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!
Replies
Second Story: "Hangman's Horror" - Venus is investigating a rash of suicides by hanging. After consulting with Sgt. O'Toole, she learns certain details: "All of 'em used a foreign type of rope, unobtainable in this country, and with the identical, peculiar kind of hangman's knot! No obvious reason for suicide, and no apparent evidence of foul play! It's got the whole force completely baffled!" He shows her one of the nooses and she identifies it as "a rare type of hemp... a type used only by fakirs and magicians... reputed to mean sudden death to anyone else who handles it." Each of the three victims so far recieved the noose in the mail, with no fingerprints or clues as to who the sender might be. Just then, word comes in of a fourth victim, Elliot Sherman. Venus recognizes the name as the foreman of the jury which convicted Raoul Hamud of murder. Then Sgt. O'Toole realizes that the names of the other three victims all match the names of other members of the jury. (Not to be critical, but I think this is something a police investigation might have uncovered. Just sayin'.) Hamud was sentenced to hang, but then his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, so he couldn't be the murderer.
Later, Venus researches Hamud's background: "life in the orient--no formal education--married and widowed in America--one son, abandoned in infancy, never found... That's interesting! Says here the child had a strange birthmmark around his--UH,OH! The phone..." It's O'Toole telling her that the killer has been caught in the commission of another crime. She rushes right over. The accused is Mr. Mason, who was also on the jury which convicted Hamud. (The police were at least keeping watch on all of the surviving jurists.) Mr. Mason was allegedly murdered by his employee, but the employee maitains he just found Mason and was actually in the process of removing the noose when the police broke in. Several weeks later, he has been convicted and sentenced to hang. Visiting him in his cell, Venus notices some marks around the young man's wrists. He hadn't noticed but says they're probably from the handcuffs.
Then Venus spots Raoul Hamud himself loitering outside the cell. He has been made a trustee, and is now the prison's chief executioner! Later that night, Venus receives a hangman's noose in the mail which magically wraps itself around her neck and tries to strangle her. she calls on Jupiter for help, who immediately transports her to Olympus. Two weeks later, Venus attends the execution. At the last moment, she annonymously shouts, "NO! WAIT! Are you sure his wrists are bound properly???" Hamud secured his wrists himself, but double checks anyway. Then Hamud goes nuts and hangs himself! Later Venus explains to O'Toole that, when she saw the marks around the accused wrists, she suspected he might be Hamud's son. But was he actually Hamud's son (which would be quite a coincidence), or were the marks actually made by the handcuffs (and lasted two weeks). Also, Why didn't Hamud notice the marks when he was securing his writes in the first place. Not the greatest story. Too many holes and implausibilities.
Third Story: "Venus Meets the Lady Killer" - A man named Don A. Donis has been going around town breaking hearts. (Of course it's the real Adonis, who has never met Venus because she's been on Earth for so long.) Venus beats him at his own game, causes him to fall in love with her, then sends him back to Olympus. In mythology, Adonis was involved with Aphrodite, Venus's Greek counterpart, so no discrepancy there (according to my theory). And there is no Adonis in Silver Age Marvel continuity, so no problem there, either. Another mediocre story.
VENUS #15:
First Story: "The Graveyard Waxworks" - With this issue, Venus moves to full-blowb horror. The city has been experiencing a rash of grave robberies, but only of freshly dead corpses from newly dug graves. Venus, Whit, Pete Moss (Beauty's PR man) and Mr. Baxter of the Everdeep Undertaking Parlor set a trap using Venus as bait. She hides in a coffin and is taken by a race of troll-like subterraneans. Then they discover that Venus is alive, the leader of the "underearth men" reveals their plan. They have lived beneath the surface of the Earth for centuries, but have gradually moved closer to the surface and are now ready to invade. But, knowing that they would be percieved and treated like monsters, they have concocted aplan to take over the bodies of freshly dead corpses by using the super-science they have developed to transplant their hearts and brains into them.
When they attempt this procedure on Venus, in an aparent effort to save her life, she agrees to furnish them with information about "hundreds of fresh graves daily." For whatever reasopn, the leader decides to take her at her word, and she goes straight to Whit to lay a trap. The next day, just before dawn, she leads a group of underearth men to a cemetery with three fresh graves. Just as they are about to begin digging up the graves, a car arrives. (It is Whit, driving up at a pre-arranged time.) She leads the trolls to a deep cave in a deserted stone quarry nearby where they'll be "safe" and traps them there. She then returns to their undetrground lair and tells their leader that they were discovered by a group of early morning hunters, who killed some and captured others. The leader decides to lead the rest of the tribe to free the captives.
