Sidebar
 
Character Search
 
SuperMegaMonkey's Marvel Comics Chronology
Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
  Secret: Click here to toggle sidebar

 Search issues only
Advanced Search

SuperMegaMonkey
Godzilla Timeline

The Rules
Q&As
Quality Rating
Acknowledgements
Recent Updates
What's Missing?
General Comments
Forum

Comments page

1974-05-01 00:07:10
Previous:
Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1
Up:
Main

1974 / Box 8 / EiC: Roy Thomas

Next:
Vampire Tales #1

Marvel Spotlight #15

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

Inbound References (2): show

  • Son of Satan #2-3
  • Marvels: Eye of the Camera #2

Characters Appearing: Byron Hyatt, Hellstorm, Katherine Reynolds, Satan

Previous:
Giant-Size Super-Heroes #1
Up:
Main

1974 / Box 8 / EiC: Roy Thomas

Next:
Vampire Tales #1

Comments

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

Posted by: Mark Drummond | April 13, 2013 5:30 PM

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.

Posted by: Mark Drummond | September 14, 2013 3:56 PM

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.

Posted by: Omar Karindu | November 17, 2015 6:17 PM




Post a comment

(Required & displayed)
(Required but not displayed)
(Not required)

Note: Please report typos and other obvious mistakes in the forum. Not here! :-)



Comments are now closed.

UPC Spider-Man
SuperMegaMonkey home | Comics Chronology home