Felix Faust

Felix Faust
Felix Faust Art by Ian Churchill
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Justice League of America #10 (March 1962)
Created by	Gardner Fox Mike Sekowsky
In-story information
Alter ego	Dekan Drache
Team affiliations	Secret Society of Super Villains Injustice League Crime Champions the Conclave
Abilities	Wields vast sorcerous power, expert in maleficium

Felix Faust is a fictional supervillain who appears in stories published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in 1962 as an adversary of the Justice League of America. The character of Felix Faust was apparently modeled on Doctor Faustus, the protagonist of Christopher Marlowe's play, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.

Felix Faust first appears in Justice League of America #10 and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.

The first recorded whereabouts of the mighty sorcerer now known as Felix Faust is from c. 5,000 BC, at which time he appeared in the legendary African empire of Kor. The king of Kor was Nommo, the prime wizard of his time and the guardian of the mystic power called the Flame of Life. The evil sorcerer battled Nommo, attempting to use the Flame's power to his own corrupt ends. Nommo then called the Flame of Life into himself, defeating the sorcerer by banishing him to another dimension.

In the mid-1920s, a madman and aspiring magician named Dekan Drache stumbled upon the dimension and managed to open a portal to it. Released, the sorcerer destroyed Drache’s soul and entered his body. However, though alive on Earth once more, the sorcerer found his powers drastically reduced.

Obsessed with restoring his mystic might, the sorcerer read the story of how the man called Faust had sold his soul to the devil for supernatural powers, and decided to do the same. Inspired by the story's main character, the sorcerer now called himself Felix Faust and began a never-ending quest for mystical knowledge.

Felix Faust first appeared in Justice League of America, vol. 1, #10 (March 1962), when he tried to gain some of his lost magical abilities by contacting the Demons Three, three fictional demons in the DC Universe. These three demons were brothers who ruled the galaxy a billion years ago before being banished by beings known as the Timeless Ones. The Demons Three have tried to return time and again, summoned by Felix Faust and others, their attempts always foiled by the Justice League. Felix Faust tried to summon the power of the Demons Three by possessing three artifacts: the Green Bell of Uthool, the Silver Wheel of Nyorlath, and the Red Jar of Calythos, that had been created by the Demons, and which the Timeless Ones could not destroy or move from Earth. Pre-Crisis they claimed a spell using the artifacts would free them in 100 years, but in that time the caster of the spell would be able to command them. To do this he takes control of the JLA with the Demon's help, who find and defeat the artifact's guardians and bring them to Faust who begins the spell, but Aquaman is able to break the spell by distracting him using his control of fish. The Sorcerer is then taken to prison, and the JLA soon after find out about the Demons escape and re-imprison them. Pre-Crisis he was a member of the Crime Champions, a trio of Earth-1 criminals who teamed up with a trio of Earth-2 villains to commit crimes, then escape to the other world using a vibratory device accidentally discovered by the Fiddler. Felix Faust robbed a million dollars from a sunken ship and escaped Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter and the Atom. Later the Earth-2 Crime Champions impersonated the Earth-1 Crime Champions using the Wizard's magic, in an attempt to trap the JLA. The Fiddler impersonated Felix Faust. They robbed Casino Town (evidently based on Las Vegas), and 'Felix Faust' contacted the JLA. The Fiddler was oddly enough able to cast spells like Faust, and battled Aquaman, the Martian Manhunter, and the Atom. The real Felix Faust, while robbing a fair on Earth-2 was confronted by Green Arrow, the manhunter, and the Atom, but despite casting a spell that made them spin in midair he was knocked out by the Atom. When the Crime Champions were fully defeated, Doctor Fate, Batman, and the Earth-1 Flash defeated Faust.