Broken Frontier

The webcomic prefaces itself with two phrases: “What art thou, Faustus, but a man condemn’d to die” – taken from Christopher Marlowe’s rendition of the tragic “Dr. Faustus.” In addition, the webcomic’s tagline starts “What happens when you sell your soul to the devil?”

Anyone whose been watching the last season of Supernatural should know the answer to that one. Still, the Halloween webcomic landscape is particularly bleak this season on Top Webcomics – with many supernatural staples falling into hiatus or off the list entirely. With that in mind, I’ve decided to give Faust a chance. Creator Bethany Sellers explains while the webcomic is based on the play, the story is not constricted to either Goethe or Marlowe’s vision of the tragic doctor. But with Faust spinning through works ranging from Angel Heart to Spawn, is there still room to maneuver in this old and archetypal character?

The mostly-manga styling of Faust fit the intensely moody tone of the character, reinforced by gray tones bleak yet mundane. Some of the angles chosen to present the story seem a bit obtuse at times, but help underlie a shocking emotional intensity running throughout the work. Whatever the webcomic, one thing is certain – it’s definitely not boring, and anyone expecting a pedestrian play adaption should look elsewhere.

I’m not a big fan of the navigation of most Drunk Duck comics. You have to scroll down reasonably far just to reach the navigation counsel of the webcomic every time, it quickly becomes a chore to scroll down to the relative bottom of the screen time and time again just to progress the webcomic one strip further. The webcomic does include a good cast page as well as gallery, links, forums and a deviantART page, but it could really use an author page. I had to read the creator’s name right off the comic book page – adding a substantial bio page would help the readers get to know the creator immensely – and I’m starting to think this might be a creator worth knowing.

Sellers has really done a great job presenting a significant re-imagining of the story.   While she incorporates new dimensions into the age-old character and his supporting cast, she does a good job of keeping the German setting and customs remarkably intact. By doing so, the webcomic Faust takes on a remarkable legitimacy many other Faustian figures spun throughout pop culture lack. Still, one has to wonder what the lifespan of this work will be – will Faust meet his fate at the hands of the devil like his tragic counterpart? If he did, it would seem to make for a shorter webcomic in a three or five act play – or does Sellers have something else in mind?

Tortured, atmospheric yet surprisingly compelling, Faust is a great new take on an old character that doesn’t completely toss out the basics. Faust’s obsessive nature creates a more powerful enemy than any Mephistoheles could muster, and in this conflict is an interesting choice at the core of a compelling new case for Faust.