Absalom: Fight Night… Now here’s something that I don’t see everyday. A British comic company reaching out to YouTube animators to make a pilot out of their IP. In this case, it’s 2000 AD’s occult detective series Absalom. Compared to the comic’s intro, we get a more atmospheric, action-packed, series defining beginning. But don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself!
Who Or What Is Absalom?
Absalom is what happens if John Constantine actually had a steady job. Our title character Inspector Harry Absalom is a “god-awful old git” in London’s demonic crimes department. See, the British Crown and Hell have a peace deal and Absalom’s department is in charge of policing it. Whether it’s humans or demon, peace and crime will always coexist. The job’s taken its toll on Harry and his superiors keep him around by holding off his terminal cancer. So Harry has to do jobs until some purpose is finished. And he gives everyone he works with a hard time while doing it.
Why First Impressions Matter
As for introductions, the pilot takes some liberties compared to the comic. The comic is pretty tame… relatively speaking. It’s just introducing the story of Ghost of London’s antagonist before going to Harry getting into a bar brawl. That is if you can call it a fight. There’s a lot of exposition in place of showing readers what’s going on.
So instead Absalom: Fight Night serves as a prologue. Unlike the comic, it’s detached from the Ghosts of London plot save for a cliffhanger. But we’ll have to come back to that and focus on what we’ve got in front of us.
Absalom: Fight Night Knows Its Audience
Anything with videos need to go all out on making a spectacle. So with the source material lacking in some areas, the Mashed animators decide to make a more memorable first impression. Instead of Harry or the demons, audiences see things from the perspectives of people in the wrong place and time.
We see two men brawl: one highly skilled boxer with spiked gauntlets for maximum damage and a huge guy with very thick skin. With how rich people are placing bets, there’s a disgusting smell of a death match. Even worse, before the fight’s over another boxer is threatened by the organizers. The way they present themselves as average crime lords makes them terrifying enough. The reveals of the big man and crime ring as demons makes it all the more frightening.
Absalom in Full
Enter Harry Absalom who shows off his character in cinematic fashion. He knows the ins-and-outs of his job including how to deal with any legal loopholes. But he also takes personal matters like giving money from the betting table to the would-be fighter. He knows people like him were brought against their will. Besides it helps speed up the freeing process of the other human prisoners. Of course Harry’s dry wit annoys his partner who just lost an arm in the raid. Harry meanwhile doesn’t mind his partner’s early retirement as he gets a call from his other one. It all shows Harry as a multi-layered character that interests audiences. Which combine this with the grisly cliffhanger to his next case is a great setup.
Absalom: Fight Night – Only The Beginning
Absalom: Fight Night is a great adaptation because it was made to be a great pilot. Before anyone can waste any more time and money on a full project, an audience has to be built. For that you’re gonna need a spectacle that sets up the tone, give everything people need to know about your main character, and leave them wanting more. Best of all Mashed did it in a way without being to connected to a bigger story. It can get audiences a chance to look at the source material and get twice as invested. Now the only thing left to do is get endorsements.
The ink’s not dry yet on this so pay attention to Mashed’s feeds and have fun while doing it. Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.