Venus

Superboy protecting Venus from a meteor

Venus

The second planet from the Sun and the sixth largest. Venus' orbit is the most nearly circular of that of any planet, with an eccentricity of less than 1%.

Action Comics No. 152 portrays Venusian’s civilization as a futuristic version of Earth’s, and Venusians as humanoids who have adopted English as their planetary language (Act No. 152, Jan 1951: “The Sleep That Lasted 1000 Years”).

Superman No.151 on the other hand, portrays Venusian life humorously, depicting Venus as a world inhabited by cute “tomato girls,” “pumpkin men,” “cucumber men,” and other comical “plant-beings” (Feb 1962: “The Three Tough Teenagers!”).

Venus is Cosmic King’s native planet (S No. 147/3, Aug 1961: “The Legion of Super-Villains!”, and the place where Van-Zee and Sylvia lived prior to taking up residence in Kandor (SGLL No. 15, Feb 1960: “The Super-Family of Steel!” pts. I-III—”Super Husband and Wife!”; “The Bride Gets Super Powers!”; “Secret of the Super-Family!”).

In November-December 1948, Superman journeys to Venus to obtain an exotic Venusian flower as a gift for Lois Lane (S No. 55/2: “The Richest Man in the World!”).

In January 1951, Dr. Dorrow attempts to exile Superman and Lois Lane to Venus by shutting them inside transparent cylinders filled with “suspended animation gas” and launching them into outer space, but Superman and Lois are released from their cylinders by friendly Venusians and soon succeed in returning to Earth (Act No. 152, Jan 1951: “The Sleep That Lasted 1000 Years”).

In December 1953, when a meteor is about to destroy Venus, Superboy smashes it and visits Venus to quench his thirst. Upon returning to Smallville, he unknowingly brings back a Venusian spore that grows rapidly into a tree. The tree's strange odor begins to affect the population, making them behave strangley or act out dreams. Superboy uproots the tree, hurls it into space and solves the problem of the alien tree's aroma (SB No. 29, Dec 1953: "The Tree that Drove Smallville Wild!").

In February 1962, Superman flies a juvenile delinquent to Venus and threatens to abandon him there as part of his plan for teaching the young troublemaker a richly deserved lesson in good manners and respect for others (S No. 151/1, Feb 1962: "The Three Tough Teen-Agers!”).

Links

• Venus at nineplanets.org
• The planet Venus at Wikipedia