By the time they get to the graveyard, the sun is coming up, blinding their supersensitive eyes. Even their leader, who has already transrred his mind into a corpse, is partially affected, but he manages to lead them back to their lair, all holding hands. By the time they get there, however, they discover that the entrance to their lair has been filled in with a steam shovel. The sun is not only affecting their eyesight, but is burning them... to death, as it turns out. Venus suspected their eyes would be sensitive to light, but she didn't intend to kill them. Now that they are all dead, all of the stolen corpses are returned to their proper graves, all of the trolls are burind in a single mass grave, and everyone is happy (except the trolls, I guess). This is a kind of crazy story, not entirely hole-free, but representative of the kind of horror Atlas/Everett was pumping out in the pre-Code '50s.
Second Story: "The Day That Venus Vanished" - Venus has gone to a new portrait photographer in town, Jerome Lenz, to have some new headshots taken, but he insists on taken a full-length shot, against her objections, as "a matter or routine." As soon as he snaps the photo, Venus disappears, but her image is now "imprisomed" on Lenz's "revolutionary animated photographic paper." She cannot move, however, until Lenz cuts around her outline with a scissors. He then puts her in a steel box for "safekeeping" until he "collects a few more such ravishing beauties as you." What he intends to do with them we don't know; that's all we get.
Venus escapes from the box, however, just before Hammond arrives looking for her. Lenz tells them that she left some time ago, but Hammond grows supicious when he sees her hat and jacket on a table nearby. He begins looking around the studio, is attention attracted by the unusual camera. Lenz rushes in front of it, just as Hammond snaps a picture. Lenz apparently "disappears" but his image has been captured on film. Hammond develops the negative, places it on the table, then leaves in confusion, taking the film with him.
Venus grabs a razor blade and cuts the image of Lenz from the photo. She bargains with him to tell her the secret of returning to human form or she will slice his head off. He tells her that the only way to be restored to normal is to have her picture taken again, with the same camera and the same film. Just then, Hammond returns with Della in tow. Venus forces Lenz to put his head inside the steel box, then she closes it on his neck. Hammond reloads the camera to demonstrate to Della how it works, Venus steps in front of the lens and is restored to normal. Then she uses the camera to snap a photo of the paper Lenz, but he disappears without reappearing in the studio. I thought he was going to regain human form and the box lid would cut oss his head, but no real explanation is given for why he was not restored; it's left a mystery. (Maybe Everett had planned to bring him back in a later issue...?)
This is another kind of nutty story that doesn't really ghold up under close scrutiny, but it is, in Dr. Vassallo's words, "wacky." It is also significant to note that Hammond's role has been reduced to plot catalyst and the romantic triangle has been completely dispensed with, showing (in Vassallo's words) that "Everett is re-imagining the series in his own direction, trimming away superfluous earlier series plot points."
Third Story: "The Living Dolls" - Venus, Whitney and "ace photographer" Reggie Smith take a day off work to visit the carnival. There they see Professor Zorsky's "Living Dolls," whihc are life-like and can walk, talk and even think by themselves. But what is their secret? Are they marionettes? Mechanical robots? Radio-controlled? When Reggie snaps a picture, Zorsky becomes irate and slaps the camera from his hands. Hammond intervenes, however, and the three soon depart. Later that night, just as the photos are developed but still wet, a shadowy masked steals the photos at gunpoint. Venus decides to investigate, and tells Reggie that if she's not back in 48 hours, he and Whit should pay the Carnival and Professor Zorsjy another visit.
She dyes her hair black and, the next day is hired as a "cooch shill" for Zorsky's show. But Zorosky recognizes her, hypnotizes her, and puts her in the show. "The next afternoon, Reggie anticipates Venus' warning and pays a lone visit to Prof. Zorsky's doll show." He, too, recognizes Venus, and calls Hammond to meet him at the carnival. They confront Zorsky, who pulls a gun. There is a skuffle between Zorsky and Hammond, but Venus breaks out of her spell and jumps into the fray, just as the gun goes off and Reggie snaps a photo. Zorsky is dead, shot through the heart. The dolls stop working after Zorsky dies, and the photo will help at the inquest, but there's still the mystery of what animated the dolls. Venus decides to "break one open and see what's inside it!"
