BIOGRAPHY - Page 6
Venus refocused her attentions on mortal affairs after the incident. Mason had again plotted against her, trying to make Hammond think she was having an affair with Paul Banner, his rival in Lovely Lady Magazine. Yet again this plot backfired and Venus was able to convince Banner to sell to Hammond, only increasing the bond between Venus and her beau.
Possibly this acquisition and end of their main rival allowed Beauty Magazine to diversify their content, as the publication started to focus on more unusual topics. The likely increase in circulation probably explained why the young scientist Randy Dover went to Beauty Magazine to write about his new rocket ship and upcoming trip to the moon. Hammond suggested Venus accompany Dover and write about the experience for the magazine. She agreed but stopped herself from saying she hadn't been to the moon in sometime. At the launch site, Venus met Ann Saunders, Dover's fiancée. He had neglected her while he worked on the rocket ship and, like all men, had fallen for Venus instantly upon meeting her and was now even less interested in Ann. As they were about to depart, Venus promised Ann that, by the time they returned from the Moon, Dover would be hers again. On the ship, Venus went back to her godlike form, preferring to have access to her powers as they journeyed into the (somewhat for her) unknown.
When they arrived on the Moon, they were met with resistance by strange, fire-breathing dragons, though Venus was able to quell them with her powers. The Moon resisted their presence and a nearby volcano erupted. Dover was willing to die with Venus but she explained that she was immortal and would survive but that he would die. Unfortunately, he so infatuated with her now that she found it impossible to get him to flee. She called on Jupiter for help. Ultimately, she had no choice but to just hypnotize Dover and Jupiter dispatched Mercury to take them and the ship back to Earth. Back on Earth, Venus convinced Dover that one of the rocket tubes exploded and they had not reached the Moon. She told him that he was a “flop” and that she was too good for him. Rejected, he reunited back with Ann as Venus had promised. [Venus #10]
[Note: When they landed on the moon, neither Venus or Dover were wearing a spacesuit. While it's certainly possible Venus' own powers protected her and Dover it is perhaps more likely they landed on the “Blue area of the Moon,” a former Kree outpost which has oxygen. Interestingly, Venus claims in this issue that man was not meant to go to the Moon. It would be around 20 years before the first moon landing.]
Venus' next adventure would focus not on the Moon but the Sun. The Earth was moving closer and closer to the sun and it was feared the planet would be destroyed in a few days. Venus set off to Mount Olympus to try and find out what the cause of the issue was. Jupiter told her that she needed to find a man named Michael Templar. Venus, with the assistance of Mercury, found Templar's home in Maine. There, the inventor told Venus of his story. He had been rejected by a woman named Elsa, as she had thought him too poor to provide the life she wanted. He created a device to propel the Earth towards the sun so he could blackmail the nations of the world and increase his own wealth, which he believed would make him more desirable to Elsa. He had been consumed by guilt and attempted to stop what he had wrought but was unable to remember the formula to reverse his machine. Venus again went to Jupiter for help but he said it was beyond his power. Further, he warned her that, if she returned to Earth she would die as their powers were wilting. Venus refused to give up on the Earth and went back to Templar. She told him that his assistant Maria was in love with him and hoped this would focus his mind to save the Earth but he spurned Maria, still consumed by Elsa. Again, Venus used her handmaidens to increase Maria's natural beauty. Seeing Maria in a new light, Templar fell in love and remembered the formula required to reverse the Earth's trajectory. Venus had yet again saved the planet.
