Fiends of the Eastern Front

Fiends of the Eastern Front
Cover of Fiends of the Eastern Front  (2005), hardcover collected edition, art by Carlos Ezquerra
Created by	Gerry Finley-Day Carlos Ezquerra
Publication information
Publisher	IPC Rebellion Developments
Schedule	Weekly Monthly
Title(s)	2000 AD #152-161 Judge Dredd Megazine #245-252
Formats	Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine.
Genre	War Vampire
Publication date	February–April 1980 May–December 2006
Creative team
Writer(s)	Gerry Finley-Day David Bishop
Artist(s)	Carlos Ezquerra Colin MacNeil
Letterer(s)	Jack Potter Colin MacNeil Ellie de Ville
Editor(s)	Steve MacManus Matt Smith
Reprints
Collected editions
Fiends of the Eastern Front	ISBN 1-904265-64-2

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 protagonist
• Karl Mueller - Hans' friend
• Inspector Brandt - A police officer in 1980 Germany

Russian

• The Rabbi - An unnamed rabbi who performs the ritual
• The Golem - Created by the Rabbi to destroy Costanza and his Vampyr
• Jesf Charnosov - A member of SMERT KROFPEET

The Vampyr (Blood Pack)

• Hauptmann Costanza - Vampire leader
  • Colonel Grant - An alias of Costanza's
• Corporal Gorgo - Costanza's chief lieutenant
• Corporal Cringu - Costanza's loyal thrall
• Fourteen other unnamed Vampyr followers

Bibliography

They have appeared in their own series (the original run being released as a single volume by Rebellion Developments in June 2006 and a new series starting to coincide with this) as well as cropping up elsewhere and now feature in a series of novels.

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 (collected in hardcover, October 2005, ISBN 1-904265-64-2)
  • "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" (with Garth Ennis; Carlos Ezquerra (1-7, 10-12) and Henry Flint (8-9), in 2000 AD #1250-1261, 2001)
• The Scarlet Apocrypha: "Red Menace" (with Dan Abnett and Carlos Ezquerra, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.17, 2002)
• Fodder (with Hannah Berry and Dani K, in 2000AD Free Comic Book Day 2016)

Novels

Black Flame released a series of novels based on the series, all written by David Bishop:

• Fiends of the Eastern Front:
  • Operation Vampyr (December 2005 ISBN 1-84416-274-5)
  • The Blood Red Army (April 2006, ISBN 1-84416-325-3)
  • Twilight of the Dead (August 2006, ISBN 1-84416-384-9)
  • Fiends of the Rising Sun (July 2007, ISBN 1-84416-494-2)

The first three books were collected in one volume, Fiends of the Eastern Front (672 pages, February 2007, ISBN 1-84416-455-1)

The novel Fiends of the Rising Sun deals with the same premise but with vampire samurai in the Pacific War.

See also

• Fiends of the Eastern Front: 1812 prequel story in 2000 AD
• Fiends of the Western Front upcoming sequel
• American Gothic, another 2000 AD story which features vampires

Other items that mix horror with the World Wars and/or feature undead Nazis include:

• The Keep
• The Bloody Red Baron
• Return to Castle Wolfenstein
• The Wolf's Hour
• Shock Waves
• Oasis of the Zombies
• Zombie Lake
• Deathwatch
• Hellsing
• The Bunker
• 30 Days of Night: Red Snow
• Dead Snow

References

• Fiends of the Eastern Front at Barney
• Fiends of the Eastern Front at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links

• Review of the trade paperback, 2000 AD Review