"The heads and bodies are plastic," she continues. "See how easily they break? Look out for electrical wiring now... don't want to get a shock! Now--YI-IY! Blood!!! Just look at the blood!!! B-b-but I didn't cut myself! And there's absolutely nothing inside these dolls!!!" Where did the blood come from? And what made the dolls walk and talk and think? Later, back at the office, she concludes, "Looks like Zorsky took his secret to the grave, and we'll never know!" Dr. Vassallo has this to say: "Everett's art is gorgeous, Venus is stunning, the plots are weird and this is Atlas horror at its finest. Stripping away twelve issues of of Venus backstory, Everett was doing great horror/fantasy and dropping Venus inside it for effect!"
I know it seems like I only just got back, but personal business if going to take me off the board again for the next couple of days.
My Venus Vol. 2 arrived in the middle of last week, but then I had to go to a wedding in Alabama. I'm trying to catch up!
VENUS #11:
1st Story: "The End of the World!" "
The plot is ridiculous, the science is impossible, the theme is superficially sexist," says dr. Vassallo, "but Roth's beautiful artwork nearly redeems it."
Nearly.
The Earth changing orbit to fall into the sun would have catastrophic effects immediately, and not just everyone getting warmer day by day. What about the moon? Without that, there's no tide, and without tidal effects, there would be mass extinction all up and down the food chain. Weather would go berserk, possibly even the planet's spin, therefore gravity. We would all be dead on .... day 2.
There's a point in the book where the writer makes sure we know that nobody has died yet. I assume this is to make it easier for the audience to accept the redemption of the scientist. But it's preposterous, like the whole story. There would have been mass death.
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.
Agreed. I'm going to go along with some kind of global warming. He's got a "formula" that would ... maybe turn ordinary, airborne bacteria into something that ate regular air and excreted ozone or carbon into the air? Particularly hungry bacteria that multiplied quickyl? And he had a "formula" to reverse the process, and have the bacteria revert, and maybe eat the ozone it created? I dunno, I'm really reaching here.
Michael Vassallo on Venus #11: "The cover artist is unknown but it's someone I've seen in many Timely books of 1949/50.
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.
Starting in the first volume Venus writers would send her off to cover stories that had little or nothing to do with "beauty." It's almost like they're treating her like Lois Lane (with love powers). I mean, if you're going to send one journalist on a rocket ship to the moon with its inventor (Venus #10), it wouldn't be the edtior of Beauty magazine!
But then again, why is the most beautiful woman in the world a writer/editor for Beauty, and not a model/spokesperson? I'm going to pretend that Beauty metamorphosized under Venus' editorship into a general interest news magazine, like Life, Look, Time or Newsweek.
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.
This story makes so little sense that I can't even dream up a way to explain it. And to paraphrase Catch-22, "what kind of a name is Buffanoff?"
Venus flees to Olympus with the "brain-things" in hot pursuit.
Just like in the first story, and in a lot of others, the gods are pretty useless. No wonder nobody worships these people any more.
Okay... Thor. From now on, whenever we see "Thor" in Venus (and we will see him again), it will be Vulcan.
Vulcan was a smithy and had a malformed leg, just like Hephaestus. He was no hammer-throwing warrior. I'm not trying to be a pedant, but as Phillip points out, there really wasn't much to distinguish Vulcan from Hephaestus. I don't see either subbing for Thor.
Okay, I'll give it some more thought. (I was just thinking a smithy would carry a hammer.)
I was just thinking a smithy would carry a hammer.
He might! Although in "Beyond the Third Dimension" Thor initially swings his "mighty club" and it looks like a morning star.
I was just bringing up the issue that I don't see a distinction between Hephaestus and Vulcan for our purposes. There were some differences, such as the Roman god having more of an emphasis on the destructive power of fire. But that doesn't really apply here.
