Landing on Venus, the President of the Universal Botanical Gardens tells famous actress, Miss D’Argot, about rare flowers called Sandflowers of Venus. He says nobody is brave enough to recover one. Miss D’Argot cajoles her boyfriend, Brad Bennett, to recover a Sandflower. Bennett reluctantly agrees to the impossible task. Leaving the ship, Bennett is pursued by Melinda Brown, who overheard the conversation. She tells him the Giant Swamp Spider of Venus cultivates the flowers to lure human beings to their death. She asks Bennett not to embark on the deadly mission, adding there were unsavory characters who would try to steal the flower from him if he found it. He wants to live up to his promise to Miss D’Argot and stays on course. He rents a jet car, traveling to where the flower grows. He finds one easily. Seeing no Swamp Spider, he takes it. The Swamp Spider appears and attacks him, which he narrowly avoids. The pursuit is relentless until the spider has cornered him hiding under his rented Jet Car. The spider destroys the car. Bennett desperately uses one of the rocket tubes from the destroyed vehicle, driving the injured creature away. Back in the Venusian city, he fights off ruffians. A blast fires and scatters the thugs. Brown leads Bennett into the underground drainage tunnels to escape. Brown tells Bennett she was the daughter of the spaceport’s police chief, and used to play in the tunnels as a child. A ruffian recognizes Bennett as having the Sandflower, and shouts a signal to attack the pair. Bennett and Brown fight off all comers, making it back to the ship before it takes off. Bennett presents the Sand Flower to Miss D’Argot, but she brushes it off as unimportant. The President of the Universal Botanical Gardens offers him a check for $10,000 dollars in reward. He says he’ll donate the check to charity, because he found his reward on Venus while looking knowingly at Brown. Miss D’Argot is furious.
| Alias Melinda Brown |
| Real Names/Alt Names Melinda Brown |
| Characteristics Sci-Fi Hero, Ziff-Davis Universe, The Future, Public Domain |
| Creators/Key Contributors Frank Giacoia, Sy Barry |
| First Appearance Weird Thrillers #1 (Sept.-Oct. 1951) |
| First Publisher Ziff-Davis [CB+] [DCM] [GCD] |
| Appearance List Weird Thrillers #1 |
| Sample Read Weird Thrillers [DCM] [CB+] |
| Description Landing on Venus, the President of the Universal Botanical Gardens tells famous actress, Miss D’Argot, about rare flowers called Sandflowers of Venus. He says nobody is brave enough to recover one. Miss D’Argot cajoles her boyfriend, Brad Bennett, to recover a Sandflower. Bennett reluctantly agrees to the impossible task. Leaving the ship, Bennett is pursued by Melinda Brown, who overheard the conversation. She tells him the Giant Swamp Spider of Venus cultivates the flowers to lure human beings to their death. She asks Bennett not to embark on the deadly mission, adding there were unsavory characters who would try to steal the flower from him if he found it. He wants to live up to his promise to Miss D’Argot and stays on course. He rents a jet car, traveling to where the flower grows. He finds one easily. Seeing no Swamp Spider, he takes it. The Swamp Spider appears and attacks him, which he narrowly avoids. The pursuit is relentless until the spider has cornered him hiding under his rented Jet Car. The spider destroys the car. Bennett desperately uses one of the rocket tubes from the destroyed vehicle, driving the injured creature away. Back in the Venusian city, he fights off ruffians. A blast fires and scatters the thugs. Brown leads Bennett into the underground drainage tunnels to escape. Brown tells Bennett she was the daughter of the spaceport’s police chief, and used to play in the tunnels as a child. A ruffian recognizes Bennett as having the Sandflower, and shouts a signal to attack the pair. Bennett and Brown fight off all comers, making it back to the ship before it takes off. Bennett presents the Sand Flower to Miss D’Argot, but she brushes it off as unimportant. The President of the Universal Botanical Gardens offers him a check for $10,000 dollars in reward. He says he’ll donate the check to charity, because he found his reward on Venus while looking knowingly at Brown. Miss D’Argot is furious. |
| Source Melinda Brown – Public Domain Super Heroes Wiki |
