Customer Reviews

Hellstorm: Son of Satan - Equinox

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I followed Marvel's Son of Satan from his origins way back in Marvel Spotlight, and let me tell you, this is no Daimon Hellstrom.
Like so many comics titles these days, Marvel has tried to make this character more "edgy". With this book, they have contorted the original character so much that he no longer resembles anything of his former self. Instead what we are left with is a tragic imitation of what appears to be John Constantine from DC's Hellblazer series. The character I loved is nowhere to be found here.
Comics have lost their way and their innocence and this book is a prime example. My only consolation is that I didn't pay much for it. Ugh!

Daimon Hellstorm has had a sordid history to say the least. He was part of Marvel's horror line from the 70's, and underwent a bit of a reboot some years later that really went nowhere. Now, the Son of Satan is back in the modern age, and what a better time and place (Marvel's mature themed MAX line) for Daimon to rear his demonic head. Hellstorm: Son of Satan finds Daimon in a post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans as a plot unravels involving his father and those defying him in an effort to gather body parts. Yes, the story sounds like it may not make much sense, but writer Alexander Irvine knows what he's doing, and by the time the twists and turns and revelations pop up, you'll be left with what is by far the most compelling story to ever feature Daimon Hellstorm at the forefront. There's great, bloody art courtesy of Russell Braun and Klaus Janson, issue covers from the great Arthur Suydam, and an afterword featuring commentary from Irvine, Braun, and Janson on how the book came together. All in all, Hellstorm makes a very good debut on the MAX line, and here's hoping this isn't the last we'll see from the trio and the character alike.

I was intrigued to see what the next titles from MAX would be and Hellstorm did not disappoint. While it is an uneven experience, with some sections being a little slow for my taste and some being quite fast, Irvine and Braun actually create some shockingly good comic sequences and set pieces which is becoming rare in an era of throwaway art and characters. A good first collaboration and it shows great promise for things to come from both.

Some of the extras from the comic show the original pencils and I find myself very much preferring the originals to the final product, although the inks by Klaus Janson are very painterly. I feel its a mistake to have both painterly inks and colors which is what we see here but the final product is still quite good. I would have been intrigued to see an edition printed in black and white which might have done more justice to the original art and the time Klaus clearly spent on the inks.

The writing is a very good first attempt for Alexander Irvine. Humor suffuses even very small details making the characters seem like real people - a good example are the ringtones used for Satan. Irvine mixes post Katrina New Orleans with Egyptian mythology in ways you would never expect and the results are very interesting.

All in all, 4 stars. Lets see more!

well I am a huge fan of punisher MAX and I wanted to see what some of the other MAX titles had to offer.This is my first exposure to this character and the concept seemed pretty cool. I was really disappointed by this book. The story seemed so pointless I had no idea what the the characters were trying to do and why I should care to figure it out. The art is the only thing that makes this tolerable. Hopefully the following books will be a little better but this, in my mind, is a horrible failure. Don't waste your time reading this.