Venus #7
The Romance That Could Not Be!
In Olympus, Joya, daughter of Jupiter watches Venus on Earth and is instantly jealous that Venus is allowed to live among mortals and love a mortal man. She soon begins to harass her father about how she believes that Venus is a traitor to the gods and demands that she stand trial for her crimes. She convinces the weary Jupiter that Venus forsook the gods as she had overheard her tell her lover Whitney Hammond that his love is all that matters to her. When this is corroborated by Joya's maid Cera, Jupiter gives in and allows Joya to have her trial. He sends Hermies down to Earth to collect Venus and bring her back to Olympus. He appears before Venus and Whitney Hammond and teleports them both away to Olympus. When they arrive there, Whitney dismisses the reality before him and insists that he is having a very vivid dream.
They soon find themselves before a council of the gods where Jupiter reads the charges against Venus and she learns that Joya has raised them against her. Hammond speaks up trying to defend Venus, sparking interest in Joya. Despite Hammond's protests, the trial goes on. Joya tells the council that she accuses Venus of forsaking her godhood for the love of a mortal man. However, she begins to lose the jury as they all become distracted by Venus' beauty. She gets their attention back by saying that her meddling on Earth has caused much damage and demands that Venus be left on Olympus while she returns to Earth with Hammond to repair the damage done. Meanwhile, in Hades, Loki is informed by one of his demons that the gods have all left Earth and are occupied in a trial for Venus. This gives Loki the opportunity he has been waiting for and amasses his demonic army to prepare for an invasion of Olympus.
As the demonic hordes head for Olympus, Joya rests her case and Venus is given the floor to defend herself. Venus explains how she had grown bored on Olympus and went back to Earth to spread love and help couples out, taking on a job at Beauty Magazine and falling in love with Whitney Hammond. She points out that while on her mission on Earth she fell in love with Hammond and that their love is unbreakable. Joya sees this as an opportunity to triumph over Venus and points out that mortals cannot love faithfully and challenges that she can make Hammond fall in love with her, proving her point. Venus protests this, worrying that Joya will somehow manage to keep Whitney forever when suddenly the trial is interrupted by word that Loki and his demons are invading Olympus.
Loki soon easily takes over the entire realm and informs Jupiter that he intends to vanquish all the Olympians to Hades except for Venus. However, before Loki has the chance it appears as though Venus offers herself in sacrifice to rule Hades with Loki if he releases Olympus. Seeing this as a victory, Loki agrees and they and Loki's army vanish. Whitney Hammond is horrified and depressed that Venus is gone forever. When Joya attempts to romance him, he refuses her advances telling her that he is in love with Venus. Suddenly, "Joya" reveals that she is really Venus in disguise. She explains that when Loki invaded Olympus Joya realized the errors of her way, and posing as Venus sacrificed herself for the good of her people.
With the battle over, Jupiter causes Hammond to fall asleep and returns both Venus and Whitney to Earth. Whitney wakes up and still believes that the entire episode was all a dream.
Recurring Characters
Venus
Whitney Hammond
Jupiter
Apollo
Hermes
Loki
Continuity Notes
This story retells how Venus returned to Earth in Venus #1.
Is this the Loki? That friends is a really complicated story here. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #6 and other earlier handbooks state that this is the first appearance of Loki in the Marvel Universe. However, Official Handbook of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor goes back and states that the first appearance of Loki is (as far as Marvel is concerned) is Journey into Mystery #85. This was not due to omission, I got the truth straight from someone who helped write that handbook. You can find that thread over at the Chronology Project. Why Marvel chose to double back on it? So is this Loki? Officially no. As for you reader? It’s a matter of interpretation. I mean there are enough built in ways to explain all the discrepancies between the Loki seen here and the Thor we all know and love. So you could choose to accept that this is the Loki or just some other guy using his name. That said, the “Son of Satan” is also probably not the son of the Loki.
