Fiends of the Eastern Front

Comic by Gerry Finley-Day and Carlos Ezquerra

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

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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

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### German

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The Germans were:

* Hans Schmitt \- The main Protagonist
* Karl Mueller \- Hans' friend
* Inspector Brandt \- A police officer in 1980 Germany

### Russian

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The Russians were:

* 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)

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The Vampires were:

* 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

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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

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* 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

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* 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

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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

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* 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

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

## External links

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* Review of the trade paperback, 2000 AD Review