Yeah, try your 'gender inspection' on Val, see what that gets you.

Huh, another book with Daimon Hellstrom, I wonder if that means anything? From 1983, Defenders #120, "Sanctuary!" Written by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Don Perlin, inks by Jack Abel, Kim DeMulder, and Andy Mushynsky.

The bulk of this issue is Daimon, the Son of Satan, in a really maudlin struggle for his identity at a monastery: his "darksoul" maybe wasn't in control anymore, but then, what was left of him without it or fighting it all the time. He was in love with Patsy Walker, Hellcat; and seemed to want a "normal" life; which I think we would see happen for them briefly later: either just long enough to enjoy it before it was taken away, or long enough to realize that wasn't them. At the monastery, Daimon befriends a mysterious new monk, who seems to have a strange power, trying to help him keep it under control. Unfortunately, the 'monk' remembers who he really was: the Miracle Man--not that one, although honestly, at this point he's got a better chance of making a comeback...Anyhow, Miracle Man steals the darksoul from Daimon. And the trident, although it doesn't look as great in green. I wasn't surprised he turned on Daimon, but that this was a two-parter, since Miracle Man was the definition of second-rate: I was thinking he would get got by Scourge next issue, but no, that was later in Thing #24.

Patsy keeps having dreams about Daimon, so she rallies the current Defenders available to help; after a scene in a gym with Beast and Valkyrie, where a meathead accosts her as a man, for the crime of being far stronger than him. Yeah, I'm sure that never happens nowadays... Read more!

I feel like this was like the third, fourth time they tried a team with Daimon on it.

That might be because I'm the only one that remembers that Fantastic Four Annual with him, Margali Szardos, and "Mechamage." Here's hoping this issue's better! From 2011, Chaos War: God Squad #1, "Gods & Monsters" Written by Marc Sumerak, art by Dan Panosian.

This was from the Chaos War crossover, which seems absolutely dainty compared to War of the Realms, which appeared to have more crossovers in one month than the entirety of Chaos War! Here, the God Squad teams-up against Chaos King Amatsu-Mikaboshi, and I sadly don't know enough about Shinto mythology to say if this was based on something like Thor and Hercules were, or if he was made up whole-cloth. But, your 2011 God Squad starting line-up: along with Daimon Hellstrom, we get the Silver Surfer, Sersi, and Venus. The latter of whom points out, she wasn't a real god; which I can't remember if Venus was supposed to know or not: she's described as a "sea siren turned love goddess." But, as they journey to find any remaining gods of the far east, they are joined by a legit god: the Panther God of Wakanda! (What, no Khonshu? I don't think he was usually considered 'real' at that time like Thor and Hercules, but I didn't know the Panther God was.)

There are a few fun sound effects, but this isn't real essential, even for the crossover: I had to look up the Incredible Hercules, since I thought Chaos War predated it, but no.

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Today, Ghost Rider guest-stars in--nope, nope, stop that!

It's his own reprint book! From 1993, the Original Ghost Rider #9, reprinting from 1973 Ghost Rider #2, "Shake Hands With Satan!" Written by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Jim Mooney, inks by Syd Shores. Reprint cover by Klaus Janson. 

Let's be honest, it's gonna be tough to live up to that title, isn't it? Especially since we begin with the Ghost Rider, the transformed Johnny Blaze, driving a pickup truck in the rain. After running off the road, his girl Roxanne Simpson recaps his predicament: on the run from the cops, Johnny may or may not turn back to human come daybreak, but he had been critically injured prior to his transformation, and might die in the middle of nowhere now. Only one thing for it: give up! Game over, Satan, I'm yours!

