Faust, the very name brings forth the story of hubris and consequence. So of course an arrogant sorcerer would call dibs on such a name without really thinking it through. Felix Faust has been a magical thorn in the side of DC’s finest for decades but how did he come to be this problem prestidigitator? Let’s find out!
Long ago, around five thousand years before the common era, there was the mighty kingdom of Kor in Africa. Ruled by wizards, lead by the mighty Nommu, he protected the magics of Kor and its Flame of Life, a power source with no known end. Many other sorcerers would threaten to take it and one such warlock came close. This warlock was so close to beating Nommu that he was banished to another realm where he’d be locked off until the 1920s in America. Here he would have a low level magician open a gateway to his prison dimension, allowing him to escape. His thanks to the magician was to rip out his soul and possess his body. Human once more, the sorcerer would read to bring himself up to speed on the millenia he missed. One story struck a chord with him, the story of Faust and his bargains for power with demons. Clearly never finishing the story, he chose this for part of his new name, Felix Faust.
Faust would come to realize that while he was finally back on Earth, his powers were greatly diminished. Much like his namesake, he would have to find power by any means necessary. He’d find much had changed since his time, mainly, that there were now powerful heroes running and flying about. Seeing this more as an opportunity, Faust would do his best to trick hero and villain alike to aide him in his quest for power. Often times he’d end up locked up, either in prison or another realm. Always finding a way back out, Faust would take two steps forward, then three steps back since any power he would gain would just be taken away soon after. No matter how much trickery he’d be able to pull, he’d do it against people with amazing deduction, like Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. Faust worked best when he was in a team effort where he could combine his abilities with others and then get an upper hand on his opponent. This still wouldn’t necessarily him out all that much on the power front but he tended to have a chance of escaping much better than when alone.
There you have it! Felix Faust has shown up multiple times on the small screen both animated and live action. The Big Screen has alluded him but who knows how long that could last? Perhaps he’ll get more time on the live action TV shows but we’ll have to wait and see. Until next time!
Suggested Reading
Justice League of America #10
Justice League Dark
52
Constantine
Black Adam: The Dark Age
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
