The Son Of Satan in: Madhouse!

Here's a fantastic lost masterpiece from The Son Of Satan's original series, as Steve Gerber & Gene Colan do their own version of The Exorcist, with the added attraction that Daimon, of course, knows all the demons of his father's domain personally. If there is a minus, it's that Frank Chiaramonte is possibly not the most sympathetic inker Gene ever had, but that's nitpicking. This is pure brilliance, through and through.

The Son Of Satan: Dance With The Devil, My Red-Eyed Son!

Here's a lost masterpiece, one of the sadly few times the mighty Russ Heath worked for Marvel in the Bronze Age. Here, Russ is obviously, and spectacularly, channeling Hieronymus Bosch, the 14th century religious painter whose terrifying visions of Hell are still, hundreds of years later, the template for all ideas of the inferno. Which means that this is the best version of Hell in comics ever done by anyone.

We take a short break here, to show off what would've been the next page, but that was rejected by the Comics Code, and that I'm astounded anybody, from Bill, Russ and Archie upwards, ever thought they'd get away with.

And here's the hastily assembled replacement page, put together in an afternoon by Archie & Jazzy John.

That last page looks out of place too, looking a bit like Herb Trimpe inked by Al Milgrom, maybe. Was there another rejected page there?

The Son Of Satan

The Son Of Satan was always a bit of a mixed bag, as heroes go. Firstly, as well as being introduced in the pages of Ghost Rider, he wasn't actually that different, his whole raison detre being basically the same as Johnny Blaze's. Plus, let's be honest, it's not the best look in comicdom. I mean, a hero who takes his shirt off to go into battle? Only if you're The Hulk. And then there were scenes like this:

Yeah, I get the point, he has a demonic side that causes him to lash out and all, but that's quite uncomfortable reading, especially as Dr. Reynolds clearly likes being slapped around.
Still, it looks like he gets to hang out with Ozzy Osbourne next issue, so it's not all bad.
But, I still liked Daimon Hellstrom. I liked him when he joined The Defenders, and when he wasn't getting involved in inappropriate psycho-sexual relationships with his female leads, I liked him in his own series.
I also found it hilarious that, when they did an Essential Son Of Satan & Satana, The Devil's Daughter, they didn't have the balls to call it that, but went for Essential Marvel Horror. How times've changed, eh?
And there are some real gems buried here, like this one by Steve Gerber & Jim Mooney.
This is the first Son Of Satan I properly read, after his debut in Ghost Rider, and is the second part of a story where Daimon, along with Dr. Reynolds and a divinity student, travel back in time to Atlantis to meet Zhered-Na, the sexy sorceress also then appearing in Steve's Man-Thing. And as if that wasn't enough, he also meets Adam, the first man.
Only in a Steve Gerber story.
And let me just add a word for Jim Mooney. I've seen various no-marks around the net call Jim's art dull and boring. These people don't know they're born. Mooney's art may not've been flashy and cool, but it was the work of a true storyteller, and when teamed with Gerber, it was a match made in heaven. Wow, it makes me angrier than The Son Of Satan.