Blog

Hey everybody out there in comic book land! Welcome to another week of Marvel Horror in Ye Olde School Cafe’! I can honestly tell you that I’m even more pumped than usual writing this, because right now, I’m also watching some fantastic Hammer Horror on TCM. When we last left off, Daimon Hellstrom had broken free from his confinement, and set off to find the possessed woman whom he was called to set free.

Hellstrom pretty much verbally and physically slaps Sam and his buddy around, then takes off to find Witch-Woman (A.K.A. Linda Little-Trees). He summons his demon-drawn chariot to take him to his next target. On the way, he sees Roxanne being accosted by some bikers. He easily dispatches them, and then continues on his way. Where is he headed, you ask? Hell – plain and simple. He manages to surprise his “father”, but Satan eventually tries to coerce Hellstrom into becoming one of his minions. Daimon refuses, and then tells Satan that he is going to free Johnny Blaze and Linda Little-Trees by using his mystical trident. This weapon is the only thing that can sap Satan’s power, even in his own realm!
After some brief words, Satan realizes that he can’t stop Hellstrom on his own, so he commands his army of zombies to attack his son and destroy him. The zombies try to overwhelm Hellstrom, but he easily pushes them aside with his hellfire blasts. Hellstrom then tells Satan that if he doesn’t let the two prisoners go, he’ll bring down the whole place on him. Satan, knowing he’s at a disadvantage, relents to his son. Hellstrom then uses his chariot to escape with his passengers in tow. Once everyone is topside, Satan tries to kill them by erupting a volcano, but Hellstrom again calls upon his fiery chariot to rescue himself and the others. As things settle down, Johnny and Daimon have a quick verbal joust about Daimon’s heart being as cold as ice. Hellstrom replies that he doesn’t care, and Johnny’s opinion is of little consequence to him.
After the confrontation with his father, Daimon heads for home. He is immediately aware that someone has been or is still in his home. Once he makes his way to the catacombs of his residence, he is attacked by a couple of demons. They get him to drop his trident, but he still has big enough jewels to put down two lackeys. Daimon then sits down to relax, but still is tormented by the thought of never finding a way to gain his revenge on his father. He opens a desk drawer to reveal his mother’s journal.
The story begins with “Satan” wanting to sire a child with a woman. He uses his powers of illusion to make himself look like an attractive man, and seeks out a woman. He stumbles upon a woman named Victoria Wingate and uses his powers of persuasion to enthrall her. They soon marry and move to Fire Lake, Massachusetts. After bearing two children (Daimon, Satana), Victoria soon found out that her husband was actually Satan (later retconned to be a demon, Marduk Kurios). This drove Victoria insane, and she later died inside a sanitarium. Daimon was raised an orphan, but eventually went to a monastery to become a priest. He stayed there until he turned twenty-one and learned of his inheritance. It was when he moved back to his parents’ home that he found his mother’s diary.
Once Daimon learned of his true heritage, he was beckoned by a voice to come below. It was there that he met his father, and learned of his sadistic ways. Daimon listens to an offer to become an emissary for evil, but is then transported back topside to mull it over. Daimon thinks for hours about what he might do, and then decides to fight evil rather than join. He descends down to the depths of Hades to confront his evil father, but when he reaches his destination, he is faced with a dragon the size of King Kong. The beast spits fire at Daimon, so he retreats into a cave, but the horrible monster just aims his fiery breath into the cave itself. Daimon then uses a large rock to hide behind, but little does he know that the rock contains a large amount of Netheranium, which deflects back the blast at the beast.
Daimon then tries to convince all the lost souls to try and help him overthrow Satan. The demons, however, do not take kindly to someone trying to usurp their master, so they retaliate. As the demons fight against Hellstrom, Satan appears to fight his own offspring. The two fight against each other, but Daimon soon realizes that he alone can’t stop the devil. He uses Satan’s overconfidence against him, and steals the Trident made of Netheranium to use against his father. Then, to add insult to injury, Hellstrom uses the Trident to command the chariot of horses to obey his commands. He then climbs aboard the chariot, laughing at his father as he rises to the surface, vowing to fight against him for eternity!
Well, that’s it for this week’s peek at Daimon Hellstrom. I hope you enjoyed this look at the origin of one of Marvel’s best horror characters, who is sadly not used nearly enough. Tune in next week for the beginning of the last arc of my horror run with – The Tomb of Dracula!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net