Monday, September 29, 2014

Case Study No. 1603: Staff of Star City Library

Librarians in Comic Books... Felix Faust!
2:06
From: Justice League of America (1980) #182
Tags: librarians comic books justice league of america felix faust batman superman wonder woman green arrow hawkman zatanna
Added: 5 months ago
From: ComixLibrary
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[the first panel shows an exterior shot of the Star City Library]
NARRATOR: As the Earth's greatest heroes settle down for what promises to be a really exciting evening, back on Earth ... in the musty back corridors of the Star City Public Library--
[the second panel shows one young female librarian (long brown hair, glasses, green dress) whispering to another (short black hair, red dress), as they watch a shadowy figure make his way through the stacks]
NARRATOR: A whispered conversation ensues between two members of the staff, concerning a third.
LIBRARIAN 1: [whispers] Is it true what they say about him? That he was once a wanted criminal?
LIBRARIAN 2: [whispers] Yes, but I've heard he's completely reformed now ...
[the third panel shows the two librarians watching from afar as Felix Faust (dressed in his full super-villain outfit and helmet) carries a crate of books through the stacks]
LIBRARIAN 1: A criminal. My, it's so hard to believe.
LIBRARIAN 2: I don't think I've ever met a nicer, kinder, more honest man than Felix Faust! Granted, he does dress a little oddly!
[the fourth panel shows Faust alone in a room, as he opens the crate]
NARRATOR: Felix Faust smiles understandingly. Sometimes, he too finds it hard to believe he was ever a hardened criminal. Yet, once he was one of the most powerful criminals on Earth ...
[the fifth panel shows Faust staring off into the distance, as various images of his past life as a super villain appear behind him, with a sidebar which reads "Beginning in JLA No. 10 - Len"]
NARRATOR: A master sorcerer was Felix Faust, a magician whose arcane abilities might have brought him almost absolute power, were it not for the Justice League ... Ah, the Justice League. Thinking of them, remembering the magnificent battles they fought, Faust smiles a touch wistfully.
[the sixth panel shows a closeup of Faust opening the crate with a crowbar]
NARRATOR: Not very long ago, he would have thought of the League with contempt and fury, but that was before the change ... One year ago, during a prison psychological seminar, Felix Faust experienced a primal scream.
[the seventh panel shows a closeup of Faust looking at the books inside the crate]
NARRATOR: In one shrieking instant, all the pent-up frustrations of his life were expelled, and Felix Faust was literally ... reborn. Now, as a curator of special literature, he has found peace--
[the eighth panel shows Faust blowing dust off of one of the books]
NARRATOR: But unfortunately, tonight something else is about to find him.
FAUST: [to himself] A special shipment of books from middle Europe. Most intriguing. According to the accompanying manifest, they were recently discovered--
[the ninth panel shows Faust examining the book's cover]
FAUST: [to himself] Located in a sealed off section of an old castle foundation! By the look of them, they date back almost three hundred ye-- eh?
[the tenth panel shows an over-the-shoulder view of Faust holding the book ("Nostromus, His Journal"), which is held shut by a metal padlock]
FAUST: [to himself] By Erithal's eight eyes! The secret journal of Nostromus! The Spanish Inquisition burned him at the stake as a--
[the eleventh panel shows the book exploding open in a burst of red energy (the lock falling off in pieces), as Faust falls backwards in pain]
FAUST: Yaaaaahhh!

[...]

[the first panel shows the Justice League having a meeting in their orbital space station The Watchtower, when a ray of energy strikes the table in front of them]
GREEN ARROW: Oh my mother's socks!
SUPERMAN: The floor's exploding!
ZATANNA: No! It only looks that way! There's some elemental force bathing the satellite from the Earth below! Look, it's taking shape--
[the second panel shows the ghostly image of Faust's face floating above the table]
SUPERMAN: Felix Faust!
HAWKMAN: I heard he'd reformed! If this is some kind of attack--
GREEN LANTERN: Hawkman, don't you see his face? I've never seen such emotional agony!
[the third panel shows a closeup of Faust's face]
FAUST: Justice Leaguers, I come to warn you ... and to implore your aid! My body ... is being controlled ... by the spirit of the near-legendary warlock Nostromus!
[the fourth panel shows the various members of the League staring up at Faust]
FAUST: Nostromus was executed as a witch by the Inquisition ... but before he died, he transferred his soul into a book of secret writings, hidden in the foundation of his castle!
[the fifth panel shows a closeup of Faust's face]
FAUST: When the book came in contact with a suitable host-body ... that of a magician, or one versed in the black arts ... Nostromus's soul broke free--
[the sixth panel shows the members of the League staring at Faust's disembodied head]
FAUST: And now is using my body to travel to Nostromus's unmarked grave in a small Alpine village! There, Nostromus intends to revive his body ... join body and soul together--
[the seventh panel shows Faust's face starts to fade away]
FAUST: And use his occult mastery to wreak havoc on the world! I ... I can't stop myself from helping him! Save me, Justice Leaguers!
[the eighth panel shows Faust disappear in an "explosion" of concentric circles]
FAUST: Save us alllllllll ...

---

From wordpress.com:

Conway, Gerry (writer). "Reprise." Justice League of America #182 Sept. 1980 (NY: DC).

Former felon Felix Faust tries his hand at being a librarian, only to get possessed by the spirit of an evil sorcerer whose essence had been transferred to a book in his castle. It is not explained why a seemingly ordinary library (Star City Public) has a special curator or acquires century-old books.

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