to project herself in his place, but before she gets a chance to, "a hand emerges swiftly from the shadows and presses a lever" and she finds herself "reduced to the size of an atom" and sent into Dr. Buffanoff's own brain, where his evil thoughts manifest as physical creatures. He plans to release them from his mind where they will "grow in size and number" and soon "enslave the people of the Earth!"
Venus remembers seeing a photograph in Dr. Buffanoff's lab she recognizes as Ellen Carstairs, who he has loved secretly for years, but she doesn't return his love. Venus bargains that if he gives up his mad ambition, she will cause Ellen to love hjim. We've gone from scientifically shaky ground to ethically shaky ground. I don't know whether or not Venus would have actually gone through with it (I like to think she wouldn't), but it becaomes a moot point and "the brain-things revolt against their master" and escape from his mind, killing him. Venus flees to Olympus with the "brain-things" in hot pursuit. The usual Gods (Jupiter, Apollo, etc.) defend her, but also THOR! [More on this development below.]
Suddenly Venus hears a voice. It is coming from a little butterfly-like creature which, "of all Buffanoff's millions upon millions of thoughts, [it] was the lone pure one," representing his love for Ellen. It had been too weak to fight the others, but it tells Venus the secret to their defeat. Venus flees Olympus back to Earth, and the brain-things follow, right into Dr. Buffanoff's dead body where they all die. Then Venus destroys Buffanoff's machine.The moral of the story is: "There is something more powerful than evil ambition... and that is love!" I think you know I haven't made this up.
Okay... Thor.
As you might guess, the appearance of Thor does not jibe with my GUTOG at all. So how do I account for him in this largely (except for Loki) roman pantheon? Quite simply, Atlas Comics is wrong. So who is he? You may recall that in an earlier post (Venus #9, March 17), I speculated that Jupiter was actually Hephaestus, but I was just spitballin'. Jupiter cannot be Hephaestus because Hephaestus actually appears in Thor #129. Nor can this "Thor" be Hephaestus for the same reason. But he can be Hephaestus' Roman counterpart, Vulcan. From now one, whenever we see "Thor" in Venus (and we will see him again), it will be Vulcan.
Hmmm.... Will he have a son in this timeline?
Instead of Hephaestus/Vulcan who was supposed to be crippled, another alternative could be Poseidon/Neptune. Though he was primarily the god of the seas, he was also the god of earthquakes and storms!
Or perhaps an offspring of Neptune or even Aeolus, ruler of the winds.
Deep cut, J.D.!
I have exactly one original Charlton Son of Vulcan comic book. It wasn't a great concept, but the later DC take (which I do have) was, amazingly, worse.
I had exactly one, as well, when I was a kid. Don't know what happened to it. Didn't think much of it, though. I recognized him when he turned up in Crisis (one of about three events that got me back into comics as a young adult) but never pursued DC's later reinvention of him.
Instead of Hephaestus/Vulcan who was supposed to be crippled...
Milton and Homer wrote two very different versions of Vulcan (Hephaestus). I chose Vulcan in place of "Thor" because he was the workman of the immortals, their armorer and smith (which would account for his hammer), who makes their dwellings and rheir furnishings as well as their weapons.
...another alternative could be Poseidon/Neptune.
Except for one thing. (Keep reading.)
VENUS #12:
1st Story: "Trapped in the Land of Terror" - This story takes place in the "exotic, mysterious" land of Cassarobia (presumably a paortmanteau of "Cassablanca" and "Arabia"). It tyranical and despotic sultan, Khorok, has grown tired of the bevy of beauties his aide, Shabor, has assembled for him, and desires to add Venus to his harem. Shabor flies to the United States and lures Venus into his jet under false pretenses, even though her "goddess sense" warns her that he has ulterior motives. "My goddess sense is tingling!" (No, she does not actually say that.) When she arrives in Cassarobia, she is not certain whether or not her goddess powers will work. Watching from Olympus, the Gods have similar concerns. "Cassarobia is forbidden to us!" laments Apollo. "We cannot help her there!" This raises an interesting question of faith and belief, but now is not the time to get into it.
