BIOGRAPHY - Page 9
Venus would soon face a more “conventional” foe for a goddess like her. Homes were being destroyed along the Atlantic coast in tidal waves. All the developments were created by a developer named Deana Seacrest. The government had cleared Seacrest; how could she be responsible for tidal waves? However, they had stopped her building new developments due to the tidal waves, feeling that things were n
ot safe. Seacrest opted to go ahead without the approval anyway. Venus decided to buy one of the homes to try to find the cause of these tidal waves. Shortly after she moved in, she was greeted with another tidal wave. There was no time to try to evacuate the other residents but she did see one lone woman she believed was drowning and tried to save her. While in the water, she thought that the woman was Seacrest herself but both were overtaken by the water and Venus believed Seacrest had drown. Venus went to Seacrest's office and was shocked when she appeared very much alive. The two women entered into a verbal altercation, convincing Venus of Seacrest's culpability in the deaths. Venus (now seemingly a very established heroine) made a call to Washington and told the government they needed to evacuate the Atlantic coast with the National Guard and the Red Cross moving families inland in anticipation of an attack. Seacrest was enraged when she found out. Riding the waves, she unleashed more tidal waves on the coast. Venus appeared behind and attempted to reason with her, now realizing that Seacrest was in fact the goddess Neptunia, daughter of Neptune. Neptunia believed her father had been killed in atomic testing and swore revenge on humankind. While she spoke to Venus, thunder and lightning raged overhead and Neptunia appeared to overtaken by her own waves, seemingly perishing and thus ending her threat. [Venus #18]
Venus' next case was another of her unusual fare. She and Hammond had come to investigate an alleged “fake” medium, though on arrival Venus could sense his legitimate abilities. Another man named Andreas appeared, though he strangely seemed not to notice either Hammond or even Venus, whom all men noticed. He told the medium that he wanted to commune with some war buddies. All four men had fallen in love with a French woman named Mara. Mara had claimed to be in love with all of them and agreed to marry the last surviving man. The others had now died and Andreas had lost track of Mara and hoped his friends would help him track her down. The ghosts of the men appeared before them but claimed Mara was already dead. Venus asked could they commune with Mara and the medium dispatched the ghosts to bring Mara back with them. A short time later, Mara appeared. Andreas ran from their protective circle and embraced Mara but, touched by death, he too died seemingly happy, reunited with his love.
Venus and Hammond survived this experience with the dead but would meet another ghost when they took a cruise on the SS Castletown. While on deck, Venus was attacked by a monstrosity, initially believing him yet another sea creature. The creature confessed he had murdered two of his brothers that night to inherit money left to them by their uncle. He had been discovered and dived overboard. When he encountered Venus and Hammond, he was unaware he had died when he hit the water and was horrified when he saw his distorted appearance and later his corpse. Venus told him that he had doomed himself for eternity as he screamed.
Back on dry land, Venus was working late in the office on a story when a strange package arrived for her. The mysterious box was moving and tempted both Venus and the deliveryman with strange powers if they opened it. Venus resisted but the deliveryman could not resist the temptation, he opened the box and was consumed by a strange spirit. Now in possession of strange powers, he pursued Venus, attempting to feed on her. Venus realized this strange box had turned the man into a vampire and found some wood and impaled him. Who sent the box or its origin was never revealed. [Venus #19]
Venus' adventures after this point are unknown, though she did meet the Skrull Effigy in 1952 and he would go on to found the superhero team, the First Line. Her romance with Hammond and time at Beauty Magazine also ended around this time. She was not aging but he was and she had noticed he was becoming increasingly resentful of her. Their parting was painful but Venus thought it was the best option for her to return to Mount Olympus, though she would not remain there very long. [Marvel Valentines Special #1] Venus returned to Earth in the 1960s and came under the sway of a Nazi war criminal and telepath named Rumor. He was controlling her mind and had turned her into a pop star in the hopes of amassing an army of youths using her beautiful voice. For some reason, her powers of “love” were only able to influence young minds at this point and she soon developed quite the cult of fans that was ever expanding. The mania surrounding Venus started to cause concerns among America's premier superhero team of the age, the First Line. Luckily for Venus, her friend Effigy and his team soon liberated her from the Rumor's influence. [Marvel: The Lost Generation #5] [Note: Thor was allied with the First Line in this issue. When the battle was over and he flew away, Venus questioned if it was really him. He had a very different appearance in her solo title. Additionally, this particular moment would have fit perfectly for the siren Venus, as the only displayed power of Aphrodite/Venus is her ability to influence using her voice. Marvel handbooks have been very clear however that it was the original Venus in this story.]
Venus decided to take on another identity around the time of the Vietnam War, that of professor of humanities at UCLA, Victoria “Vicki” Nutley Starr. “Vicki” was very influential as a peace activist with her students and she was against the war, going so far as to even organize protests. The cousin of Namor, Namorita, was a student of hers and was very inspired. When it was reported that Vicki had gone missing while swimming, Namorita alerted Namor and asked for his help. Namor had already met Venus at this point, having saved her from drowning. She had initially appeared confused and at points knew who he was but then appeared to forget the next moment. When he returned to the deep to try to find her, he found her swimsuit but no Vicki. A dolphin on the scene directed Namor to an unknown landmass. When the dolphin started to move onto land, Namor attempted to move it back to the ocean, only for the dolphin to transform back into Venus. Now fully lucid, she told Namor she needed his help, as she was being pursued by Ares, who wanted her to return to Mount Olympus. Venus felt she had a responsibility to stay on Earth and try to guide mankind towards peace.
She told Namor that, to defeat Ares, they needed to lure him to the ocean. Venus told Namor to hide and she jumped into the sea with Ares pursuing her. He grabbed her girdle, which he said was the source of her powers, and bound her arms, claiming that he intended to punish her for her infidelities. Her champion Namor appeared from behind. In his natural habitat, he was a good match for even the god of war. Still, Ares did eventually gain the upper hand and attempted to murder Venus, infuriated by her having Namor act as her champion. Namor was not out of this fight and continued to battle and retrieved Venus' girdle, known as a "cestus." She shot Ares with a ray from the cestus, which forced him to feel only her love. She agreed to free him if he left Earth and ended his hostilities, which he agreed. In the aftermath, Venus turned back into “Vicki” and she and Namor returned to UCLA and filled Namorita in on her true identity. [Sub-Mariner (1st series) #57] [Note: Venus' protest of the Vietnam War has likely changed due to Marvel's sliding timescale. Additionally, during the battle between Ares, Venus and Namor, they arrived at a “new” continent that Ares eventually destroys once Venus told him he has to end the war there. This was never really explained in story and didn't seem to have a real purpose; possibly it was meant as a metaphor?]