Art by Chris Weston

Jayesh is a young man working in his father’s small grocery store in Hamburg, Germany. They’re immigrants, perhaps from India since the name “Jayesh” seems to be on Indian origin. Jayesh is first seen returning to the family store where his father his alarmed by a skinhead that’s walked in off the street. Jayesh grabs a bat to scare off the stranger, and is surprised to see a young, blond man named Karl. He’s looking for antiseptic ointments for cuts he received on his arm.

Jayesh finds Karl attractive and finds the courage to ask Karl out for a drink later that night. Karl accepts but warns him to come to the back door at his job. Karl’s friends are racists and it wouldn’t do for them to be seen together. Jayesh is quite happy.

Unfortunately, his happiness is very short lived. Later that night Karl with his friends in tow surprises Jayesh. They surround and threaten him, calling him “queer” and “bhaji boy.” Suddenly Jayesh is being kicked and beaten on the dirty alley. One of the men hands a broken bottle to Karl and tells the others to pull down Jayesh’s pants. Karl is instructed to shove the bottle into Jayesh’s exposed buttocks. He does so, but seems to be in shock judging from his blank state at the
bloody glass.

Karl himself is first seen earlier in the story in a scene in which he’s getting a tattoo. The design is a “Deutsher Sieg,” a raised fist with the phrase above and below it. Karl has a low pain threshold and stops before the design is completed. So, there were no mysterious cuts on Karl’s arm. He simply wasn’t telling the truth to Jayesh.

The two men are seen again much later in the series. They’re living together and Karl is taking care of Jayesh, who is suffering the after effects of the beating. For some reason Karl believes Jayesh is unaware of his culpability in the beating. In reality, Jayesh does know Karl’s role, but will not bring up the issue because in the end he has Karl’s love and devotion.

Jayesh and Karl first appear in Lucifer #2 and not seen again until #62 when their story concludes.

© and ® Vertigo Comics. Used without permission. Created by Mike Carey.