Mr. Hellstrom just appeared in my last comic review, the first issue for his first solo series. I suggest you take a look at that review to learn more about Marvel's number one half-demonic demonologist. And with that, let's take a look at his first cover appearance.
The cover is rather nice, if a bit misleading. It gives the impression that he's a villainous character who wants to get revenge on humanity. It's not like that in the actual comic. Hellstrom here is more arguably an anti-heroic type. He'll save your soul, but don't expect him to be nice about it. The cover still looks cool, I just wish it was a bit more truthful about the story content.
"The Son of Satan!"
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Inker: Frank Chiaramonte
Letterer: J. Costanza
Colorist: Marie Severin
Editor: Roy Thomas
The story begins with a man screaming to be let out, his wrists bound by unusual chains made of golden interlocking ankhs. The man screams that he will help someone's daughter. Another man says he was supposed to keep the chained man in that state until morning. The man is desperate to save his daughter Linda, so he agrees, like a moron. A transformed Daimon bursts out of the cabin.
It's interesting seeing Daimon's character here compared to Son of Satan #1. Here, it seems that Daimon suffers from a split personality that takes over at nightfall and makes him into a monster. It's much like the early days of the Incredible Hulk, but with an occult influence. The men attack the Son of Satan, but he blasts the ground underneath them with his trident, knocking them off-balance. Daimon explains that they still have a use to him. If they did not, he would have destroyed them...and their village. The Son of Sstan needs to switch to decaf.
Daimon interrogates the men, demanding to know everything they can tell him about Linda. One of the men refuses. Daimon demands he talk, as Linda may be possessed by his father, Satan himself. And if that's true, Daimon will do whatever it takes to find her. He further demands that the men talk...or they take a lava bath.
The men then demand that Daimon kill them already. Hellstrom assures them that he will not harm the girl. After all, she's a victim of his father's malfeasance. The younger men recaps his calling Hellstrom for help, because he feared his sister was possessed. He went to a pay phone to call for his services (It was 1973, folks). When he came back, Linda was gone.
Daimon accepts this, but warns that the man is dead if he is lying. He summons his Hell Chariot.
God, I love this full-page spread. Look at it, it's so cool! And not surprisingly, it's pulled by a trio of rather ugly horses...but they're likely from Hell. Hell really doesn't do pretty...when it doesn't have to. Daimon boards the chariot, and the demon horses ride off through the sky. The men are left fearing the unleashed something horrible on the world.
We cut to another area in the desert, where one Roxanne Simpson, Johnny Blaze's lady love, is at the mercy of a biker gang thanks to the events of Ghost Rider #2. One of the bikers grabs Roxanne and proclaims she's his property. Roxanne warns him to back off, because Johnny will kill him. The big biker, known as "Animal", laughs it off. However, he nearly gets his face fried by a lightning strike.
Animal is shocked and confused by this, as it's a clear night out. He thinks it's Blaze pulling a trick, but it's actually Daimon. Hellstrom wishes to question Roxanne. Animal, however, has had his fill of "costumed crazies". Daimon warns the bikers that if they take him on, he will kick their butts. He only wants to speak to Roxanne. Animal...doesn't listen.
Hellstrom beats the tar out of the bikers, and Animal pulls a gun. Daimon...is not impressed by his little peashooter. He tosses his trident, kinocking the gun out of the biker's hands. He then blasts the gun with a ray from his hand, melting it to slag. ...I don't think he ever uses that power again. The bikers get the idea that maybe angering Daimon further is not the best of ideas and decide to split back to the clubhouse to go...play some cards or something.
Hellstrom then checks on Roxanne, and flirts with her a bit. Dude! Time and place! And she's taken. Seriously! He then forcefully yanks her head back and senses that she was recently in contact with Satan. She exclaims that she has no idea, and she only knows of a Native American woman calling herself Witch-Woman who vanished with Johnny Blaze. Hellstrom realizes that if this "Witch Woman" is the girl's soul he's looking to rescue...he knows exactly where it's been taken. He heads off, while leaving Roxanne to her own devices in the desert. Don't worry, Ghost Rider #3 will pick her up.
