Blaze and Satanus

Superherobox|

caption=Blaze tortures her father, Shazam, as Black Adam looks on. From the cover of "Power of Shazam!" #10, art by Jerry Ordway.
character_name=Blaze and Satanus
real_name=Blaze and Satanus
publisher=DC Comics
debut=Blaze "Action Comics" #655, (July 1990) Satanus "Action Comics" #527, (January 1982)
creators=Blaze Roger Stern (writer) Bob McLeod (artist) Satanus Marv Wolfman (writer) Curt Swan (artist)
alliances=The Triumvirate of Hell
aliases=- Angelica Blaze - Colin Thornton
powers=Demonic magic.|

Blaze and Satanus are fictional characters, demonic supervillain siblings in the DC Universe. Both are the half-demon children of the wizard Shazam and an unnamed demoness.

Publication history

Satanus first appeared in "Action Comics" #527 (January 1982), and was created by writer Marv Wolfman and Curt Swan. Blaze first appeared first in "Action Comics" #655 (July 1990), and was created by writer Roger Stern and Bob McLeod.

Fictional character biographies

Lord Satanus

First appeared in Action Comics #527 created by Marv Wolfman and Curt Swan in a story titled, "Sorcery over Stonehenge". We also meet Satanus's wife, Syrene. Lord Satanus resembled a traditional demon, save that he wore a heavy Roman-style helmet, and either had black skin or the helmet buried his face in shadow. The "Demon War" storyline ["Adventures of Superman" #493 (Aug. 1992)] reintroduced him as Blaze's brother. They fought for possession of Blaze's domain, using Superman as a pawn. At the end of the story it was revealed that Satanus was disguised as Colin Thornton, the publisher of "Newstime" magazine, who first appeared in Nov. 1989, and had previously hired Clark Kent as editor.

Blaze

Blaze was introduced in "Action Comics" #655 (July 1990), although she had been working behind the scenes before this, being involved in the creation of Superman villains Silver Banshee and Skyhook. A red-skinned demoness with horns, she disguises herself as Metropolis nightclub owner Angelica Blaze to steal souls. Superman follows her to Hell to fight for the souls of Jimmy Olsen and Perry White's son Jerry (who in fact was a son of Perry's wife and Lex Luthor). Superman manages to save Jimmy Olsen, but Blaze succeeds in killing Jerry White, whose selfless sacrifice saves his soul.

Wizard Shazam

Blaze later appeared in Fawcett City where she took a new mortal guise as a mob boss. Her plans for the city (and the Rock of Eternity connected to it) were foiled by Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. The story also revealed that she and Satanus were only half-demons, their father being the wizard Shazam, and that it was Blaze who corrupted Black Adam (this was later retconned).

DMN

Lord Satanus, meanwhile, had created DMN, a magical drug that transformed people into demons, which he arranged to be sent to areas of the world where people were in desperate straits. After the Fall of Metropolis, the city became one of these areas. Horrified by what had befallen his home, Satanus sent a disguised magical message to Zatanna, who used Perry White and Superman's knowledge of the city to restore it. Satanus would use the DMN addicts again, however, to distract Shazam from detecting his presence when the wizard visited Metropolis.

Following Brainiac-13's recreation of Metropolis, Satanus made an ambitious effort to capture the soul of the entire city. Superman offered his own soul in exchange, but eventually thwarted Satanus with the help of a young psychic and a mysterious shaman named Night Eagle who, it was implied, might be Blaze.

In another appearance, Lord Satanus appeared in the "Reign of Emperor Joker" arc of the Superman titles. In this appearance, he dwelled in that reality's Hell (a literal flaming place accommodated to include annoying songs) and offered the angelic Supergirl and the somewhat-brainwashed Superboy their heart's desires in exchange for their souls, much like his fellow demon Neron, after they had been killed by a blast fired by the monstruous Ignition. He commented that, much like God, he was forced to live in all realities and dimensions simultaneously. At the end, when Supergirl annoyed him with her incessant prayer, he shunted them to life, commenting there were not many Hells he could send them that were worse than the Joker's world.

Day of Vengeance

Satanus recently revealed to Superman that he was Colin Thornton when the Spectre arrived in Metropolis, as part of his mission to destroy all evil magic during the "Day of Vengeance" miniseries. Whether Lord Satanus was destroyed or not was not revealed. He does appear at the magician's seance to summon the Spectre during Infinite Crisis. More recently in DC Nation, it is shown a Christmas Wishlist of chatacters and Satanus and Neron are both shown wanting control over hell and it being written in that may be a problem.

Reign in Hell

Blaze and Satanus are major characters in the "Reign in Hell" storyline (June 2008). In this story they have become the rulers of Purgatory and lead a rebellion against Hell by offering "hope to the hopeless". They are opposed by Neron, and other demonic characters from the DCU.

References

Resources

* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=blaze DCU Guide: Blaze]
* [http://www.dcuguide.com/chronology.php?name=blaze DCU Guide: Blaze Chronology]
* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=lordsatanus DCU Guide: Lord Satanus]
* [http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/who/who-intro.php?topic=satanus-lord Superman Homepage: Lord Satanus]