I don't see why you can't continue to think of "Thor" as Vulcan, but you might have to expand your theory to cover territory the original myths don't. Like establishing differences between the Greek and Roman gods where there weren't any IRL. Or maybe "Thor" was an aspect of Vulcan, in which he appeared to observers in a different way. Or maybe the story is just wrong, and it was Hephaestus/Vulcan all along, and he was a warrior despite the crippled leg. (And somehow wielded lightning.)
OTOH, in Greco-Roman myths, Hephaestus was married to Aphrodite, and Vulcan was married to Venus. Why is he OK with her dalliance with a mortal, to the point of coming to her aid? Perhaps Jupiter had to borrow Thor occasionally, because Vulcan was unwilling to help his wife's love affair.
Also, I wanted to note that it was obvious when we first met Buffanoff I knew he would be a bad guy. He had a spiky Van Gogh! (Satanic.) And he was balding! Heroes have full heads of hair! Everybody (in the '50s) knows that!
Also, the gods were pretty involved in the second story, which was kinda cool. But in the first story, Jupiter says he can't do anything. Why? And then he says all he can do is give Venus a name. Which does lead to a solution. But why is he restrained in such a way?
I know the real-world answer: The name of the book is Venus, not Jupiter, so she can't just keep running to daddy to fix everything. But does anybody have an in-story theory?
VENUS #12:
I’d like to note for the record that while Venus’ godly raiment is a white gown in the stories, it’s always red on the cover. I assume someone (probably named Martin Goodman) thought red would sell better. That’s one of the things I count on Vassallo to explain, but so far he hasn’t.
"Trapped in the Land of Terror" - This story takes place in the "exotic, mysterious" land of Cassarobia (presumably a portmanteau of "Cassablanca" and "Arabia").
That seems very likely!
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.
This is some serious $#!+! It’s never explicitly stated, but I got it loud and clear: The sultan marries, has sex with and then kills woman after woman. Good thing this is pre-Code.
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.
It’s pretty sticky territory. Do the Greco-Roman gods have no power in Cassarobia because it’s presumably an Islamic country? (“Sultan” is an Islamic title, bearing with it religious significance as well as secular authority.) If so, why does Loki have power there? And why do the Greco-Roman gods have power in, say, the USA, which is predominantly a Christian country? Especially in the ‘50s!
Maybe, instead of a religious issue, it’s a moral one. Maybe the gods don’t have power in a country with evil leadership, which is countenanced by a cowed populace who show no courage.
Loki isn’t restrained by ethics or morals, so he doesn’t need a “good” environment. Which gives him power to give permission for Thor – actually brandishing a hammer, and using lightning – to operate there.
But that theory actually makes “evil” more powerful than “good,” which is its own can of worms.
Or maybe there has to be a baseline set of values which line up with those of Western civilization, from Ancient Greece to today, which create an environment in which the gods’ powers work, because they were born of that philosophical arena as well.
Open to suggestion here.
Khorok desired her himself and had Ali Bahr consigned to the arena.
While the story refers to Cassarobia as “far east,” it seems much more likely to be middle east. The sultan title, and the lions/Christians routine, attest to that.
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.
The gods are so frequently useless that one wonders why Venus bothers to ask for help.
2nd Story: "The Lost World!" - The story opens with Hammond, Venus and Della aboard the Honolulu Queen "speed[ing] majestically toward Hawaii!"
This is as good a place as any to note that I find the Venus-Whit-Della “triangle” to be tedious and an absolute waste of time. Especially in scenes like this, where Della has no justification for being there. Whit wants to take his girlfriend/editor/writer to Hawaii to "investigate" something, sure. But why would he shell out for a ticket for Della, when all she does is rain on his parade? Leave her at the office!
Maybe she's his personal secretary. (Although he should consider getting one that doesn't hate his gf.)
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?
You’re asking, so I’ll answer, even though I know you know the answer already.
The reporter is a stock character in comics, much like in movies and TV, because they need no excuse to be at the scene of the crime. In my master's thesis, which I’m trying to re-write as a book, I even quote no less than Steve Ditko as saying so. (Actually, Blake Bell quotes him, and I quote Bell.)
Plus, the Lois Lane convention had been going on big guns since the late ‘30s (earlier in movies, with Torchy Blane). It doesn’t surprise me that guys working at the absolute bottom of the entertainment industry for peanuts don’t really care about plausibility or accuracy and just lean on standard tropes – like the hard-charging “newshen.”
And, in fact, Venus herself relies on that trope.