Daimon finds a gateway to Hell in the desert, because why not? Hell's architect is known for being a little nuts. He heads down and demands the old hornhead show himself. And being a good host, the Devil shows up.
Satan shows the chained Johnny Blaze and the unconscious soul of Linda Littletree. Littletree is of no consequence to the old embodiment of evil, but he's been searching for Johnny Blaze's soul endlessly. Daimon taunts his old man, essentially insinuating that Ol' Scratch has gone senile. Satan threatens to toss him to the demons for lunch. Daimon taunts him some more, and Satan is fed up. Daimon then waves his trident at him. You see, Daimon's trident is made of a magical metal called Netheranium. It's a much cooler name for a metal than Unobtanium. Yes, I'm looking at you, James Cameron. It also turns out to be Satan's kryptonite, as the metal makes him back off.
Ol' Scratch then start bellowing about kids these days, and reminds Daimon that the metal may hurt him...but not his minions. As such, he commands them to tear Daimon apart. Hellstrom brawls his way through the demon forces. Satan tells the demons Daimon must not reach a certain bridge. Yeah, it's a load-bearing bridge. Hell's architect was a bit nuts. The bridge holds up the entire roof of Hell. Yeah, because the entire place the specializes in eternal torment of the damned can be brought down by blowing up one bridge. Satan was too cheap to hire a competent contractor.
Daimon threatens to blow up the bridge unless he gets Blaze and Linda freed and returned to Earth. Ol' Scratch is furious, but agrees. The three return to Earth, and Daimon remarks that he will get his revenge on Satan for something he did to Daimon's mother and sister, which will be explored in the next issue. For those not in the know, Daimon's sister is the half-demon anti-heroine known as Satana. Yeah. That's her actual name, it's not a codename.
Blaze wants to know why Hellstrom helped them. Hellstrom explained that he only heled them so he could metaphorically give his devil dad the finger. Satan causes a volcano to appear and erupt...because he can do that. If he could do that, why didn't he just do it when Hellstrom was looking for a cavern to Hell?
The three hide behind a large boulder, and Daimon summons his awesome Hell Chariot to fly them out of there. Didn't think he had one of those, huh, Ol' Scratch? The story ends with Blaze and Linda left in a spot in the desert, and Daimon flying off.
This issue is...a rather interesting one. It's okay. It's a continuation of a Ghost Rider storyline, so you may need to get the first two Ghost Rider issues to get the complete story. Thing that bothers me when I think about it is...why was this story finished in the Marvel Spotlight title rather than in Ghost Rider's own book? Yes, Johnny Blaze was not the focus of this issue, but that was because of story reasons. This should have been the third issue of Ghost Rider's title, in my opinion, then Daimon could have spun off into Marvel Spotlight. It's very odd. Daimon can be seen as a bit unlikeable here, but considering his heritage and the reason why he is this way, that's understandable.
It's also, as I said earlier, rather interesting to see Daimon's characterization here compared to Son of Satan #1. Here, Daimon seems much more...raw, for lack of a better term. When I compare the two, it seems to me that in Son of Satan, Daimon's still got the temper, but he seems to have somewhat toned down the ruthlessness and uncaring towards others he has here. Still carries that rage he has towards his dad, though. And he also still struggles with his demonic heritage overcoming him, but it's no longer in control with nightfall. Interesting evolution, and honestly, a better one in my mind.
As for the art, well...I like it. Herb Trimpe was a fan of the 1950s EC horror line, and I bet he really enjoyed doing a story like this. There are some panels where Trimpe gets to make Daimon look truly horrifying. You can see the EC horror influence in the style here, which is very appropriate.
All in all, if you're looking for a good comic read for next Halloween, pick up the Son of Satan Classic trade paperback. Next time, we jump to the DC Universe, where we take a look at the beginnings of the Justice League of America...
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