Another scientist to cause Venus some bother was Dr. Buffanoff. Venus was among a number journalists that interviewed him following his claim that he could travel to the third dimension, a realm he said was outside time and space. He was due to test the machine on himself the following day. Venus thought this was a bad idea; Buffanoff was too valuable a mind for the world to risk losing if he was wrong. She decided she would take his place, likely suspecting that her immortal nature would protect her. It turns out the good doctor was not as altruistic as he appeared. When Venus stole into his lab, he activated the machine against her consent. He shrunk Venus down to the size of an atom and imprisoned her in his mind, surrounded by monsters that he intended to release to multiply and take over the world. Venus did attempt to use her “love” powers to pacify them but they were pure hatred. Venus soon realized that he had unrequited love for a woman named Ellen Carstairs and Venus offered to unite him with Ellen. It was too late however, and the creatures escaped from his skull, killing him and expanding in size. These creatures pursued Venus, who rapidly flew back to Olympus, where Jupiter, Thor and Apollo fended them off. Venus then spoke to one of the creatures who claimed to be Buffanoff 's “pure” thought of Ellen. It told Venus the only option they had to defeat the horde was to lure them back to Buffanoff’s mind. Venus and this “good” thought flew back to Buffanoff, pursued by the other thoughts. Inside his mind, all the creature died along with their “progenitor.” Venus then destroyed his machine, thinking that Buffanoff's secrets should die with him. [Venus #11]
Venus had little respite following the Buffanoff affair and would soon find herself in danger again. Sultan Khorok of the far eastern dictatorship of Cassarobia had decided he wanted to marry Venus after he saw her face on the cover of Beauty Magazine. Sending his servants to New York City, they pretended to be offering her an interview with the most beautiful women of their country. Venus had figured out this was a trap, but feeling her powers eclipsed the threat, she went with them anyway. Upon seeing Cassarobia, she was disgusted by Khorok. His nation still had slaves and gladiatorial games. She swore to herself she would end the reign of Khorok. Venus sought out the help of Jupiter and the other gods but they claimed that Cassarobia was beyond their influence. Venus opted to return anyway, feeling she had a responsibility to try to liberate these people. As Jupiter could not intervene himself, he went to Loki, as Cassarobia fell under his sphere of influence. Loki, still carrying a torch for Venus, was unable to let harm befall her and sent his demons to help her create a revolt. His brother Thor also aided Venus, with Loki's permission, and created a storm damaging the gladiatorial ring. The gladiators then rebelled and the rule of Khorok ended. The people wanted Venus to rule them as their queen, associating her arrival with their liberation. She instead chose Ali Bahr, a gladiator and renowned Cassarobian military man, and his love Shalomer, Khorok's former concubine/fiancée, to serve as the new king and queen respectively. [Note: As with Loki, Thor's appearance here is hard to reconcile with his continuity. Again though, Marvel Handbooks do claim that this was in fact the real Thor.]
Soon after, Venus, Hammond and Mason were traveling to Hawaii on the boat the “Honolulu Queen.” Their goal was to write about the effects of radiation on marine life. While sunbathing on the deck, a strange green aquatic creature boarded the boat. Hammond attempted to repel it, but when he got close, he fainted. Hammond soon took ill, but the onboard doctor could not identify the reason. The ship was soon surrounded by these creatures. Venus took to the seas to ask King Neptune for his assistance. It was discovered that these poor creatures drifting half-crazed to the surface was a result of the atomic testing. Neptune agreed to settle the creatures underseas and Venus returned to the ship, where Hammond made a quick recovery. [Venus #12]
Back in New York City, Venus started to investigate the disappearances of beautiful women. She believed it was linked to a string of robberies that had also been perpetrated by attractive women. All the women that had vanished were last seen in Roberto's Beauty Salon. Though the police had cleared Roberto, Venus was not convinced and intended to look into it herself. She had an audience with Jupiter, who confirmed that Roberto was responsible for the missing women but he could/would not provide her further help. Venus went to the hair salon, where Roberto brainwashed her. The means were unclear, as he seemed to display some “natural,” hypnosis-like powers but was also using some machinery. Though Venus' body was controlled now by Roberto, her spirit remained free. Jupiter had Thor create a storm and summoned Venus' spirit to him. It was explained that, while her body was temporarily controlled, she could resist. Due to her strong will, she was not completing the robberies as requested. Roberto was furious when she returned to this base in a forest. Roberto was seemingly an Italian Roma, and his tribe was ruled by a woman named Vanya. While Roberto was berating Venus, Vanya arrived, hearing the commotion. Roberto stormed out and Venus asked for her help. Venus explained to Vanya what had happened, that Roberto was turning young women into mindless slaves. Vanya had thought the women were simply his employees and was sympathetic to him, feeling he was must be out of his mind to go to these depths. Venus knew that Roberto loved Vanya and opted to trick him. She brought him Vanya in disguise and he put her through the same process as the other women. When Venus revealed that it was really Vanya, Roberto was horrified by what he had done. He agreed to reverse what he had done to the other women and turned himself into the police. Venus wrote about it, to some capacity, as an expose for Beauty Magazine.
Another villain Venus would face would be Major John Dark. He had made a war machine following his court martial and dismissal from the army for embezzlement and impersonation of a senior officer. As the machine was unleashed a
nd started to destroy cities, Venus sought the help of Thor and Mars, who with martial abilities, destroyed the machine. Venus did manage to get through to Dark towards the end but he died in the crossfire anyway. Thor would continue to be a great ally for Venus. She later faced another threat involving a mysterious substance dubbed the “creeping death” found by a fisherman in a giant clam. When they opened it, the substance began to expand exponentially. The army had tried but failed to destroy it. As it started to become a national threat, Venus sought out help from the gods and in the end it was Thor's power over lightning that destroyed it. [Venus #13]