Well, now, who among us hasn't said that at one time or another...? Johnny has either finally cracked, wanting Satan to "end (my) wretched earthly life forever!" Or, more likely, can't stand to see Roxanne suffer or put her at risk. Satan himself doesn't show, though; instead Witch Woman comes for him. Not far away, her fiancé and mother have a houseguest that could help them, but instead insists on having his wrists bound with a "chain of ankhs" and locked in a room until morning. About ten minutes later (okay, not really, but it feels like it!) the guest demands to be freed, or the possessed Linda will die: ha, ha, psych! We only glimpse his yellow boots, but the Son of Satan beats feet out of this comic towards Marvel Spotlight #12.

Witch Woman thinks Roxanne may as well just surrender herself to Satan too, you know, as long as she's there. Johnny refuses for her, leading to a fight, interrupted by the arrival of cycle gang Big Daddy Dawson and his Ruthless Riders. Johnny is at a self-imposed disadvantage, not wanting to use his flame powers and expose himself as a pawn of Satan. Um, that ship's kinda already sailed, hasn't it? Worse, Witch Woman doesn't care about that, and just drags Johnny to hell, leaving Roxanne in the clutches of Big Daddy! I'm more concerned for her than Johnny right now, but he's swamped by demons, than about to have the "sacred sword of Satan" crammed into him, making him a prisoner forever! Except, someone arrives in the nick of time to help...but who? Maybe I could tell you if I ever read any of these in order, but you're on your own!

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It never seems right to me, an issue of Marvel Team-Up with the Human Torch as the lead instead of Spider-Man. Eventually it was all Spidey, but during the first forty issues Johnny had five team-ups with Spidey (including the first three issues) and six of his own, including this one: from 1975, Marvel Team-Up #32, "All the Fires in Hell...!" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by Vince Colletta.

This issue was set December 31st, 1974; and surprisingly Johnny wasn't on his way to blackout drunk: he tries to contact his pal Wyatt Wingfoot, only to find he's possessed by a demon. This sort of thing just happened back then. With Ben a little sketched out by his adventure last week with Ghost Rider, and figuring Reed and Sue weren't the guys for this one, Johnny calls in a surprising backup: Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan!

Could be wrong, but I feel like Marvel gave him a lot of push too, even though he never got to the level of Ghost Rider. The conclusion seems a little rushed--not unlike the last issue of Team-Up we checked out--but not bad. Even though it also feels weird to me to see Johnny think something through and not be kind of a jerk.
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Spring for the collection, or keep running down the singles...tough call.

A $75 price tag is a bit steep, especially since I already have Druid, but Warren Ellis's Hellstorm is being collected. I already have some of it, but not all. Like the second-to-last issue here! From Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #20, "Femme Fatale" Written by Warren Ellis, art by Leonardo Manco; and "Fur Bible" Written by Ellis, art by Martin Chaplin.

This reminded me of British comics, in that the lead feature was a mere 18 pages, even though the letters page obliquely hints the next issue was the last. And nothing seems to be headed for a wrap-up here: Satana puts insane detective Gunyon under her power, then sets him on a mission of "mass murder." In San Francisco, Daimon's girlfriend and partner Jaine Cutter is attacked by Gabriel Rosetti, who steals her Breathing Gun, a weapon designed to murder the supernatural. And in Normandy, a journalist interviews an aristocratic writer of coffee-table magic books, who tells a surprising story of LaVoisin, her possible ancestor, inspiration for her pen name, and witch. And the story closes with the writer sending a message to Daimon: she was going to have a boy...

Also this issue: ads for Stridex, X-Men 10-inch figures, and hockey, basketball, and football cards! All of which are jarringly out of place in this book.
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The lesson is, buy everything, just in case.

There's so many comics that I've added to the pull list just to see them get cancelled; and then lots of books I gave a try just in time for them to get cancelled. Like today's book! From 2016, Squadron Supreme #9, written by James Robinson, art by Aco and Leonardo Romero, color art by Marcelo Maiolo and Mat Lopes.

