Fiends of the Eastern Front
Fiends of the Eastern Front was a story published in the British comics anthology 2000 AD, created by Gerry Finley-Day and Carlos Ezquerra. The series mixed vampires into the general horror of the Eastern front.
Plot
A diary found with an unearthed skeleton casts new light on a lost piece of history from World War II. It belongs to a young German soldier who was stationed on the Eastern Front alongside a group of Romanian soldiers who always fought at night. Their true nature is soon revealed and when they change sides all Hell breaks loose.Characters
German
Hans Schmitt - The main protagonistKarl Mueller - Hans' friendInspector Brandt - A police officer in 1980 GermanyRussian
The Rabbi - An unnamed rabbi who performs the ritualThe Golem - Created by the Rabbi to destroy Costanza and his VampyrJesf Charnosov - A member of SMERT KROFPEETThe Vampyr (Blood Pack)
Hauptmann Costanza - Vampire leader- * Colonel Grant - An alias of Costanza'sCorporal Gorgo - Costanza's chief lieutenantCorporal Cringu - Costanza's loyal thrall
- Fourteen other unnamed Vampyr followers
Comics
- Fiends of the Eastern Front:
- * "Fiends of the Eastern Front", written by Gerry Finley-Day, art by Carlos Ezquerra, in 2000 AD #152-161, February–April 1980
- * "Stalingrad", written by David Bishop, art by Colin MacNeil, in Judge Dredd Megazine #245-252, May–December 2006
- * "1812", written by Ian Edginton, art by Dave Taylor, in 2000 AD #2100–2105, September 2018
- * "Fiends of the Western Front", written by Ian Edginton, art by Tiernen Trevallion, in 2000 AD #2111–2115, December 2018 - January 2019
- * "Costanta", written by Ian Edginton, art by Tiernen Trevallion, in 2000 AD #2201-2211, September-December 2020
- * "1963" written by Ian Edginton, art by Tiernen Trevallion, in 2000 AD #2273-2285, March-June 2022
- * "Fiends of West Berlin", written by Karl Stock, art by Warren Pleese, in 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2022
- * "Fiends of the Western Front: Wilde West", written by Ian Edginton, art by Warren Pleese in 2000 AD #2310, November 2022
Cameo appearances in other series
- Judge Dredd: "Helter Skelter" and Henry Flint
- The Scarlet Apocrypha: "Red Menace"
- ''Fodder''
Novels
Black Flame released a series of novels based on the series, all written by David Bishop:- Fiends of the Eastern Front:
- * Operation Vampyr
- * The Blood Red Army
- * Twilight of the Dead
- * Fiends of the Rising Sun
The novel Fiends of the Rising Sun deals with the same premise but with vampire samurai in the Pacific War.