“There’s a terrific story in this, captain! I’m going to go down there and get it for my magazine!” she tells the ship’s captain when she goes down a rope to the mysterious island. “A good reporter doesn’t miss a chance like this!”
Later she turns in her story and Whitney is thrilled. “We’ll have to print an international edition!”
That doesn’t even make sense! But, OK, it means he’s thrilled.
My in-story theory, stated earlier, is that under Venus’ guidance Beauty has become a general-interest news magazine like Time and Newsweek.
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.
Typical of the time, but almost shocking from a modern perspective, radiation poisoning is treated like a stomach bug. In reality, if someone collapses from radiation poisoning, they are very likely dead or about to be, and there’s not much medicine can do about it.
Neptune sets everything right and the ship goes on its way.
As you would expect him to do right from the beginning. He wouldn’t need Venus to tell him to. But then, maybe he doesn’t give a fig about humans or even his own creatures.
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 robberies 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 advances, that's what Beauty magazine does.
At this point, we really do have to say, “That’s what Beauty magazine does.” Because it is what they do, issue after issue. When was the last time Venus did a story on anything related to the magazine’s name? And we also have to accept at this point that Venus, while constantly referred to as the editor, is really a general assignment/crime reporter.
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.
It’s a bit preposterous that nobody would suspect Roberto’s. So yeah, I’d say what’s in the paper is for rubes.
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.
In other words, Roberto is a pimp. Good lord, pre-Code was awesome!
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.)
The guy’s a broken record. We’re going to have to come up with an in-story reason why Jupiter is so constrained.
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 truly loves Vanya and, apparently, Vanya truly loves him, too. At this point, the loose ends are wrapped up quicker than a Shakespearian comedy.
At this point I found Roberto irredeemable. But they’re gonna redeem him anyway.
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?
Vanya will have to wait until she’s old and gray for Roberto. It’s not just that he planned and executed many robberies, but also for whatever “hypnotizing people into being slaves” is called. Unlawful restraint? Kidnapping? Something like that, and multiple cases of it. Also, procurement/pimpery for the dancing girls thing.
The story may have redeemed him, but he broke a lot of serious laws and abused a lot of people, and my suspension of disbelief doesn’t allow for the power of love to wish all that away.
2nd Story: "The Last Day on Earth!"
Major Dark was caught impersonating a general and of "embezzling a few dollars" and is drummed out of the service.
That’s actually pretty serious. He should be in Leavenworth for the next 20 years.
“This man is suffering with a persecution complex, Venus … he may do something violent! You’ll have to act quickly—but I’m afraid I can’t help you!”
So what else is new, Jupiter?
The insane ex-Major yanks at a series of levers, and instantly the great machines come to life—moving, crashing through the stone walls of the laboratory, walking with monster-like precision! Destroying everything they encounter!
It’s really unlikely that some random ex-major can get the resources to build all these robots, much less the brains. But that’s pretty much true of all comic book villains, so I shouldn’t pick on Venus.
Also: "monster-like precision." Heh.
Venus calls on Mars and "Thor" for help.
Thor has both a hammer and a lightning bolt (a la Zeus). We may have to consider he’s the real deal, or Hephaestus is really good at role play.
"He's paid," remarks Venus, "and with his payment he finally disclosed his one true love... for his country and his flag!"
He still would have gone to jail for the rest of his life, so it’s best they killed him.
3rd Story: "The Creeping Death"
Hammond and Venus investigate, because what else would you expect from the publisher and editor of a beauty magazine?
Venus and Hammond respond to a story on the “news wires,” which you have to pay for. That indicates to me that they're working journalists. Especially when they run into a reporter for the Evening Star, whom Hammond already knows. They’re news people.
I am mildly amused that the reporter, Jerry Stone, has a press card sticking out of his hat band.
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.
Venus must have caught Jupiter off guard, because he's willing to assign a couple of gods to help. And Thor once again is armed with lightning bolts. (And saves the day, even though it's not his magazine!)
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.
Yeah, me too.
Captain Comics said:
Plus, the Lois Lane convention had been going on big guns since the late ‘30s (earlier in movies, with Torchy Blane).
