(Whirlwind Comics 003, 1940)
Earth in the far-off future of 1980 CE simply can't catch a break! This time they're being pelted with comets from somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter and as per usual scientist-adventurer Bruce Barlow is on the case. And he's a good choice, as evidenced by the fact that even when he has a rocket mishap and ends up going entirely the wrong way, crashing on Venus...
... he still finds the source of the comets! This is Emperor Coron, ruler of Venus, who is attacking Earth for no stated reason. As Barlow learns when he is thrown in jail, Coron has usurped the throne from his new cellmate Gola and not only has he had Gola's daughter Venus' tongue torn out (fuckin' yikes) but he intends to marry her to cement his claim to the throne. A true creep of the first water.
Luckily for both Gola and Venus, there is not a prison that Bruce Barlow cannot escape or a wedding that he cannot ruin. He and Gola crash the affair in a quite literal fashion by upsetting the idol to whatever god the Venusians worship onto at least one - hopefully evil - guest.
Once the people of Venus get word that their beloved Gola is alive, Coron's days are numbered. Mob justice wins again! Everyone wins but Coron! And of course poor tongueless Venus.
(I think I've mentioned before that the creator of the Bruce Barlow strip is unknown, but whoever they were I think we can safely say that they were fans of Jack Kirby. Just compare these Venusians to Iako for instance. I don't think it was Kirby himself, because his art was a lot more composed than this, but there's definitely some inspiration going on)
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