| “ | Salutations, Cole Blaquesmith. I’m God. Or, if you prefer, “Lord Absinthe the Pretty.” I’m not choosy. | „ |
| ~ Lord Absinthe introducing himself to Cole Blaquesmith. |
| “ | At least, you still have her in your mind…yes? Dear little porcelain Fiona. Thanks be to Gawd. Fiona, Fiona, Bi-Bona, Bananafana -- | „ |
| ~ Absinthe taunts Blaquesmith about Fiona |
Lord Absinthe is the main antagonist of the 2000 Wildstorm comic book series Steampunk.
Biography[]
In 1883, Absinthe was a feared alchemist working in the southland of England, experimenting on various things, including his pet dog Brunhilda. At some point, a fisherman named Cole Blaquesmith visited him to cure his love interest Fiona, who was dying from tubercolisis. Absinthe pretended to accept Blaquesmith’s request at first and as a deal, he sends Cole into the future to bring him a machine supposed to have near-unlimited knowledge. Cole honored his part of the deal, however Absinthe did not and let Fiona die. That was a trap to allow the prototype of the Consecration Engine, a machine designed to extract souls. According to the legend, Absinthe has sold his soul to the Devil for knowledge but killed him to not fulfill his end of the bargain. With his new power and the Consecration Enginr, he took over England and ruled it as a totalitarian despot. He converted the country into a heavily steam-industrialized nation by using slave labor and put all the underdwellers into underground places. Some people wanted to protest against Absinthe’s rule, but they were atrociously murdered, being converted into a giant clam statute. He waged a war against Napoleon, the Emperor of France, killing many soldiers and civilians, and extracting the soul of Napoleon himself in exchange of sparing France.
In the present, Absinthe, examining the dresses wore by his various mistresses, is informed that an emissary of the Pope is coming to England. Absinthe orders that the monk be greeted properly. The reason is that Absinthe plans to extract London’s under dwellers souls.. In exchange, he will receive more knowledge. One of his dog soldiers informs him that a steam man attacked him, only to be mocked by Absinthe, who dismisses the threat. Eventually, he realizes the troublemaker in question is Cole Blaquesmith.
Intrigued, Absinthe mulls over how he will defeat Blaquesmith, and is informed that the emissary arrived. Absinthe taunts the monk about how he is God himself and many other blasphemies. He also summons two of his minions, Victoria, the Queen of Savages, and the demon Faust, to capture Blaquesmith.
Faust succeeds in capturing him, and Absinthe visits Blaquesmith personally. He presents himself to Cole. However, the captive remembers a certain Absinthe. Curious, Absinthe has his brain analyzed by a scientist. Seeing the memories, Absinthe remembers him now and cruelly taunts him about Fiona. He orders Cole to be thrown in the trash heap to have his flesh devoured and later to have stoke him up and read his mind again. Outside, Absinthe has London’s under dwellers be gathered under the pretense that he wants to end their sufferings. In fact, Absinthe wants them killed as a distraction for the aristocrats and a reminder to never cross him. Faust complaints about the method. As an answer, Absinthe orders him to bring more under dwellers and inject radium into their pituitary glands.
Just when he is about to start the extraction engine, Victoria brings an aristocratic rebel named Robert Peel to him. Absinthe taunts him about that he knew about Peel’s treachery and that he only lets him conspire because it amused him. Peel retorts that the seeds of freedom are already planted into people, only to be smacked by Absinthe. About to start the Consecration Engine, Absinthe is interrupted by a released Blaquesmith (by a traitor named Nikon).
Faced with the threat of the monk to leave if Absinthe delays too much the massacre, the tyrant orders Faust to bring him Nikon and fights Blaquesmith personally, all the while mocking him over the fact he arose to power thanks to him and that he was a good puppet. Absinthe overpowers Blaquesmith but is betrayed by Victoria who rescues the ex-fisherman before he could finish him. Absinthe fires at Victoria’s flying engine but misses it.
The next day, Absinthe, not perturbed by Blaquesmith’s escape and the rebellion spirit growing in London, convokes Faust and orders him to capture Blaquesmith and Victoria while he is playing golf using tortoises as golf balls to feed crocodiles in the Thames. Knowing Faust harbors secret love for Victoria, Absinthe tells him Victoria never loves him, and the only friend Faust has is Absinthe himself.
Absinthe is next seen torturing a French, and his cat spy comes back to give him a report about Faust’s progress. He then finds out that Victoria is looking for the engine able to defeat him, much to his rage. Learning Blaquesmith and his allies hide in Stonehenge, Absinthe goes there and finds them. He berates Faust for not having done as he said and demands that his heart be ripped out, just like Absinthe’s, as a proof of loyalty to him. Another fight against Blaquesmith begins until the hero manages to escape again. The comics ends with Blaquesmith sailing to America with his allies to bid his time until he is ready to put down Absinthe for good.
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