While the inter-connectivity of the Marvel Universe can be a big selling point, I do like the idea that other things are still happening on the outskirts. While everyone else is dealing with Civil War nonsense (Civil War II nonsense, in this case) the Squadron Supreme has been trying to stop the Myriad, an army of aliens on the verge of taking over the earth. (Interestingly, the Myriad weren't a new race or even a unique one: it was made up of dozens of Marvel alien races. Possibly out of guys left over or lost from previous invasions...) The Squadron has had a few setbacks, however: namely, betrayal from one of their own, Power Princess, a.k.a. Warrior Woman of the Squadron Sinister. This issue, on the conquered Weirdworld, Zarda tells her ally/underling Modred how she killed her Squadron and another reality's Power Princess to escape her dying universe. But Modred, using his magic and a visit to the precog Ulysses, warns Zarda someone she thought she had killed would be coming back for her; and when the Myriad conquer earth, Namor is by her side. Somewhat of a problem, since the Squadron Supreme had killed Namor...

Meanwhile, coming for WW, the now-powerless Zarda had made it to this universe as well, having survived first the destruction of her world and death of her Squadron, then the theft of her powers by Warrior Woman. Trained by Nighthawk, Zarda's rocking the short-hair (and a 70's powerless Wonder Woman vibe) as she uses Daimon Hellstrom to track the Squadron and the Myriad, and plots to stop her counterpart. I dug the back-up art on this one, as well as the idea that Zarda had it all going on behind the scenes; no grandstanding there. (Maybe a little grandstanding, as she uses a Nick Fury-like para-glider suit to board an alien ship. That's a cool scene that I didn't scan, so find it yourself!) This issue had three covers, but even with the crossover I think it was buried in an avalanche of titles. Still, I may be able to catch up on it sometime...
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Admittedly, it's more ink than I have.

If you ever read the book Red Dragon, or saw the movie Manhunter; the killer has a giant tattoo on his back, of the dragon he thinks he's becoming. Those are set in the 80's, when that tattoo would've been a lot of work and super-expensive and quite rare. When it was remade in 2002 as Red Dragon, that tattoo would've been old hat and about as remarkable as any other bro's. Which is kinda what I feel is happening in today's book! From 1993, the Original Ghost Rider #10, reprinting "The Son of Satan!" from 1973's Marvel Spotlight #12, written by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Frank Chiaramonte.

The cover makes it look like "The Original Hellstorm," and I was scratching my head trying to figure out how this reprint title could get ten issues out of Son of Satan: duhr, 'cause the previous nine issues were Ghost Rider reprints! The series would run a full twenty issues, with Phantom Rider backups written by a young Dan Slott! I had thought this was Daimon Hellstrom's first appearance, or maybe his first appearance as the full-on Son of Satan, but he'd had a few by here.

It may be difficult to believe today, but I think that was a considerable amount of ink back in the day. Daimon fights a biker gang that seemed shocked by his "tattoo" or brand or whatever, like he had more ink than the entire gang. (The gang also seems to have one guy with a gun; if this had been even a decade later everyone would've been armed to the teeth!) He also faces off again Big Daddy Satan, who may or may not be capital-S Satan depending when you ask, and badmouths his dad's flagging virility. Maybe he has low-T, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

Kind of a busy issue, although I think that's how those titles were back then: Satan sets off a volcano in Arizona, Jesus shows up in Ghost Rider, all in an afternoon's work.

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Sounds better than my résumé, anyway.

In this exciting issue of Daredevil, the Black Widow laments her lack of employable skills, that have led to her living in a Rolls-Royce with a large Russian man.

The Owl runs into the people he moved across the country to avoid.

Daredevil spends most of the issue with what appears to be a suitcase on his back, lugging around about a mile of coiled rope, and protects his secret identity with an even more worrying lie.

I'm shocked anyone let Matt Murdock go anywhere unattended, since he would usually return looking like he just walked into traffic. "We know you're blind, Matt, but...geez." From 1974, Daredevil #116, "Two Flew Over the Owl's Nest!" (Groan...) Written by Steve Gerber, art by Gene Colan. (Colan was back to fill in this issue, per the letters page, he was busy with Tomb of Dracula, Doctor Strange, and an issue of Son of Satan that may not have seen print until 1974's Marvel Spotlight #18!)

