| Faust | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Cover ofFaust 1 (December 1988), art byTim Vigil | |||
| Character information | |||
| First appearance | Faust #1 (1988) | ||
| Created by | David Quinn Tim Vigil | ||
| In-story information | |||
| Alter ego | Johnny Faust Jonathan "John" Jaspers Johnny Jaspers | ||
| Species | Human | ||
| Abilities |
| ||
| Publication information | |||
| Publisher | Northstar Publishing Rebel Studios Avatar Press | ||
| Schedule | Varied | ||
| |||
| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a set ofongoing series. | ||
| Genre | |||
| Publication date | December 1988 – 2012 | ||
| Number of issues | 15 | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | David Quinn | ||
| Artist(s) | Tim Vigil | ||
| Penciller(s) | Tim Vigil | ||
| Inker(s) | Tim Vigil | ||
Faust is the leadsuperhero character and title of a collective series ofcomic books byTim Vigil (art) and playwrightDavid Quinn (stories), released by American publishersNorthstar Publishing,Avatar Press, and principally by Vigil and Quinn's ownRebel Studios.[1]
Alongside contemporariesWatchmen,The Crow, andThe Dark Knight Returns,Faust was credited with popularizing the "deconstructed superheroes" genre and the notion that "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]
The series features strong graphic violence and sexual situations. The main series is known asFaust: Love of The Damned and debuted in 1988, with new issues 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.[4]
In 2000,Lionsgate Films released theBrian Yuzna produced feature film adaptationFaust: Love of the Damned and in July 2021, it was announcedSony Pictures Television would adapt the comic as an animated series.[5]
InNew York City, Beef and Hapi, two hitmen who work for a mysteriousMephistophelian 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 fromBellevue 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 of street punks. A horn-masked figure, Faust, then appears, laughing and singing while he slaughters the street punks with a pair of retractable forearmtalons. Jade realizes in horror that Faust is John Jaspers.[6]
Jaspers later wonders if he has spilled too much blood, or not enough. He, apparently hallucinating, sees demons everywhere. One night from hisBrooklyn 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".
