Marvel Spotlight #13 (January 1974)

Back in November 2017, I took a look at Marvel Spotlight #12 (October 1973), Daimon Hellstrom's first solo feature (He debuted in Ghost Rider's book beforehand). With his getting his own series on Hulu, and Halloween coming up, I thought I'd take a look at the next issue of his solo adventures. This is Marvel Spotlight #13!

The cover is a John Romita Sr. piece, and it's pretty cool. It depicts our man Daimon front and center, holding up his trident, surrounded by demons. The pose and proclamation give the impression that Daimon is a hero standing defiant against the demonic horde. Some would say that it's a bit undercut by Daimon himself having a demonic aura to him, but I disagree. It's a great cover.

"When Satan Walked the Earth"

Writer: Gary Friedrich

Penciler: Herb Trimpe

Inker: Frank Chiaramonte

Colorist: Petra Goldberg

Letterer: Artie Simek

The story begins with a mansion. Your stereotypical dark and mysterious mansion standing ominously at the shore of a lake. It's here that Daimon Hellstrom returns from Hell, fearing that he may have triggered a war thanks to his actions in the last issue. 

This mansion is Daimon's home. Upon entry, the half-devil senses an evil presence. His dear Satanic daddy may be there, so he has to check something. In the mansion's cellar is a sealed portal to Hell itself. It's been able to keep Ol' Scratch at bay for two years so far, but it wouldn't hurt to check it over. It's here that Daimon discovers that he has some guests...and they're not here for a friendly visit.

"Where's our money, Hellstrom?!"

The demons have surprise and numbers on their side, but it's not enough against Daimon. One demon even tries to attack him with his own trident, but ends up impaled by it for his trouble. Daimon can't be harmed by his own weapon, you see. After he dispatches the demons, Daimon locks away his trident and searches for something. What exactly is he looking for?

Ah, a Dark Souls strategy guide! I'm kidding. It's really a diary, belonging to his mother Victoria. It's here we learn about Daimon's origins. Victoria Wingate was once a lonely young woman until she met a rather handsome man. He wanted to introduce himself, as he was a man of wealth and taste... The two started to enter what seemed to be a perfect romance, eventually getting married. Soon after Daimon and his sister was born. The comic reveals that Daimon was the older of the siblings by three years.

Mr. Hellstrom would take long "business trips", but Victoria was not bothered. After all, she was busy playing housewife. One night, she went to look for him and little Satana (yeah, this was why the Helstrom Hulu series gave her the name "Ana". A bit less obvious), and found the two of them engaged some...unusual father-daughter bonding.

"We're doing some surgery on this cat, honey! Honest! You know little Ana wants to be a vet!"

Mr. Hellstrom reveals his true nature as Satan to her, and it drove Victoria mad. Before she died, she learned that her children were adopted, and that Satan had disappeared. The last time that Daimon visited her she gave him a chain of Ankhs, as a protective talisman against Satan. Daimon's own memories reveal that despite this, he had a pretty normal childhood. As a young man, Daimon wanted to take up the religious life, becoming a priest. He spent three years in a monastery, and was about to be ordained when he got word of his inheritance. 

His inheritance was his parents' old home, which he would have gotten when he turned 21. So, how old was Damian supposed to be here? It was then he discovered his mother's old diary, and learned about his half-demon heritage. He then heard a voice summon him, commanding him to leave behind his ankh chain. He obeys and finds himself in Hell itself and in the presence of "Satan" himself.

"I forgot to put on pants again, didn't I?"

Big Red himself wants to explain his side of the story, but he just shows Daimon around and basically tells him "rule by my side or you'll be tortured forever", the standard Devil-temptation shtick. He gives the redheaded half-demon some time to think it over. Daimon decides that next he meets his old man, they're going to duke it out. But how? Well, our resident half-Devil has an idea.

You see, in his tour of Hell, Daimon learned that there were mines the extracted a metal called netheranium. Netheranium is basically Satan's Kryptonite, according to Victoria. If that was the case, why were the mines unguarded? Well, that's because the knowledge that this stuff can harm Satan is not known by the workers, so they can't revolt. Oh, and the mines are guarded.

Yeah, Satan's not quite as dumb as Daimon thought. The half-demon priest-in-training retreats into a cave. The dragon-demon-monster fires a blast of flame into the cave. Daimon protects himself by hiding behind a boulder made of netheranium. The metal's properties allowed not only protection from the flames, but also it reflected the flames back at the monster, killing it by literally making its head asplode.

(head explode)

You'd think a dragon would be immune to its own flames. Maybe it had a birth defect. Daimon sees the workers come out of hiding and tries to rally them to rise against their demon masters. The workers are surprisingly open to the idea and start fighting with their demon overlords. Satan himself decides to intervene. He figures that this is Daimon's way of turning down his offer. As such, he's going to nuke his son. 

Daimon then figures "Hey, I'm this horn-head's kid, I must have inherited some of his power!" He then realizes he can shoot fire from his hands. The two then fight some more, Daimon causing a rockslide to distract Ol' Scratch. This allows the future New Defender to get Satan's trident. He then uses the trident to summon Satan's personal chariot and basically use it to escape. Once he comes back to Earth, he seals the portal in his home with some netheranium. 

That was two years ago. But now the seal is broken, and Daimon senses that Satan is out there, ready to strike. And only one of them will walk away from this eventual confrontation...

This was pretty enjoyable, but it is a bit basic. It does make some leaps because of its length, like Daimon figuring out his powers right away and the like. It has that wacky overdramatic stuff that makes 70s comics fun.

Trimpe's art looks...well, I'm honestly mixed about it. I think he was trying to go for more of a horror vibe. I'm kind of not a fan of his rendition of Daimon myself. I get that he's the son of the Devil, so he would have some devil in him, but I kind of wish he didn't make it quite so obvious with the pointed ears, fangs, and the eyebrows. Personally, I would have gone for a bit of a compromise. Maybe have those features show more when he gets angry or something like that.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2016 trade paperback Son of Satan Classic. Thanks fore reading this blog entry, and Happy Halloween! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! See you next time!