I'm only four episodes into Daredevil, since I'm trying to save it for when I'm on my silly exercise bike. It's so good, guys.
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Not an Ellis issue, but all right:

It actually is the issue before Warren Ellis took over the book: from 1994, Hellstorm: Prince of Lies #11, "Life in Hell" Written by Len Kaminski, art by Peter Gross Leonardo Manco, per the GCD.

After a failed attempt to storm the gates of Heaven; Daimon Hellstorm has been cast down into the fiery pits of Hell. There, he's given a walking tour of the place by a chap by the name of Simon Garth. Daimon recognizes the name, and you might as well: he was the Zombie, and says while his "mortal shell" was cursed to walk the earth, he was cursed to do the same in hell. They examine both the changing form and natures of Hell, and Garth describes it as "a mirror for the collective unconscious" as well as completely without justice. Sometimes the innocent are punished, sometimes the guilty rewarded, and souls are sent to heaven or hell more due to "flavor and texture" than sins or virtures. Of course, this may all need to be taken with a grain of salt, since Daimon realizes "Garth" knows more about hell than he should...

There's also a U.S. Postal Service Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation, which means someone was getting Hellstorm in the mail at one point. Weird, huh? The average number of issues sold the previous twelve months was 123,453; with the actual number of the single issue closest to the filing date was 77,310. Hellstorm was a lower-tier book in the hundred or so titles Marvel was grinding out a month around 1993, but per the January sales numbers, nowadays those sales would be good enough for #1 or just behind #5, respectively.
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Still Defending that copyright:

Another recent pick-up, that doesn't fit in the scanner; from 2008, The Last Defenders, written by Joe Casey, art by Jim Muniz, with co-plotting by Keith Giffen. It's good, but not quite great; set during the Initiative and featuring Tony Stark at his absolute doucheiest, a somewhat left-field use of longtime Defenders villain Yandroth and some revisionist history with the team, and a surprising array of line-up changes.

It's mildly disappointing that it sticks true to a lot of Defenders continuity, but maybe not all of it. There's a few flashbacks with Damian Hellstrom, who gets passed up for the choice gig of Sorcerer Supreme and visits his ex-wife Patsy (Hellcat) Walker; there's Nighthawk trying to make a go with any super-hero roster he can hold together, and there's She-Hulk, not looking to be part of a team and rather getting roped in anyway. The She-Hulk plotline in particular seems to be going in a direction that isn't picked up the next time she's seen, which seems to happen to her every so often.

Still killing me there isn't a Marvel Legends Nighthawk; although I'd also love a Blazing Skull, who guests here as part of Nighthawk's New Jersey based team.
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Druid #1, or why didn't Marvel have it's own Vertigo branch?

Before we get to the meat of this one, a little link trail: from Comics Should Be Good's Chad Nevett's Random Thoughts, to his list of top 25 Warren Ellis comics. Now, I'm a pretty big Warren Ellis fan, even if I know I'm missing a few like Aetheric Mechanics, No Hero, Anna Mercury,or Crecy, or Lazarus Churchyard. Huh, have I read Lazarus? I know I've read part of Crecy...and I tradewaited No Hero since Black Summer took forever to wrap up.

I didn't care for Reload, Down, or his Hellblazer run as much as some others on the list. And I would've got Two-Step and Switchblade Honey in there somewhere. But the list got me thinking of some books that didn't make the top 25. Mostly, I thought about some of his early Marvel work. His run on Excalibur I love because I like the characters, but you can see bits of things that would turn up later in his bigger books like Authority. He did four issues with the Starjammers that are smarter than anything they've been in before or since. In Doom 2099, Ellis takes Doom to the logical conclusions, but he leaves the character in an untenable spot for continuing serial adventures: on top of the game, and too smart to make the same petty mistakes again. Ruins is a little harsh for my tastes, but it's a solid two issues, and they were wise enough not to make a four-issue deal of it.

