MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA VENUS VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)
Collects
Venus
Nos.
1-9 and selections from Luna
No. 4 and Marvel
Mystery Comics No.
91 (cover
dates August, 1948- May, 1950)
Writers:
Unkown
Artists:
George Klein, Lin Streeter, Vic Dowd, Harvey Kurtzman, Ken Bald, Ed
Winiarski, Don Rico, Christopher Rule, Peter Riss, Pete Tumlinson,
Bill Walsh, Valerie Barclay, Mike Sekowsky, Pierce Rice, Chu Hing, Al
Hartley, Joe Maneely, Morris Weiss, F.R. Sieminski, Werner Roth, Bob
Powell, and Maurice Del Bouro
I
tend to dislike romance comics in spite of the often wonderful
artwork by industry legends. I find them boring and uninteresting on
all levels. I bought this book despite this because I know that the
material that will make up Volume 2 when/if it comes out will be
something else entirely. I can always find a certain level of
enjoyment in collections of old comic books because the originals
would be so expensive to buy even reader copies of. Beater reader
copies of the issues reprinted here would set you back at least a
hundred bucks each if you could even find them.
Venus is the Venus, as in the Goddess of Love. Upon her arrival on Earth she is taken under the wing of one Whitney Hammond, editor of Beauty Magazine. He hires her on the spot and she falls madly in love with him. The first few issues sort of meander along with all of the wonderfully illustrated yet painfully boring soap opera tropes found in the then-new romance comics that sprouted up like mushrooms on a wet lawn. I read this intermittently, not hating it but not really reading it with any sense of urgency or interest. There is something charming about this comic book, though.
One
of the things that I found to be curious for this era was the real
sense of continuity from one issue to the next. Most comic books from
this time frame are basically reset with every story. Here, we get
the sense of the ongoing one-sided jealousy between Della Mason and
Venus for the love of Whitney Hammond. Another ongoing thread is the
other gods conspiring against Venus, either out of jealousy or out of
desire to have her for their very own.
This is where things begin to get interesting. Much like Roy Thomas, I try to fit everything and anything ever published under the Marvel banner (Timely, Atlas) in their nearly 75 years of existence into main Marvel Universe continuity. One of Venus' recurring foils is Loki, here being the king of the underworld. One could say that this might well be the Loki from Thor comics using his trickster ability to alter his appearance. This gives things an air of fun. Either that or I am as insane as Roy Thomas for trying to make sense out of something that does not require being made sense of. Your mileage may vary.
The
further I got into the book the more interesting it became. I really
hope that we see a Volume 2, as there is some prime Bill Everett
artwork waiting in the wings. Since many of these Atlas Era Marvel
Masterworks were part of a huge blowout through Diamond this past
year I doubt that we'll ever see it. I would love to be proven wrong,
though.
Junk
Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.
The
OCD zone- Marvel Masterworks are my poison of choice. The
superior restoration, paper, binding, and sweet sweet toxic Chinese
ink smell make me swoon.
DVD-style
Extras included in this book: Venus
#1 house ad from Miss America Magazine Vol. 7 #13; Venus
house ad from Marvel Tales #93; Venus #6 from Miss
America Magazine Vol. 7 #23; Venus house ad from Miss
America Magazine Vol. 7 #27; Venus house ad from Miss
America Magazine Vol. 7 #31 (2 pages)
Linework
and Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Consider this a frame
by frame restoration akin to a Blu-Ray release.
Paper
rating: 5 out of 5. Thick coated stock with a slight sheen.
Binding
rating: 5 out of 5. Sewn binding, lays perfectly from the first
page to the last.
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