Faust (Avatar Press)

Faust
Cover of Faust vol. 1, 1 (1987), art by Tim Vigil
Character information
First appearance	Faust vol 1, #1 (1987)
Created by	David Quinn; Tim Vigil
In-story information
Alter ego	Johnny Faust Jonathan "John" Jaspers Johnny Jaspers
Species	Human
Abilities	Peak human physical condition Expert hand-to-hand combatant Retractable forearm talons
Publication information
Publisher	Northstar; Rebel Studios; Avatar Press; Caliber Comics
Title(s) Faust vol. 1 Faust vol. 2 Faust : 777 the Wrath Faust : Book of M Faust : Singha's Talons Faust : Claire's Lust
Formats	Original material for the series has been published as a set of limited series.
Genre	Horror, superhero
Publication date	November 1987 – November 2012
Number of issues	15
Creative team
Writer(s)	David Quinn
Artist(s)	Tim Vigil
Penciller(s)	Tim Vigil
Inker(s)	Tim Vigil Tim Tyler
Letterer(s)	Pagan
Reprints
Title(s)	Various printings by Rebel Studios

Faust is the lead superhero character and title of a collective series of comic books by Tim Vigil (art) and playwright David Quinn (stories), released by American publishers Northstar Comics, Caliber Comics, Avatar Press, and principally by Vigil and Quinn's own Rebel Studios.^[1]

Alongside contemporaries Watchmen, The Crow, and The Dark Knight Returns, Faust was credited with popularizing the "deconstructed superheroes" genre and the notion "comics aren't just for kids."^[2] One of the bestselling independent comics of the era, Faust issue 1 sold over 100,000 copies with later issues averaging 50,000 sales per issue, most of which sold through several printings and editions.^[3][4][5]

The series featured strong graphic violence and sexual situations. The main series is known as "Faust: Love Of The Damned" and started publishing in 1987, with new issues being published irregularly, roughly once a year, or sometimes every two years. David Quinn completed a script in 1996 (when writing the proposal to sell the film). The gap between issues grew wider with time. Issue 13 was published in 2005. It then took seven years for the authors to deliver the two last issues, 14 and 15, which concluded the story 25 years after the first episode.^[6]

In 2000, Lionsgate Films released the Brian Yuzna produced feature film adaptation "Faust: Love of the Damned"^[7] and in July 2021, it was announced Sony Pictures Television would adapt the comic as an animated series.^[8]

Plot summary[]

In New York City, Beef and Hapi, two hitmen who work for a mysterious Mephistophelian crime boss known as "M", kill a drug dealer and his girlfriend. This violence is detailed in the newspaper articles of Ron Balfour, a journalist who meets Doctor Jade DeCamp in a cafe. Jade has been fired from Bellevue Hospital and is furious over the accidental death of her patient and secret lover, John Jaspers. After Jade leaves the cafe, she and Balfour are assaulted by a gang and a horn-masked figure, Faust, appears laughing and singing while he slaughters the street punks with a pair of retractable forearm talons. Jade realizes in horror that Faust is John Jaspers.^[9]

Jaspers later wonders if he is spilled too much blood, or not enough. He, apparently hallucinating, sees demons everywhere. One night from his Brooklyn Heights mansion, M calls a radio station and requests to play the song "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" repeatedly, saying it should be dedicated "From M to the new kid in town", Faust. Later, it is shown that M played a role in Jaspers' Bellevue treatment. M's criminal colleagues want him to unleash his secret "Project Assassin", to eliminate Faust, unaware that Faust is M's prized killer. Jaspers then regains his lost memories of being an assassin for M, as well as the rebellion that led to his supposed "death".

Publications[]

• Faust : Love of the Damned
• Faust : 777 the Wrath - Darkness in Collision^[10]
• Faust : Communion
• Faust : Book of M
• Faust : Singha's Talons
• Faust : Claire's Lust

References[]