And then there's Druid. God, it's a brutal book. Not just in the violence and squalor, but it's a pretty unflinching look at a man who sought power, got just enough of it to get beaten down by those with more power, finally lucked into the power that was always his, and then the things he would do to try and keep it.

I thought Druid read like Marvel told Ellis, "use this character up and throw him away," but per comments from editor Marie Javins in the last issue's letters page, it seems like it may have been intended to be an ongoing series, not a four-issue limited. And that may not even necessarily be a bad thing: there is always going to be those whose ambition far exceeds their talents or ability, and get themselves in over their heads for it. I'm not spoiling anything to tell you Druid comes to a bad end; but Ellis makes it natural, as opposed to trotting Dr. Druid out during some big crossover, so this year's Big Bad can brutally murder him in order to look like a contender.

The book starts with the status quo from Ellis and artist Leonardo Manco's prior book, Hellstrom, where Daimon has apparently been elected Satan or something. He's the real deal, and doesn't take kindly to being summoned by kids playing Iron Maiden records backwards, or in this case, one of Druid's hangers-on. (I didn't get the feeling that Daimon was 'evil' or malicious, just that he was completely unwilling to put up with any crap.) Druid had picked up an entourage before the term was in vogue, an assortment of "friendly little parasites...dabbling in the occult for wrong fun." (I'm curious to see if this will turn up in Dr. Voodoo: magic groupies, fanboys, wanna-be's.)


The expression is, 'how the mighty have fallen,' but Anthony Druid, born Ludgate, was never that mighty in the first place. He had been a Celtic scholar, devoted to discovering the secrets of pre-Christian Druidism; no small feat, since the Druids had an oral tradition and didn't write important things down, and then were killed off by the Romans in the second century. Ludgate thought all magic may have derived from the Druids, and the monks of Tibet still had an oral tradition, so he went to see what he could find. The Ancient One, of Dr. Strange, experiments on Ludgate for his own reasons--Ellis makes him seem much more creepy and manipulative here. He opens Ludgate's mind to ancestral memory, unlocking some (but not all) of the Druids' secrets, and probably driving him insane.

The brutality starts after the break!
Ludgate takes the last name Druid, fakes a better story for his origin, and joins the superhero crowd...for years of utter failure. Prior to this story, Dr. Druid was best known for joining the Avengers, becoming hypnotized or infatuated with Nebula, and running the team into the ground. He faked his own death to get out of the Secret Defenders, and now was a bitter, drunk failure.

His shabby treatment at the hands of Hellstrom was the last straw; not because Druid failed to prevent the death of his charge, but the final blow to his ego. He invokes rituals he had never dared to before, a secret ritual of change, to beg to learn the true secrets of power. Druid gets his wish, but immediately learns, as a tree grows through him, the old Druids weren't new-agey crystal peacenik types, and no change comes without pain.

As the fat melts of Druid's body, he is shown glimpses of the present, and the future: an earth with no oceans, and no oxygen, nothing but death. As realization dawns, terrifyingly, Druid tries to tear out his own throat before speaking the third and final part of the ritual; to no avail. He is told by the "Triple Goddess of Celtica" that to the Druids, the end of the world isn't necessarily a bad thing, and that he is "the beautiful destroyer...open your mouth: taste the debris of your sacrifice."

Outside Druid's room, his entourage is mildly surprised that Druid is still alive, but it's indicative of how damaged they are that they don't run upon hearing this:
Druid rises, but immediately changes his name back to Ludgate: "I'm not kowtowing and cuddling up to you bloody colonials any more!" He declares himself to be the Last Druid, and that he will never be beaten again...and looks a lot more together than he did before. Crazier, too, but there you go.

