Professor Mancheeks, bathing

That scandalous fellow, never one to miss an opportunity to purloin one's garments, seems to have also seized up my iconograph and taken this image.

El Serpiente and Innocent

Three months I spent in that wretched jungle, thinking myself the only civilised being on this world with only a savage boy for companionship. It came as something of a shock to realise that Venus was teeming with visitors, from our world and from others. The fellow who calls himself El Serpiente sounds to be a Spaniard or perhaps from the New World colonies. He has thrown his lot in with the cruel commanders of the Martian Empire and one shudders to imagine what diabolical debaucheries occur on their flying saucers. But one is forced to imagine nonetheless.

As for that strange fellow he travels with... He calls himself 'Innocent' and claims to be the reincarnation of a pope, both of which claims are equally preposterous. He seems to have suffered some great indignities at the hands of the Martians but, worse, seems to have thrived in that environment of cruelty and domination.

From Professor Mancheeks' Almanac of the Astonishing.

The Venusians

When I beheld my first Venusian it was in silhouette, against the morning sun and I wondered perhaps if my day of judgement had come. At narrow range their reptilian features became clear and I realised my angelic visitor was more profane and bestial in truth. They possess a kind of savage intelligence and are fine crafters of tools and surprisingly elegant fabrics made of native fibres that withstand the harsh conditions on this wretched world.

In a crude inversion of civilised society it is the women who go off to war with other tribes, leaving the men to raise the eggs and fledglings and also to tend and decorate the homes. The harpy women are seldom present, and spend most of their lives on flying korsair ships, raiding and plundering. In the absence of natural families, the men share a certain companionship among themselves. It is my duty as a scientist to investigate these strange rituals of intimacy that this exotic culture shares between menfolk. In the name of science.

From Professor Mancheeks' Alamanac of the Astonishing.