BIOGRAPHY - Page 5
Venus' romance with Hammond was hardly conventional, however. After receiving a letter from Rona Flaunders, a young woman who was trying to find a lost lover George, Venus told Hammond that the only option she had was to find the man himself and seduce him. Hammond was understandably disturbed by his girlfriend potentially (as he put it) “making love” to another man. Venus was able to assuage his fears due her natural goddess magic and he relented. Venus did find George. He was wooing women across the United States and conning them out of money. When she introduced herself to him, he reacted the way most men did to Venus, instant adoration. In a less predictable turn of events, she found herself tempted by him as well, sensing his great virility as a lover. As they embraced, they were seen by Mason, who reported back what she had seen to Hammond. Venus told George he had to make restitution to the women he had scammed and went on a jaunt with him across the country, flying them from place to place. When the women would meet George and Venus, he would claim that he had married Venus and that's why he had left them. As Venus was essentially the most beautiful woman alive, the women simply understood why they had been discarded and accepted his apology. Eventually, they made their way to Rona Flaunders’ home. She had become ill from a broken heart and appeared to be dying. As Venus and George arrived at the house, so too did Hammond and Mason, predicting Venus would eventually make her way to Rona's home. The two men argued while Mason made digs at Venus. The noise of the confrontation triggered the arrival of Rona's doctors, who told them all to be quiet. When he heard the name George, he questioned if this was “the” George, Rona had been speaking of. Venus ushered George to Rona's bedside, hoping that his confession of love would cure Rona. Unfortunately, as George now loved Venus, he now found himself unable to lie.
Venus felt guilty; the power her beauty had was not just a blessing but a curse. At this point in time, Venus activated her powers in front of Hammond, Mason, George and the doctor and seemed to forego any interest in a secret identity. Flying back to Mount Olympus, she sought out advice from Jupiter about how to solve the problem. Jupiter told Venus that she could transfer her spirit to Rona's body. Her power of love would emanate from the girl, forcing George to fall in love with Rona sincerely. There were risks, however. If Rona perished during the transfer, she would lose her powers forever. Venus thought it was worth the risk for the sick girl. Luckily, it was successful, but Venus wondered if Hammond would still love her without her powers? She got her answer quite quickly when Hammond quickly embraced her. Communicating telepathically with Jupiter, he claimed that he had increased her powers two-fold as a reward for her good deed.[Venus #8] [Note: The resolution of this story (perhaps unintentionally) heavily implied that Rona retained the powers of Venus at its conclusion.]
Despite earlier evidence to the contrary, Apollo's love for Venus had endured despite his attachment to Daphne. He had been forbidden by Jupiter in joining her on Earth, so he thought up a plan. He went to the servant of Loki, the demon Zoroba in the underworld, and asked him to assume his body and continue his tasks while he projected his spirit to Earth. Zoroba agreed. On Earth, Apollo opted to possess Marvin Klee, who worked in the art 
department of Beauty Magazine and had unrequited feelings for Venus' rival Della Mason. The painfully uncharismatic body of Klee, while possessed by the godly Apollo, got much attention from the ladies of Beauty Magazine but he only had eyes for Venus. She recognized very quickly that it was Apollo in Klee's body. She told him to free the mortal but he refused, claiming that he would kill Klee if she refused to return to Olympus with him. Zoroba, despite an agreement with Apollo not to tell his master, told Loki of the body swap. The two quickly came up with a ploy to take over Mount Olympus. Jupiter saw through the deception immediately and summoned both the real Apollo and Venus back to Mount Olympus. Apollo still refused, unless Venus went with him. Unwilling to allow herself to be controlled by Apollo, Venus went back to Mount Olympus herself and found Zoroba. Venus played along and told “Apollo” he was her true love and she wanted him to return to Earth with her. No man, even a demon, was able to resist Venus' charms and Zoroba innocently agreed. On Earth, he immediately reverted to his true form, that of a Caucasian man with horns, wearing nothing but underwear. A police officer was nearby and Venus told him that Zoroba was a foreign spy and he was immediately arrested. Traveling to Beauty Magazine, Apollo was incredibly frustrated by Mason, who was now enthralled by him. Venus told him she had undid his scheme and that he needed to return to Mount Olympus for his punishment. Feeling that whatever penalty that could come from Jupiter was better than having to stay with Mason, Apollo accepted, returning Zoroba to the underworld on route. [Venus #9]
Despite his ordeal from being possessed by Apollo, Klee would inadvertently get the benefit from another divine source later on, in this case from Venus. Venus had an idea for the magazine: she wanted to do a campaign about how every woman was beautiful in their own way; they just needed tips to help them along the way. As part of the campaign, Venus enlisted her handmaidens for assistance and had them respond to letters from readers. Mason hoped to humiliate Venus by finding a woman that was beyond help, who did not want to be “beautiful.” Klee, who was still pining for Mason, wa
nted to help her and told her that he knew of a woman named Minnie Geels. Minnie Geels was an “unattractive” woman who made her living by posing for “before” photographs for makeovers. As this was essentially her livelihood, in her view, it was not in her best interest to change her appearance. When Mason introduced Venus to Minnie, she knew she had a challenge. Venus found out there was something that mattered more to Minnie than her job: Klee, with whom she was secretly in love. Venus and her handmaidens gave Minnie a makeover, changing her hair, making her magically thinner, giving her a “better” personality, while Venus infused her with some of her love power. Klee was unable to resist the “new” Minnie and fell for her too. While Mason had no interest in Klee herself, she was dumbstruck as to how Klee could prefer the new Minnie over her, as she was (in her and even Venus' view) more naturally beautiful. Venus advised that, while Mason was technically more beautiful, she lacked the inner beauty that Minnie had. [Venus #9]
Venus would soon experience problems with another admirer, this time it was not Loki but his son. Like his father, he was awestruck with the goddess and asked his father to allow him to travel to Earth to try and win her hand in marriage. Loki agreed and bade his son good luck. “The Son of Satan” arrived to Beauty Magazine and Venus, recognizing who he was, quickly gave him the pseudonym of “Mr. Satin” to her co-workers. Mr. Satin asked Venus out to lunch and she agreed, fearing what his refusal would mean. The two then took to the skies to speak. Son of Satan told Venus of his feelings and his desire to marry her but she refused. After all, she was already in love with Hammond. Son of Satan told her that, if she did not agree to be his wife, he would use his powers to inflict earthquakes, typhoons, floods and catastrophes on the Earth. Despite his threat, Venus still did not consent. Son of Satan was as good as his word and he started to flood New York City. Initially, Venus was able to stop this by calling upon Apollo to increase the rays of the sun to evaporate the water. Son of Satan then unleashed a typhoon and rode it towards Beauty Magazine, where Hammond and Mason looked on, thinking it was the end. Seeing Hammond in danger, Venus conceded and told Son of Satan she would agree to marriage if he stopped the typhoon. In a quiet place, Venus told him that part of her acceptance would require that he forsake his demonic powers. He agreed... but only for a day. This was enough for Venus' plan to come to fruition. She called again upon Apollo, who imprisoned the Son of Satan in a fiery disc as punishment for his attack on Earth. As he was projected away, he swore to Venus that Loki would avenge him. [Venus #10]