Gee, our light-hearted adventures got gruesome all of a sudden
Woof. VENUS started out as a chipper romance comics, playing up the glamor angle with its star literally being Venus, Goddess of Love. Then it got into science-fiction and then outright horror (That second cover is by none other than Bill Everett) at the end. This happened quite a bit to titles after WW II ended and super-heroes fell away.
For the most part, publishers didn't particularly care what was in their comics, they were focussed on what really mattered... how much money came in. Merchandise was also important, sometimes the toys and lunchboxes and Halloween costumes made more than the comics themselves. If there was a huge demand for comics about antique furniture, titles like CAPTAIN AMNESIA and THE HUMAN GALOOT would be dropped in a blink and newsstands would fill up with FURNITURE TALES, ANTIQUES MUST BE SAVED and LACQUER GIRL. With the sharp decline in super-hero popularity, publishers found romance sold for awhile, as did teen comedy, horror and Westerns. Before the costumed avengers vanished, though, they often found themselves suddenly plunged into nightmarish scenes in which they seemed out of place.
Injury to the eye much, Junior?
The Big Red sliced Cheese.
Hey, where's Linda Turner, the gorgeous crimefighting Black Cat?
Cap always said he'd follow the Red Skull into Hell itself.
A laugh a minute with Plastic Man. Well, not really.