Khorok soon calls for gladitorial games to be held in the area, so now, in addition to Africa and Arabia, the story is riffing ancient Rome. Venus soon meets Shalomar, who will be Khorok's next wife after he tires of Venus. Shalomar is in love with Ali Bahr, one of the gladiators. Ali Bahr used to be the captain of the guard, but when he asked the sultan for permission to marry Shalomar (as is the custom), Khorok desired her himself and had Ali Bahr consigned to the arena.
Venus uses her power to return to Olympus, where she learns not only that Jupiter is already aware of the situation and is helpless to interfere, but also that if she returns she will lose all of her powers. she decides to return anyway (of course), and Jupiter calls upon Loki to help, because he is the only one who has power in Cassarobia. (I would have thought it might have been Allah, what with the mix of Greek, Roman, Norse and Christian dieties we have seen so far, but good luck finding an Islamic god depicted in an American comic book in the 1950s.) Loki agrees because he, too, is "charmed by her," and sends the spirits of demons to inhabit the bodies of the lions set against the Christians gladiators. "Thor" (Vulcan, AFAIAC) also intervenes, and the gladiators manage to overthrow Khorok, and Ali Bahr and Shalomar are installed as king and queen. As Michael Vassallo points out, "the formula of these stories is now patently obvious: Venus and whitney's syrupy love, Della's jealousy, a crisis, and Venus saving the day with 'love.'"
2nd Story: "The Lost World!" - The story opens with Hammond, Venus and Della aboard the Honolulu Queen "speed[ing] majestically toward Hawaii!" they are on their way "to make study of the effects of atomic experiments in certain parts of the Pacific Ocean," prompting me again to ask WHY? What does that have to do with a beauty and fashion mag? Regardless, the ship is soon boarded by an amphibious creature, and shortly after that the ship runs aground upon a "slimy island" which has risen from the bottom of the sea. Hammond collapses for no apparent reason, and Venus rappels dow the side of the ship to investigate. She swims to the bottom of the ocean and consults with Neptune. It was atomic experiments which caused the island to rise, and the amphibious inhabitants are all "half crazed with fear." A rescue party the captain sent in search of Venus also collapses, from radiation poisoning as it turns out, the same thing that afflicted Whitney Hammond. Neptune sets everything right and the ship goes on its way.
This story was only five pages and not very well-developed. It is also riddled with typos.
Michael Vassallo: "By this point, Timely's Venus has cratively hit the wall and is mostly spinning its wheels. While Roth's artwork on the main Venus story is nice, the formula is stale (and the less said about the Venus backups the better). With Goodman planning a huge expansion into science-fiction, fantasy, and horror comics, something had to change."
"...something had to change."
That change came in the form of Bill Everett, but as Michael Vassalo puts it, "Everett's takover with Venus #13 is measured."
VENUS #13:
1st Story: "The King of the Living Dead!" - There are two major cases the police are currently investigating. First, "The Case of the Vanishing Women." Second, a string of ribberies committed by beautiful but amnesiac young women? Venus suspects the two cases may be related. (Ya think?) Hammond assigns her to investigate because, when they're not reporting on scientific advancesa, that's what Beauty magazine does. Apart from being young and beautiful, the only thing the missing women have in common is that they all visited Roberto's Beauty Salon before they vanished, but the police have cleared the shop of "any possible implication." Off hand I would guess that the police are either a) incompetent, or b) playing the hand close to the vest until something can be proven. In any case, that's where Venus decides to begin her investigation.
Roberto not only runs a beauty shop, but he is also a member of the local tribe of gypsies, and he has a side racket of supplying dancing girls to passing carnivals. (Should I have put a SPOILER in place?) Before tirning the hypnotized girls over to the carnivals, he uses them to commit robberies. He covers his tracks by having is assistant disguise herself as his victims so they are seen leaving his shop. Then he smuggles the kisnapped women out of his shop in a laundry basket. Roberto is in love with Vanya, queen of the gypsies, but she wants nothing to do with him.
Venus asks Jupiter for help, and he tells her, "I can only confirm your suspicions about Roberto... but I can help you no further!" (Why he can help her no further he does not say.) Venus makes an appointment and falls under the power of Roberto's hypnotic hair dryer. Jupiter sends Thor to retrieve Venus, but not her body, just her "spirit." When Venus' mind returns to her body, she does her best to fight the port-hypnotic suggestions. She goes on robbery runs, but she does not steal. She is able to tell Vanya what's going on under her nose, however, and between them they cook up a plan.
