The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDb) lists three books in the Venus series written by Otis Adelbert Kline. These are under the name of the main character, Grandon:
First is The Planet of Peril, which was published in hardback in 1929 and in a six-part serial in Argosy All-Story Weekly from July 20 to August 24, 1929.
Next is The Prince of Peril, which was published in hardback in 1930 and in a six-part serial in Argosy, from August 2 to September 6, 1930.
The last part of the trilogy was entitled "Buccaneers of Venus" for publication in Weird Tales. It appeared as a six-part serial in that magazine from November 1932 to April 1933. "Buccaneers of Venus" was published in book form as The Port of Peril in 1949.
We should note that the coming of the Great Depression intervened between the publication of the first and second books. That might explain the change in the title of Argosy All-Story Weekly to just Argosy. (And what a great title for a story magazine it is.) The early thirties were the worst years of the Depression. That might explain why Kline's Venus books moved from Argosy to the low-rent pages of Weird Tales between 1930 and 1932.
Anyway, like "Tam, Son of the Tiger" before it, "Buccaneers of Venus" was featured on the cover of four issues of Weird Tales. These were done by J. Allen St. John (1872-1957). Curtis C. Senf (1873-1949) had done the four covers for Kline's "Tam, Son of the Tiger." That was another change during those transition years of the early Depression, for Senf slowly gave way to two new cover artists for Weird Tales, J. Allen St. John and Margaret Brundage (1900-1976). Senf's last cover for the magazine was for the issue of September 1932.
"Buccaneers of Venus" was not only a serial but also the final adventure of a series character. As you can see from the information above, Grandon's previous adventures were in a different magazine.
Here are J. Allen St. John's four covers illustrating the story:
Text copyright 2021, 2023 Terence E. Hanley
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