Recently in The Son of Satan Category

Several editors in the comic book industry regard certain characters as "radioactive". They've been fucked up so badly that they need to be left alone for a few years and possibly rebooted. Hawkman was the classic example: his origin was redone over and over to the point where it no longer made any sense. Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, also leapt off the Geiger counter when we found out that his father was Dormammu, not Satan!

Yes, push the reset button, please. Don't explain anything, just fix it, and in Hellstorm: Son of Satan #1, we are back to some of the basic tenants. Daimon is back on earth in human form and his father is Satan, the ruler of Hell. Daimon still wields a lethal pitchfork to dispatch demons running amok in New Orleans. Besides demons chowing down on hapless souls like obese little boys at McDonalds, there's a deeper mystery involving the Egyptian gods Isis and Horus. That was one thing I thought previous writers missed out on--mixing up Gods from different Pantheons and seeing what conflict they might provoke. It's a promising start. I like the interior monologue that Alexander Irvine has written, but certain aspects of the artwork throw me off a bit. Maybe it's the coloring (the demons look like big red teddy bears to me), or perhaps I am just comparing Russ Braun's very different style (which I like but may not fit this genre) to Leonardo Manco, who illustrated the Warren Ellis run. I think I'm just prejudiced--Spanish or Italian artists always seem to hit my Hell-spot better than most American artists.

I really love the alternate cover by Mark Texeira. It's an homage to Marvel Spotlight #13, which featured Daimon's origin. Tex is a class act all the way, because he signs it "Mark Texeira after Romita", who did the original version. So many artists these days are using classic covers for inspiration and not crediting the source. Thank you, Tex, for being so honorable! Nuff said.

See also my history of Daimon's troubled past:
Part I: Daimon Hellstrom, The Son of Satan!
Part II: Dealing with Darksouls
Part III: Teaming Up With the Marvel Universe
Part IV: Who's Daimon's Daddy?

External Links:
Hellstorm Son of Satan

In 1993, Marvel Comics brought Daimon Hellstrom back in his own series once again, but it wouldn't be called Son of Satan. Instead, the editors chose the name: Hellstorm! For no good reason, other than the fact that transposing two letters in Daimon's name makes for some cheap excitement. Written by Rafael Nieves and drawn by Michael Bair, it threw out as much of the superhero trappings as possible-a more Vertigo-ized version. The cape and the boots were gone, as well as the metallic trident (he summoned an energy-based version instead) and the demon drawn chariot. But it did preserve one tradition, in that the first issue was a confusing mess involving a doppelganger, while the second issue retold Daimon's origin and recent history. We learned that Daimon had been separated from his Darksoul at the conclusion of his adventures with the Defenders.

In issue #2, we learned that this wasn't your friendly neighborhood Son of Satan. Something's different right off the bat, when Doctor Strange pays a visit and finds Daimon picking up Satanic-floozies in a bar. Daimon is still married to Patsy Walker, but she's insane and spends all her days in bed chanting Satanic verses. A flashback in issue #3 tells us how this happened. Daimon was dying as a result of being separated from the Darksoul. Patsy uses incantations found in a Satanic book to summon the Devil, who instills the Darksoul back into Daimon's body. It doesn't come without a price, as the transformation snaps Patsy's mental hold on reality. After that, the writers didn't really seem to know how to handle Patsy, so they killed her off, but she made her way out of Hell in Thunderbolts Annual 2000.

Len Kaminsky took over as the writer around issue 4, tying up plots that Nieves had started. A lot of these stories involved Daimon fighting demons and blasting away at them with hellfire blasts. My favorite issue by Kaminsky, and possibly the best single story that I enjoyed in this Son of Satan review, is Hellstorm #11. Daimon has fallen down to Hell after trying to break into Heaven. He is greeted by a man who says, "That must have been some fall. I could see you from miles away." Daimon asks who he is, and the man replies: "Simon Garth, at your service."

Since I am the biggest (and maybe only) Tales of the Zombie fan on the planet, I recognized this name immediately. I enjoyed Kaminsky's little nod back to Marvel's black and white magazine era. Garth takes Daimon on a tour of Hell, where we get a nice departure from the typical people-burning-in-caves motif. Some areas resemble various wars throughout history, while another one looks like a terribly industrial city, and my favorite area is a big shopping mall with a store called Nostalgia. "It's not the Devil who judges mankind. Not God who damns them for Eternity. It's themselves." After Daimon sees his mother being tortured, he realizes this isn't Simon Garth at all-it's his father, the Devil.