I recently got into the Torchy Blane series of “B” movies thanks to TCM showing some of them.* I was inspired to get the set of nine Torchy movies. Seven of them starred Glenda Farrell, who pretty much owned the character. The fifth movie had the actress Lola Lane portraying Torchy. It is theorized that Jerry Siegel liked the actress and used her last name for Lois.
*“B” movies were low-budget, one-hour or slightly longer and intended to be part of a double bill. Some were really good, others not so much.
I've watched one Torcy Blane, Torchy Blane in Chinatown. It was passable as a B-flick from another era. I never felt much like I needed to see others, however. The character is very like the original Lois Lane, so it's difficult to believe that the series had no influence on that character.
VENUS #14:
First Story: "Fountain of Death"
This story is pure Everett. He's not only doing the art and story but the lettering as well. (The giveaway is the slanted boldfaced words.)
I had picked up on that in Sub-Mariner stories. Everett’s lettering is very distinctive (and occasionally hard to read). It has resemblance to a couple of fonts, like Broadway, that are not meant to be used for lines and lines of dialogue.
And we elitist, snobby, hoity-toity journalist types call slanted letters italics.
The story itself is ridiculously insane tale of a German rocket scientist who flies his spaceship to Mars in search of the legendary Fountain of youth.
I was surprised to see a protagonist so soon after World War II who was both unsympathetic and NOT a Nazi. (It is mentioned in the story he fled the Nazis.) He is still very much the pre-war Prussian stereotype.
Heinrich says he’s going to Mars, where legends indicate the presence of the Fountain of Youth. What legends? I can’t think of any legend where you have to go to Mars, for any purpose. We didn’t even get a look at the thing until 1610. Fountain of Youth legends are pretty numerous, but most of ‘em promise it’s nearby somewhere, like the Native American legend in Florida that fired up Ponce de Leon. I think Everett invented this out of whole cloth.
Venus thinks there might be a story in it.
You go, Lois Lane!
She calls upon Jupiter for help, be he informs her that Heinrich has already found it.
This scene really adds nothing. Jupiter Is a bit more chatty and congenial than usual, and he gives her some instructions, but we’re not privy to them. He could have said “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” for all we know.
Hammond asks Venus if she is ready to submit the story, but she tells him it is not over yet. Then they go out on a date. Back at the Embassay Club, Heinrich is being ridiculed.
Venus tells him, “Story? What story?” which is A) a lie and B) kinda cruel. Maybe this was Jupiter’s advice, since it flies against Venus’ established sense of morals.
Whit observes that, "He took off like a ruptured duck," which is an odd turn of phrase I have never heard before.
Discussed!
Speaking of unfamiliar phrases, When Hammond asks Venus if that is the end of Heinrich's story, she replies, "I'm afraid we'll have to wait a day or two before we can write '-30-' at the bottom of the last page." Although I can figure it out in context, I looked it up and learned that "'-30-' has been traditionally used by journalists in North America to indicate the end of a story or article that is submitted for editing and typesetting." I'm sure Cap has heard that phrase before (and probably Commander Benson), but I never had. Is it still in use?
Discussed! It goes back to the Civil War, and possibly arose from telegraph code. By the time I became a working journalist (early ‘80s), it wasn’t in standard use, but most journalists were aware of its existence. Possibly it was still in living memory then, at least to WWII vets who had exposure to telegraph codes. But These Kids Today™ don’t seem aware of it, unless they’ve got journalism degrees where they were exposed to the history of journalism.
Later, Venus explains to Hammond, "There's an ancient legend, Whit, to the effect that, if a mortal desires and covets the unattainable, and ruthlessly pursues it, he will be challenged by a certain dark, sinister party. If there is any good yet to be done on earth by the mortal, he will win the fight--otherwise--KAPUT! The name of the Baron's adversary was Azrael!" whom Hammond immediately recognizes as Judeo-Christianity's "Angel of Death."
What th--!? I’ve never heard this legend before, either. Once again, I think Everett is playing fast and loose for the sake of a story.
They cannot use the story, of course, because it is too fantastic, but Venus observes that "just between you and me and the library shelf, it makes a pretty good yarn, doesn't it?" It does indeed.
The “I can’t print this” ending is so common in pre-Code era stories that I’m writing down some as I go for use in the book. I want to use three of the best as examples. This is a contender.
Second Story: "Hangman's Horror"
Venus is investigating a rash of suicides by hanging.
