Issue(s): Marvel Spotlight #15
Cover Date: May 74
Title: "Black Sabbath!"
Credits:
Steve Gerber - Writer
Jim Mooney - Penciler
Jim Mooney - Inker

Review/plot:
Despite the title, this issue doesn't feature the Son of Satan battling Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi.

It does have Hellstrom breaking up a Satan-worshiping ring at Katherine Reynolds' university, and then fighting Satan on the Gateway Arch, though.

This issue also has some significant developments. It's February 2nd, which is Hellstrom's birthday, and also apparently an important holiday for Satanists (and here i just thought it was Groundhog Day). And for his birthday, Satan inverts his son's chest star (i have to say it's not always clear what direction the star is facing, both before and after this inversion)...

...and also removes his dual identity ("puny, religious weakling" by day, Son of Satan by night), merging his two personalities into one.

I was really glad to see this. Not just because the dual identity idea seemed unnecessary, but also because i knew that idea eventually got dropped and i was glad to see it being done explicitly. Normally with this sort of thing, where some early aspect of a character is deemed uninteresting by later writers and is forgotten or ignored, it just sort of happens without explanation and then years later you'll get a stray comment or note in a Handbook confirming it. So it was nice to see Gerber consciously removing the dual identity concept here with an in-story reason.

Byron Hyatt, a divinity student at Gateway University, is introduced to Hellstrom this issue and becomes a member of the supporting cast.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - changes in Hellstrom's status quo

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Marvel Horror vol. 1

The differing identities by day/night thing may have been dumped for being too similar to Ghost Rider's situation.

Gerber researched occultism and satanism to prepare for this series, and there he found out that the pentagram with the star point up was a witch's symbol for good and the point down represented the devil, which causes one to wonder what he'd have done if Trimpe drew the star pointing down to begin with.

Baphomet will return in a few later issues and much, much later in a Doctor Strange story, where he is treated as an entity distinct from Satan.