discardia

Isn’t that the coolest name ever? Minister Faust.

There is so much depth to that name, both in context and in subtlety. It almost sounds like the name of a character of a hero archetype in a Hellblazer comic. A foe perhaps of John Constantine or an elder spirit fighting the wars of demons.

Minister Faust. That is awesome spelled with two words.

Anyways… last year sometime, I read a book by Faust called “The Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad”. It was a story of two friends living a simple life of work, friends, family, food and community involvement. Both are certifiable in their own way… both are deep thinkers with not much depth in the world around them. Quickly the story escalates into a whole bunch of mysteries… a strange but beautiful girl hiding a dark presence, an age old secret that a whole bunch of supernatural baddies are looking for, and the two friends, the coyote kings, are right in the middle of all of it. The book definitely is a good read.

Quirky and a nice change of pace from the harder scifi I was reading at the time.

I just started reading his latest effort… From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain. It is pseudo-self-help book for superheroes in a world no longer full of supervillains. All the heroes are thinly veiled references to many pop culture icons of the comic book heroes we all know. It takes some of the snarky “what if comics where real” scenarios we glimpse in Pixar’s The Incredibles, and wraps it all around a psychological case study of a rapidly crumbling “Justice League”.

One thing I think you can count on when you read Minister Faust is the fact that he is not a genre specific author. He leaps from culture reference to culture reference, a roller coaster so to speak of hidden commentary and overall general geekiness. It has made me smirk more than once… poking fun at many of the golden and silver age comics I loved as a kid (and still enjoy on tradebacks).

If you need something to read… I would suggest either or. Coyote Kings is definitely a more linear book, while Dr. Brain tends to be a more satirical look from a shrink’s perspective and tends to bounce around a bit. But both can be nice breaks from the usual fare that is on the shelves at your local bookstore.