Like a good investigative reporter. She’s also chummy with a cop (Sgt. O’Toole), another media trope for reporters. (I don’t know many actual reporters who have ever been chummy with a cop. In my experience, the police regard reporters as somewhere between an annoyance and an enemy.)
Sgt. O'Toole realizes that the names of the other three victims all match the names of other members of the jury. (Not to be critical, but I think this is something a police investigation might have uncovered. Just sayin'.) Hamud was sentenced to hang, but then his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, so he couldn't be the murderer.
This occurred to me as well. The cops knew the hemp was odd, but only Venus looked it up and identified it. (Isn’t that what forensics departments are for?) Once the rope is ID’d to the kind used by Indian fakirs, then any local fakirs (can’t be that many) would fall under suspicion. Especially one who had been convicted of murder, and whose jury members were being killed off. But I’ll give it a pass; Venus has to be instrumental to the solution of the crime because it’s her book.
The accused is Mr. Mason, who was also on the jury which convicted Hamud. (The police were at least keeping watch on all of the surviving jurists.) Mr. Mason was allegedly murdered by his employee, but the employee maitains he just found Mason and was actually in the process of removing the noose when the police broke in.
Unless the cops can somehow connect Mason with the rope, or the other victims, or something, his story holds up well enough that he probably wouldn’t be charged. And he has no motive. Nor can prosecutors establish frame of mind (for first degree). But once charged, the case is certainly circumstantial enough to create doubt in the mind of at least one member of the jury. It’s a sloppy case that wouldn’t hold up IRL, but does in this story because the plot needs it.
Then Venus spots Raoul Hamud himself loitering outside the cell. He has been made a trustee, and is now the prison's chief executioner!
Say WHAT?!??
At the last moment, she anonymously shouts, "NO! WAIT! Are you sure his wrists are bound properly???" Hamud secured his wrists himself, but double checks anyway. Then Hamud goes nuts and hangs himself! Later Venus explains to O'Toole that, when she saw the marks around the accused’s wrists, she suspected he might be Hamud's son. But was he actually Hamud's son (which would be quite a coincidence), or were the marks actually made by the handcuffs (and lasted two weeks). Also, Why didn't Hamud notice the marks when he was securing his wrists in the first place? Not the greatest story. Too many holes and implausibilities.
Agreed. And the audience never sees the wrists in question. Maybe Venus marked ‘em up with her super-love powers and Hamud is the only one who can see the marks.
Third Story: "Venus Meets the Lady Killer"
A man named Don A. Donis has been going around town breaking hearts. (Of course it's the real Adonis, who has never met Venus because she's been on Earth for so long.)
Venus beats him at his own game, causes him to fall in love with her, then sends him back to Olympus. In mythology, Adonis was involved with Aphrodite, Venus's Greek counterpart, so no discrepancy there (according to my theory). And there is no Adonis in Silver Age Marvel continuity, so no problem there, either.
The mythological Adonis wasn’t a god, despite this story. He was a mortal, the son of an incestuous coupling between his mother Myrrah and his grandfather (ick), caused by Aphrodite (Venus). The mother was turned into a myrrh tree after birth, and Aphrodite took baby Adonis to Persephone to raise in the underworld. (Talk about a school of hard knocks.) When Aphrodite came to retrieve the boy at age 18, Persephone didn’t want to let him go, because we was so good-looking. Zeus decreed that Adonis would spend certain amounts of time each year with each goddess. He was killed by a boar (possibly sent by Ares or someone else), and his blood mixed with Aphrodite’s tears created anemone flowers.
The Adonis myths differ in a lot of particulars, depending on the source. Everett no doubt cast him as necessary for the plot, possibly having only heard the name, but heck, the myths are flexible enough that I’ll allow it.
Whitney: “Mmmm! A very remarkable story! Only—you know, angel, I think I shall have to fire you! This is the second unprintable story you’ve turned in this month!”
I found it interesting that Hammond referred to the first story in the book. I don’t remember that ever happening before.
Another mediocre story.
Agreed. You know, it occurs to me that Everett missed a bet with this series: The third story in each issue could have been an actual illustrated Greek myth. The Adonis story here would have been better had he just told the original, and skipped the modern story altogether. Just imagine Everett turned loose on Greco-Roman gods, like Kirby on “Tales of Asgard.”
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
of 12 Next