Hellstorm 11 concluded with father and son meeting face to face, while Hellstorm 12 picks up some time later with a new writer, Warren Ellis. Ellis would reveal a few issues later that Daimon actually killed his father during the confrontation that ensued, and that Daimon was now the ruler of Hell. Furthermore, Ellis proposed that Daimon's mother wasn't the sweet naïve little country girl we all thought. She was the daughter of a satanic cult who prepared her to give birth to Satan-spawn. Daimon's father wasn't really Satan but a Sumerian demon called Marduk Kurios who assumed control of Hell. Despite these revelations, Hellstorm wasn't a good series at all. Too much meandering around, attempts to genre up the horror-satanic angle with X-Files/Millenium overtones, and sub-plots with Satana and Gabriel the Devil-Hunter which went nowhere.

To my amazement, Daimon appeared in various Marvel titles after this series was cancelled. In the four issue run of Druid (also written by Ellis), he kills the titular character in the last issue. He appears in Fantastic Four Annual 1999 by Claremont and Ladronn, where he appears in his original costume. He also appeared in Thunderbolts Annual 2000 when Patsy Walker escaped from Hell, and in the Hellcat mini-series later in 2000. During the latter story, written by Steve Englehart, Daimon's parentage takes an even stranger twist when his father is revealed to the Satannish as the grandson of Mephisto.

All these events, in my opinion, left the Son of Satan character in pretty bad shape--almost as bad as Hawkman once was over at DC. Perhaps at some future date, Daimon Hellstrom will be revived again. In the meantime, if you take a vacation in Fire Lake, watch out for mysterious underground passageways, they might just lead you to Hell. Nuff said.

See also:
Part I: Daimon Hellstrom, The Son of Satan!
Part II: Dealing with Darksouls
Part III: Teaming Up With the Marvel Universe

External Links:
Hellstorm Son of Satan

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Daimon Hellstrom made various appearances throughout the Marvel Universe, as did many horror characters from the 70s. His first pit stop was in Giant Size Defenders #2. This was probably his best guest-starring role, by the team of Len Wein and Gil Kane. This was the first time I ever remembered liking Gil Kane's artwork (though I grew to appreciate it as I grew older) due to the dynamic inking job of Klaus Janson. The Hulk is tricked into going to Hell via another underground route-this time in the basement of an old building-the NY housing authority wasn't very good at the time. Dr. Strange has no means to rescue the Hulk other than to bring Daimon Hellstrom into the team.

I think I liked Daimon much more in the early Defenders tales than I did in his own series. Daimon later joined the Defenders in issues 23-25 to help them fight the Sons of Satannish. Despite the name, they had little to do with Satan. The Sons were Marvel's version of the Ku Klux Klan, but they were powerful enough to knock out Doc Strange for two issues, leaving Daimon in charge to save the day.

The Son of Satan also appeared in Marvel Team-Up, but with the Human Torch instead of Spider-Man. I guess the writer must have loved the idea of the human fireball working together with Daimon's hellfire powers. The story ends with Johnny letting Hellstrom walk off alone: "Whatever it is he is going through, it must be Hell."

Not to be outdone by Johnny, the Thing needed some Satan-time as well. Daimon stepped into Marvel Two-In-One #14 to help Ben Grimm fight a demon. At the end of this adventure, Grimm says: "I hate to end and run, Hellstrom, but I've seen enough of the kind of parties you hang out at to last me a lifetime! I mean...I kinda got the gist of what your act is...and I don't need it, fella! Be seeing you."

My second favorite Daimon Hellstrom guest spot occurred after his series was cancelled. Steve Gerber was making Howard the Duck into a runaway hit, and took Howard on a road trip with unpredictable results in HTD 13-14. Issue 13 has Howard locked up in a mental institution, where he meets the rock group K.I.S.S. (a promotion for the KISS Super Special that Gerber wrote). Daimon has been summoned to the hospital to exorcise a demon from Howard's friend, Winda. As Daimon transforms into the Son of Satan, the change is interrupted by another mystic and the arrival of Howard. Howard becomes…the Duck of Satan! I love the cape, minature trident, and the pentagram on Howard's feathered chest.

