Son of Satan Classic Paperback – January 1, 2016

Son of Satan was one of Marvel's more bizarre characters, in an era where Marvel definitely went over the top. The Dracula comics, Ghost Rider, Werewolf by Night, and Son of Satan were all of one bizarre piece of Marvel history. Daimon Hellstrom is a completely unique character; I can't think of any other comic book about the literal son of Satan himself. Daimon Hellstrom - exorcist by day, and, er, Son of Satan by night - battles his own inner, er, demons? in the war between Good and Evil. Like Silver Surfer and Thor, Son of Satan apparently went to the Merry Marvel Marching Society School of Diction, in which high-flown pseudo-Shakespearean language is the order of the day. Men are bare-chested hunks and women are buxom beyond belief (especially the super-hot Daughter of Satan, imaginatively named Satana). In the 1970s these were considered some really on-the-edge comics; today, they still look quite wacked out, if sometimes quaint (motorcycle jumping is not the event it used to be). If you want to know why "Make Mine Marvel" was the decision of many during the 1970s, this volume will definitely give you an idea why. Recommended.

Daimon Hellstrom, one of the last of Marvel's 1970s Horror books. Basically, the Excorcist meets Rosemary's Baby. Daimon is the son of the ultimate big bad SATAN.Well, until retcons made him the son of a Satan impersonator named Marmaduke or something like that. It's like thinking you were the son of Elvis,, only to find out daddy was just some wannabe performing at county fairs..Ahhh, but in these classic tales it's still the Devil himself, and they're pretty good. Granted Daimon has a tendency towards melodrama, but what else can you expect.

These stories introduced Daimon Hellstrom to the bigger Marvel universe and was originally introduced as Daimon Hellstrom, son of Satan. He was part of the 1970's Marvel line up of supernatural/horror titles including Ghost Rider and Tomb of Dracula. Written in the 1970's, these stories are campy and raw, making direct references to Satan and how he lived as a "normal" man and married a woman therefore conceiving two children, Daimon and Satana, Daimon's sister. The setting shifts between the Arizona desert, Massachusett, and St. Louis. I liked it that he was not a generic hero type -- saving the world and innocents, rather he was in constant conflict within himself -- the good (human half) versus the evil (devil half). This served as the main plot device for most of these earlier stories where he was afraid the devil half will take over and Daimon loses his humanity. However, his devil half is much more powerful in all sense of the word and Daimon needed those powers to fight other demons (agents of his father, Satan). Because Daimon's character is more focused on the supernatural, Daimon rarely comes in contact with the main stream heroes (not including Ghost Rider). Marvel Team up #32 where he teamed up with the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four and Marvel Two-in-One #14 where he and the Thing of the Fantastic Four teamed up are the two only two main stream heroes stories included in this collection.Since cultural sensitivities has greatly changed since the 70s, these stories wouldn't have been published in today's comics. Consequently, much of Daimon's back story has been rewritten in the current day reincarnation of this character (Daimon is no longer the son of Satan, rather the son of a general low level demon). As a matter of fact, there is a parental advisory warning label on the back cover. That's why I am very happy that Marvel reprinted these stories in a collection.

If you're interested in Marvel's attempt to cash in on the 1970's monster mash craze you might want to give this a look. It's a decently reproduced book in color so you can appreciate the art as it was meant to be while also a time capsule into what was going on in graphic art at the time. Overall the characters have held up pretty well and the stories and images can still keep our interests today whether you're picking this up because you grew up with it or are coming to it for the first time. In 2016 everything is zombie-centric but that's not the type of characters you'll find here; so if you like horror but want some thing different or just want to see how characters were written in the bronze age this is really worth a look.

This is served as my introduction to Hellstrom since my interested was peaked due to his introduction to Future Fight, and I've no regrets. This collections has around 400 pages of classic comics. I highly recommend this to any fan of Marvel's supernatural side. Be warned though, the writing is very 70's, but what else would you expect from comic introduced in '74? It's a fun, interesting, and weird read that I think most people can enjoy.

After all these years at 33 years old this title still makes my parents head spin when I bring it up. Hellstorm one my top 5 favorite Marvel hero's. This book was a treat to read.

I read an issue of this when I was very young, I couldn't find back issues anywhere. This is a definite must-read if you love vintage comics with great story and artwork. It's held up very well and rarely has a dated feel to it.

Classic Marvel Horror at its best. Still waiting for Marvel to do either a Silver Age Masterworks or Bronze Age Masterworks/Omnibus collection of GHOST RIDER.