Marvel 1976.07 - Doctor Strange #16

Doctor Strange #16

Title: Beelzebub on Parade!

Writer: Steve Englehart

Artist: Gene Colan

Villain: Satan

Regulars: Clea, Wong

Doctor Strange is in Hell with Clea at his side. Doctor Strange is overcome by bloodlust, which he still hasn't suppressed after being bitten by Dracula. He attempts to drink Clea's blood, but Satan rescues her from him. That's ironic. Satan offers Doctor Strange a crucified goblin to drink, but he regains control of himself and resists the urges.

The spirit of the Earth calls to Doctor Strange for help, but when he frees her he finds that it's just an illusion. He's attacked by Mordo, but it's also an illusion. Then he meets James Mandarin, the real James Mandarin. James tells him that he's happy in Hell because he can serve Satan, and he recommends that Doctor Strange should do the same.

Satan takes on the form of the snake, as in the Garden of Eden. Doctor Strange barely escapes from being crushed by the snake. Satan throws Clea down from  a high tower. When Doctor Strange rescues her, he finds that it's really Satan in disguise.

Back on Earth, Wong asks Lord Phyffe and Rama Kaliph for help. They sit together and pray. They refer to their prayer as an exorcism, even though they have no physical body to pray over. Doctor Strange feels their attention and realises that his mistake is that he's been trying to fight against Satan. Satan is the prince of lies, so no threat he offers can be taken seriously.

Doctor Strange and Clea return to Earth, appearing in a woody glade. 

Who is Satan? The real question is, who did Steve Englehart intend Satan to be when he wrote this comic? That's an easy question to answer: he intended Satan to be the Biblical character, the enemy of Christ as shown in the Bible. In this issue Doctor Strange uses the names Satan, Lucifer and Beelzebub interchangeably. Steve Englehart clearly wasn't writing about the demon known as Mephisto from the Silver Surfer comics. He was probably writing about the Satan that we see in the Ghost Rider comics, though that isn't certain.

All this has been mixed up by writers in the post-canon years. Mephisto and Satan are considered to be different names for the same person. Lucifer is deemed to be a different character from Satan. It's a mess. My only advice is to ignore the lengthy explanations given on Marvel fan sites and just ignore this story on its own merits.