Later, Venus returns with a beautiful redhead as a potential candidate, and Roberto falls madly in love with her. He immediately gives up on Vanya and decides to give the redhead "the permanent treatment." As soon as he wipes her mond completely, Venus whips off the red wig to reveal that the woman is actually Vanya herself! Roberto knows he is in trouble because he just permanently mind-wiped the queen of the gypsies. But Venus reveals that she can restore Vanya's mind, but only by the power of true love. Roberto triely loves Vanya and, apparently, Vanya truely loves him, too. At this point, the loose ends are wrapped up quicker than a Shakespearian comedy.
Venus explains, "Vanya accepted Roberto's overtures, and made him promise to give up the carnival work and stick to the beauty shoppe. He released the girls, and I escorted them home! Since they suffered amnesia from his treatment, they won't be held responsible for the burglaries... Roberto's going to give himself up to the police, and take his punishment! Vanya will wait for him!" I assume he'll have to pay for his crimes, but what a few felonies between friends?
I find it amusing that a story titled "The King of the Living Dead!" begins with the following disclaimer: "All names and places in these true-to-life stories are fictitious. andy similarity between actual persons or places and those used in these stories is purely coincidental."
2nd Story: "The Last Day on Earth!" - "A Story to Stagger Your Imagination!"
"The Time: 1946 ---- The Place: An army Post ---- The Occasion: Dismissal from service of Major John Dark, armored force, as a result of a general court martial..."
Major Dark was caught impersonating a general and of "embezzling a few dollars" and is drummed out of the service.
"The Time: 1951 ---- The Place: A deserted mansion on New Jersey's palisades ---- The Occaision: ---- ?"
John Dark niece knows that her uncle is up to something and goes to Venus for help and advice. The two women go to confront the ex Army officer but he is uncooperative, threatening "the Last Day on Earth." Venus calls upon Jupiter but he is again unable to help for some reason. She asks for the assistance of Mercury and "Thor" instead. [Speaking of Thor, depending on how you interpret "Marvel Time," this couldn't be the real Thor because Don Blake would be attending medical school at this time.] Dark launches his threat: mechanized monsters. Venus calls on Mars and "Thor" for help. Mars goes first. He causes Dark to recall various milestones in his military career, include the day he enlisted a s aprivate, the day he was awarded his first commission, the day his outfit took Hill 606 in North Africa and they day they entered Berlin.
These memories cause Dark to admit, "I always loved the Army, until they... until they..." but we never find out his specific grievance. Thor throws lightning bolts and Venus causes him to remember his love for his country and his flag. He repents and goes back to his lab to stop the attack, but is killed by one of "Thor's" bolts. His laboratory is completely destroyed except for an American Flag. "He's paid," remarks Venus, "and with his payment he finally disclosed his one true love... for his country and his flag!"
3rd Story: "The Creeping Death" - A story so weird... so fantastic... it will startle your senses!"
I don't know who did the art for this issue, but it's not Bill Everett. (According to Vassallo, this story "is left over from the pre-Everett issues.") Two fishermen pull up somethning in their net that looks like a giant oyster shell but isn't because they're fishing in "a quiet North Woods lake." Back in the cabin, they open it up to find it's filled with something that looks (to me) like mashed potatoes. They decide to bury it in a box but, by the time they get back with the box, the creatures has enveloped the entire cabin. Then it begins to spread all over the county. Hammond and Venus investigate, because what else would you expect from the publisher and editor of a beauty magazine? From the air, they observe as the Air Force fails to stop it with bombs.
They land are are met in a jeep by Jerry Stone, a reporter for the Evening Star. Jerry explains that the thing is expanding so rapidly that the entire Earth will be covered ion less than 24 hours. Venus calls on Jupiter for help and "Thor" throws a lightning bolt which creates a chain reaction, causing the thing's cells to die faster than they reproduce. and that's pretty much it.
Neither one of these last two stories is given sufficient space to develop properly. "The Creeping Death" is six pages and "The Last Day on Earth!" is only five. Vassallo says, "The plots of both these stories are weak and I'm considering that Everett did not write them." FWIW, I agree with him.
I regret the timing of this (especially after waiting a month beyond its solicit date for this volume to ship), but I've got some personal business to attend to which will take me off the board for a few days (but imy absence will give Cap a chance to catch up). When I return we'll get into the really good stuff.
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