Absalom: Under a False Flag

Absalom #2

by Gordon Rennie, Tiernen Trevallion

A TOUCH OF HELLFIRE!

Old, irreverent and doomed by supernatural forces, hard-nosed copper
Detective Inspector Harry Absalom is tasked
with upholding the Accord – the treaty between
the British Royalty and the forces of Hell. 

A religious fanatic is killing illegal demonic
hosts, upsetting both sides of the Accord…
to prevent all-out war, Absalom and his
psychotic ex-boss the Guv’nor need to catch the
perpetrator before it’s too late! 

With his grandchildren held hostage to keep
him in line, Harry will need all the help he can
get his hands on! Especially when he discovers
the sort of place they’re being kept… 

This is the second collection in Gordon Rennie
and Tiernen Trevallion’s Absalom series

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Freelance writer for over 20 years – When he’s not being ungainfully employed as a BAFTA-nominated video games scriptwriter, he keeps himself busy writing comics, novels, screenplays and Doctor Who audio plays. Comics work includes Predator, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Missionary Man, Necronauts, Caballistics Inc and Absalom, and Dept. of Monsterology for Renegade.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so on to the second of the wickedly fun (and very violent) Absalom series - one of the things I would interesting about this (and I do like to make a point of reading introductions and prefaces) is that the writers were looking for a definite and definitive story arc - there would be a finite run to the series with no coming back (at least under their watch).

This meant that you could stack the stakes a lot higher and go for broke and this book - certainly goes for the highest of stakes (although this being the middle book you know it will be setting the scene reading for the final instalment).

The artwork I love - I think cutting my teeth on the 2000AD comics while at University I gained my love for the more obscure and outlandish of comic book heres - and these books for me capture a certain style which I feel demonstrates this to the best. The violence is tempered by the knowledge that only those either truly worthy or not living are shown to be receiving the worst treatment while in other areas those you would consider innocent are in fact spared at the last moment.

That and the blackest of humous makes for a loveable rogue you know is trying his best to do the right thing but just by being there he is almost as tainted as those he is trying to fight. I guess the next instalment will see it all finally laid out.

[Max Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, put "British" and "occult" in the same sentence and color me interested to at least check it out. There are two staple comic book characters for me in the genre, John Constantine and William Gravel. One is the eternal underdog, always in trouble, the other is a grim action hero fixing stuff in the shadows. So how does Harry Absalom hold up to those? Pretty well, actually. There's something in the cynic grizzled old veteran archetype that speaks to me. Knowing nothing about the series, I've made a mistake of starting to read this book first, which is the book two out of three. We're sort of right in the middle of things with no initial setups and all that. We do get a complete story of the British church exploiting the innocent youths to wage war against demons. As part of a larger story to the main investigation, Absalom slowly builds his team up to save his grandchildren that were held hostages for years now. All that while we're constantly being reminded of a balance between the administrative and the occult. That's another point that I've realized back during the Andy Diggle's Hellblazer run - the most satisfying urban occult stories add local politics into the mix. Taken out of the trilogy, this book is a little confusing at start, but still holds up alright.

[Albert Myburgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most salient thing I was aware of while reading 'Absalom' was the incredible amount of thought and work that went into this graphic novel. Rennie and Trevallion are a dream-team of comic creators. The visual storytelling (see third last page of "Old Pal's Act") at times are as powerful and emotive as any of its other narrative parts. The interlinked stories are smart, exciting, has depth, and are often interspersed with some hilarious dialogue and visual background bits.

Some of the best black-and-white and effectively shaded artwork I have seen in a comic. A near-perfect piece of literature.

[Alex Sarll]

More scabrous adventures for the (legitimately) bitter old soak of a cop who keeps the supernatural more or less in line, his even nastier former guvnor, and the poor bastards drawn into their orbit. If John Constantine had had an uncle in the Sweeney, he might have ended up a lot like this.

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second volume starts with a true horror - demon killing children in old beach tourist resort. Starting from this story onward tone of this volume is much darker than the first book (story about merging demons with orphaned books could easily be made into W40K short story). Larger sub-story in this volume is about special army raised by Church to fight the demons (to Harry's chagrin because this disturbs the pact and endangers the innocents). But harry would not be Harry if he could not advance his cause and gain an ally or two in process.
Calling a favor from an [unholy] forces that are Harry finally finds location of his grandchildren but when he finds out where they are held he is shocked. To get them out he will need help from his old boss but is it worth to release such a monster into the world?

And again what can be trusted when unholy demons are involved?

Art as in first book is excellent, pure joy for eyes. When you look at panels showing the cities and masses of people you can see how each and every thing is drawn with the utmost care and love. You just gotta love this approach to comic drawings.

Recommended to all fans of supernatural and X-files.

[Sarah Graven Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

No rest for the wicked, you bunch of lazy little barks! It’s round two of the treaty between the British Royalty and the forces of hell I’ll have you know. Some religious berk is off his rocker on a killing spree, and there is a right mob of demon brats on the loose in some naff old beach town. Hold onto your draw’s folks, things have just got interesting in this cesspit of shake n’ vac. Meaning it’s only up to bleeding Harry and his ex-plank of a Guv’nor to give ‘em what for.
 
Continuing on with the main character’s use of dialogue, I can tell you now that I am on the very edge of my seat! Especially since Harry has uncovered the most unsettling and disturbing truth of what has become of his much-loved grandchildren. All I can say is it’s no Butlin’s palace for these kids!
 

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit loose in this middle third of the trio. Someone has been training demon hunters, and their star pupil has been a little too good. Can Harry Absalom stop him before he goes too far, and/or recruit him in liberating some long term family hostages?

Sometimes the right knife wins a gun fight.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

More nice language and good occult fun. Not perfect but pretty damn close.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cor blimey guv, what a paranormal palarver.

[Colin Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of one (half) decent copper's war against demon-kind.

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The same as before. A great story, a great main character, a lot of great and innovative art. These are the stories we comic book lovers love 2000AD for.