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While it was never a best-seller, the Son of Satan character was popular enough to last through 13 issues of Marvel Spotlight (12-24) and 8 issues of his own title. Part of that popularity was due to the Satan-themed movies in the 1970s and the fact that Steve Gerber took over as the writer in Marvel Spotlight 14. Before the series co-creator Gary Friedrich left, he had to tell the story of Daimon's conception and childhood.
Daimon Hellstrom's origin actually appeared in Marvel Spotlight #13, his second full blown appearance. It borrows heavily from Rosemary's Baby, but it's not quite as elegantly told. We see Satan coming to Earth and taking on the form of a handsome man, although I think Daimon's mom could have been tipped off by the pointed ears. Maybe she thought she was fucking Namor?
Apparently life was pretty good with Satan during the first few years (except for some mysterious business trips to Hell), and then things changed when the kids were born. First came Daimon, then his sister Satana, who turned out to be a little succubus minx. I'll cover her story later, but let's just say that Daimon's Mom finally figured out that things weren't going well when she stumbled upon Satana sacrificing a cat in the basement. Little episodes like that drove her to an insane asylum, leaving Daimon to go to a seminary and become a priest. While Daimon grew up unaware that his father was the Devil, Satana apparently knew from a young age and had no problem with the concept. On his 21st birthday, Daimon learns the truth after getting summoned to Hell, and steals Satan's trident and chariot to fight his war against Dear Old Dad.
Friedrich (and possibly Stan Lee or Roy Thomas) clearly meant for Daimon to resemble the early version of the Hulk, or perhaps DC's character Eclipso, with dual natures constantly fighting each other. By day, Daimon was a priest; by night he was the Anti-Christ. When Steve Gerber took over, he jettisoned this concept very quickly. On his birthday, Daimon awakes after a nightmare to find that his dual personalities have merged. He doesn't suffer transformations from dusk to dawn and he can transform into a trident wielding madman at the drop of a hat. Daimon still has a Darksoul which constantly threatens to overwhelm his personality. Gerber also dropped the role of Daimon as a Priest and made him a Professor of Parapsychology, which allowed him to visit various places to perform exorcisms.
It took Gerber a while to figure out how to write good Son of Satan stories. His initial tale had Daimon fighting an Ice Demon called Ikthalon. Another tale attempted to bring Daimon into Gerber's Zhred-Na priestess mythology from Man-Thing. Gerber's most memorable tale was in Marvel Spotlight 20-22 (The Fool's Quest), where Daimon encountered a mystical Tarot card reader. After displaying Daimon's fate in a series of Tarot cards, he undergoes a series of trials which resemble them. The trials bring back various people from his past, including his mother, Satana, Ghost Rider. The last trial sees Daimon fighting the physical presence of his Darksoul. At the conclusion of the story, Daimon says: "…I've won the most important battle of my life. The one every man must face at some time in his life…the crisis of self-acceptance." In other words, Daimon had momentarily come to terms with his Darksoul.
After the Spotlight run concluded, Son of Satan #1 appeared in the fall of 1975. A new writer, John Warner, was onboard for the first seven issues. Warner attempted to develop new villains for the series, including one called The Possessor, but they didn't really match the excitement of Satan. I think this was a problem for any writer tackling this character. How can you get any bigger than Satan? Warner's run was complicated by the artwork of Sonny Trinidad, who was more suited to the black and white horror magazines. The best story was in the last issue (#8) featuring a nice art job by Russ Heath over a script by Bill Mantlo.
Daimon's book died at the time the United States got all over Satan--was it any coincidence this occured when the Republicans were getting ready to leave the White House? Some pundits claim horror sells better during a Republican administration. But the Son of Satan remained in the Marvel Universe, which I'll cover in Part Three. Nuff said.
See also:
Part I: Daimon Hellstrom, The Son of Satan!
Part III: Teaming Up With the Marvel Universe
Part IV: Who's Daimon's Daddy?
External Links:
Hellstorm Son of Satan
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