Daimon eventually settled as a permanent member of the Defenders, where he met Patsy Walker. Patsy had an interesting history: she was a female version of Archie for Marvel's line of comics aimed at younger readers during the 50s and 60s. In the 1970s, Steve Englehart transformed Patsy into a superhero called Hellcat in the Avengers. Hellcat eventually moved over to the Defenders, and it must have been irresistible to have the Son of Satan fall in love with her. It happened in the mushiest of ways, culminating in this backup story in Marvel Fanfare 59, where Daimon travels to Patsy's childhood home in the South.

Daimon and Patsy faded off into Marvel limbo, waiting for a writer to revive them. In Part 4, we'll see the Vertigo-ization of Daimon Hellstrom. Nuff said.

See also:
Part I: Daimon Hellstrom, The Son of Satan!
Part II: Dealing with Darksouls
Part IV: Who's Daimon's Daddy?

External Links:
Hellstorm Son of Satan

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

The summer of 1973 saw the debut of one of the whackiest Marvel heroes ever created: The Son of Satan! The character was actually first suggested by Stan Lee, and the original title was "The Mark of Satan". The motivation to create such a character was driven by the popularity of films like The Exorcist (as I mentioned in my first rememberance of Marvel 70s horror) and the runaway success of the Tomb of Dracula series.

Marvel's original concept for the SOS was to make him a dual-natured character, much like the Hulk. By day he was supposed to be Daimon Hellstrom, a priest. By night his Satanic heritage would take over, endowing him with destructive powers. There was clearly an attempt to market the SOS to the Dracula fans, as you can see by the cover to Marvel Spotlight #12. Despite the cover blurb, it's not an origin issue!

The first page to Spotlight #12 shows Daimon Hellstrom locked up in a room at night, hands bound by "Chains of Ankhs" which supresses his demon powers. This is much like how Bruce Banner used to lock himself in a cave during the early Hulk adventures, and oddly enough, this first issue is drawn by Hulk artist Herb Trimpe. Once the chains are removed, Daimon's powers are realized, complete with a red cape and trident fork! At this point in time, we associated trident forks with the Satan...was it because of that Harvey comics character, Hot Stuff?

Marvel Spotlight #12 was the concluding chapter of a story begun in Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze and an Indian girl (Linda, who had been possessed by Satanic forces) were now imprisoned in Hell. Herb Trimpe tried his best to bring a sense of scope to the story with this splash page illustrating the arrival of Daimon's Demon-Drawn Chariot of Satan. What the heck, it was better than the Satan-mobile. The SOS pieces together the clues by travelling around the southwest desert and interrogating Indians and motorcycle gangs. Jack Bauer has nothing on Daimon Hellstrom's interrogation techniques: "Consider yourselves fortunate! Had I not been in need of information from you--it would have been nothing for me to destroy your entire village--and yourselves along with it!"

Daimon routinely visited Hell during his adventures. The pathway to Hell was usually some underground passage (in this case a cave tunnel), leading us back to the Greco-Roman myth that the underworld is below the Earth's crust. Daimon and his father have their first familial spat, which shows you how Marvel first intended the Son of Satan concept to work. Even though Daimon, acting at night with his darkside persona in control, was destructive, his actions were always determined to bring down Satan's empire. Thus, Daimon would act on the side of good, but for very selfish reasons. I found this to be an interesting premise, but Marvel changed this a few issues later.

Daimon's first adventure concludes very quickly. Satan sends a bunch of minions to attack his son, and Daimon outwits his father easily. Satan is forced to send Daimon back to the surface with Johnny Blaze and Linda with their souls safely intact. What cracked me up was that even though Satan lost, he's beaming with fatherly pride!

While the series had varying degrees of quality, there are several factors that would never be again duplicated in Marvel comics. One factor is that Satan was actually a character in the comic (as he was in Ghost Rider). In later years, Marvel has tried to remove Satan entirely from its mythos and replace him with Mephisto in the origin of Ghost Rider. The other is simply the title of the comic itself, which generated little protest. If Marvel tried to publish this today, would be instantly under attack from Christian groups. I'll revisit Daimon later on with more Marvel memories. Nuff said.

See also:
Part II: Dealing with Darksouls
Part III: Teaming Up With the Marvel Universe
Part IV: Who's Daimon's Daddy?