While I enjoyed this series, I don't know that I would've liked to see it go longer than its four issues: Ludgate isn't just a bastard, he's a vindictive, unlikeable bastard, who is completely hung up on getting the respect he thinks has been wrongly denied him. Maybe it doesn't deserve to be in Ellis' top 25 either, but it's still a good read, if you can stomach it. I'm not sure Druid was ever collected, either, and it's disconcerting to read it with bright, cheery ads for DevilDogs, Kool-Aid, and Malibu Comics...

Druid's death is in Marvel continuity as well: it's mentioned early on in Busiek and Perez's Avengers; which is fine. But I think Hellstrom may have benefited more from being left alone; and of course this predates Marvel MAX.

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I would've bought "Son of Say Ten," but I'm a big Orbital fan...

Even though it's not a character I have a lot of affection for, I have to admit the Son of Satan does on occasion bring a rocking visual. The cover of his first issue, for example, is just begging to be painted Frazetta-style on a van, or a death metal album cover circa 1988.

Even though I've seen him in Defenders and in his more-Vertigo styled Hellstrom; I don't know that I've ever seen Daimon use the chariot for anything other than mere transport: Daimon needs to get to Arizona, takes the chariot. Daimon needs to get back to New York, takes the chariot. Sure, that gets you a few panels of flaming-steed action per issue, but there should be more action. Like Daimon fighting a giant Shuma-Gorath rising from the ocean, blasting hellfire out of his trident, the giant squid's terrible eye blasting death at the hero...

More Satan after the break!

So, if I were writing another try at a Son of Satan series, not only would I make the artist do most of the heavy lifting; I also wouldn't try to follow or top the horror aspect of Hellstrom. I couldn't beat Warren Ellis and Leonardo Manco at their own game. Likewise, I would avoid the trap of his earliest issues: fighting with his father, over and over...at least directly.

I would have Daimon rebel against his father, of course; like all children. And how would Daimon rebel against the prince of lies and darkness? By becoming a superhero; moreover, by becoming an incredibly clean-cut, pleasant, and noble one. Daimon would still be tormented by his inner darkness, and afraid of what might happen if he let it come out; and would fight that by being the closest thing to Superman the Marvel Universe has ever seen...even with a trident and hell-horses. I'd play him as much squarer than he actually is; but he would be trying to be square. So, if you can picture this barechested wildman, with a trident and flaming steeds, trying to ernestly and unironically give G.I. Joe style PSA's to confused children; that's where I'd take that. He would have a booming, distorted voice, and be channelling 100% pure unleaded evil, to rescue kittens and feed the homeless.

The credits box of this issue proclaims: "Beginning: A new chapter in the ever-changing life of Daimon Hellstrom" and they're on the nose with the ever-changing part. Sometimes, he's the Son of Satan, sometimes the Son of Marduk Kurios, sometime the Son of Satannish (grandson of Dormammu!), and on one memorable occasion, the Son of Stan. (I tried like hell, as it were, to find that one, but I don't have it here!...after I went through about twenty boxes.)

Panels from the Son of Satan #1, "Homecoming!" Written by John Warner, art by Jim Mooney, cover by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito. I probably would've been denied a lifetime of comics, if my mom had seen that cover in 1975. (Actually, Mom probably would've clicked her tongue, then ignored it.) I imagine there are still some who would be offended as hell by it. Which is dumb, since it's not like the Son's pitchforking sinners in the ass or anything. This issue, anyway.

And action figure fans; as you might've guessed, the Son of Satan has never received an action figure. Odds are, you will get one before he does...

And, I screwed up on the title, which was meant to refer to Orbital's song "Satan" and which I mistakenly thought was spelled "Say Ten." For some reason. I know I'm thinking of another song there...(Yeah, Reel Big Fish's "Say Ten," a song I enjoy as an unrepentant carnivore...) Some readers may remember "Satan" from the opening to the movie Spawn, but please don't hold that against it. (I caught Spawn again a while back, and god, it hasn't aged well...) So, here, enjoy "Satan" live from Glastonbury.

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