Earlier this month it was announced Marvel and Hulu will develop “Helstrom” based on the 1970’s anti-hero Damian Hellstrom(as it is spelled in the comics): The Son of Satan.

New York doesn’t need another super-hero. We’re challenging Marvel Studios and Hulu to bring our boy home by setting Helstrom in St. Louis! With the Blues in the Stanley Cup, the Cardinals always in the World Series, our soon to be soccer team, nationally recognized food, and tech scene - St. Louis is so hot right now that the son of the devil couldn’t find such comforts anywhere else!



For those unfamiliar, Daimon Hellstrom is the exorcist/demonologist who first appeared way back in 1973 as a supporting character in Ghost Rider #1 by Marvel comics. Daimon is the brat son of the Devil who’s rejected his destiny as the Anti-Christ. Due to his hellish parentage, Hellstrom sports some firey abilities and a bit of a dual personality. The flaming skull may have won the popularity contest for now, but we think Son of Satan is about to give Ghost Rider a run for it.



After the Ghost Rider story, the Son of Satan took on headlining duties from the motorcycle hero in Marvel Spotlight starting with issue #12. Two mediocre issues later and he finds himself in the hands of a different scribe, St. Louis native Steve Gerber. Gerber wrote the definitive run on the character. In issue #14 Hellstrom receives a letter beckoning him to investigate the haunted “Gateway University.” If you look closely at the letterhead you’ll see an address; 15 North Grand Boulevard, Saint Louis MO 63108

Typing that address into Google maps produces something approximately located in the heart of Saint Louis University.

This hardly seems accidental, given that Gerber attended college at Saint Louis University, as well as the University of Missouri St. Louis and Columbia. This run was groundbreaking in the way its narrative was interwoven with philosophical themes that elevated the traditional comic-book battle of cosmic good vs evil and re-aligned it to include social evils as well. For example, the ice demons Daimon exorcises from Gateway University were summoned by a professor “to squash creative human potential.” They are “the embodiment of man's stagnation of thought and resistance to change.” Sorry SLU, seems Gerbs had something to say about one of your old professors.

After successfully dispelling the ice demons at Gateway University, Daimon goes on to fight a Lucifer in the form of a Baphomet on top of the Saint Louis Arch, an ancient fire dragon over Forest Park, stops off in Rockwood Reservation, and witnesses the destruction of the Grand Avenue Water Tower.

Furthermore; The Son of Satan IS the Son of St. Louis as he was created by both Gary Friederich and Roy Thomas two Missouri natives and St. Louis ex-pats, the former of which lived out his final years here locally. And let's face it, Marvel, given our long history of great comic-book scribes(and your history of litigation with them), you owe us!

Even our local alt-weekly embraces Hellstrom! Check this article out from 2016 pertaining to the US Avengers covers(We got Whizzer, yuck).

From the RFT:

"St. Louisan Steve Gerber wrote a run of stories for Marvel Spotlight in the '70s that centered on Daimon Hellstrom, Son of Satan. The Son of Satan was just who he said he was — a demon out of hell whose dad was the ultimate bad guy (yes, the '70s were a weird time for comic books). Hellstrom only got interesting when Gerber took over writing him.....If the Loop Walk of Fame has taught us anything, it's that a short stay in St. Louis is all it takes to be declared an honorary son or daughter of the state. Marvel, give us the Son of Satan — just for the hell of it. "

If history isn’t enough to convince you that Hellstrom belongs in Saint Louis, just think of the savings! Not to mention, we'd let them do whatever the Hell they wanted. We’re buck-wild in STL as is. Stage a car chase (for whatever reason) down Olive? Sure, fine. Need a bunch of mindless zombies to wade through? - the Galleria is all yours. Set fire to a building? Hell yeah, we’ll bring the pork steak! Fight a demon on top of the Arch? SUMMON BEEZLEBUB HIMSELF, FAM! WE’RE GAME! Marvel & Hulu, the value of our great city simply can't be beaten.

St. Louis deserves this; Gary Friederich, Roy Thomas, and Steve Gerber deserve this, but most importantly; THE SON OF SATAN deserves us!

Sign our petition today!