2000 AD's Summer of Thrill-Power!

2000 AD - Britain's cult award-winning weekly SF, fantasy and horror comic - surges into a Summer of Thrill-power as three all-new series premiere in its pages.

A LOVE LIKE BLOOD

This horrific romance by John Smith (Devlin Waugh, Vampirella) and Frazer Irving (Necronauts) is a terrifyingly twisted take on the Romeo and Juliet story.

The world we know is merely a superficial illusion. We are ruled from the shadows by two warring households - the vampire Sangreal and werewolf Luperci dynasties.

But when the son of the Vampire King falls in love with the daughter of the Luperci Bitch-Queen, it unleashes a spiral of horror and violence which could drown both dynasties in a sea of blood. And if the lovers were to breed...

"A Love Like Blood is part of a concerted effort to put more horror into the Galaxy's Greatest Comic," says 2000 AD Editor Andy Diggle. "It's a genre the readers want to see more of, especially following the success of Necronauts.

"Having created gay exorcist and bloodsucker Devlin Waugh for 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine, John Smith's horror pedigree and singular imagination is perfectly at home in this kind of territory," Diggle adds. "When it comes to smart horror and depraved weirdness, he's the writer to look to ­ and you can expect similar strangeness from his and Steve Yeowell's forthcoming series, Pussyfoot 5: Alien Sex Fiend!

"Frazer Irving's distinctive art style made him our first choice for such a dark story - but rather than the elegant black-and-white linework he's known for, he'll be working in full colour for the first time in 2000 AD. He's using a deliberately muted palette, making the sudden splashes of scarlet are all the more chilling."

SATANUS UNCHAINED!

Another story red in tooth and claw is Satanus Unchained, which reintroduces the feared Tyrannosaur who first appeared in the classic Judge Dredd epic 'The Cursed Earth'.

Gordon Rennie (Missionary Man, Necronauts) scripts this blackly comic bloodfest - with lusciously evocative painting by Colin MacNeil (Chopper: Song Of The Surfer, Judge Dredd: America) - as a hunting trip into the heart of Sauron Valley goes horribly haywire and turns into a feeding frenzy.

"Everybody loves dinosaurs," Diggle says with a grin. "2000 AD came up with the idea of cloned dinosaurs escaping from a theme park way back in 1978, and now we're reclaiming our heritage with this classic character from 2000 AD's 'Golden Age'. This is a good old-fashioned, unapologetic monster story with a gleefully malevolent streak of political incorrectness. Gordon and Colin are enjoying themselves immensely!"

Satanus Unchained is not recommended for vegetarians.

BANZAI BATTALION

Talking of retro-trips, the good news for old-school 2000 AD fans is that John Wagner and Ian Gibson - the creators behind the classic Robo-Hunter - have reunited for a Banzai Battalion solo series.

The diminutive garden-pest control droids made their first appearance in a Judge Dredd story last year, and proved so popular that getting their own series seemed inevitable. 'Escape to Glory' follows the squad's quest to seek the Promised Land following a cruel betrayal at the hands of Justice Department.

"When Banzai Battalion were first introduced into Dredd's world, we knew we had a hit on our hands. As any Robo-Hunter fan will tell you, Wagner and Gibson give good droid - so these mechanised marines are perfect subject matter for their unique sense of humour," says Diggle.

"They're a legend in garden pest control," he adds.

These new stories are indicative of 2000 AD's exciting new direction, combining classic characters and creators with new blood and fresh ideas. All three series conclude in 2000 AD Prog 1249, making way for a slew of new stories in Prog 1250 - including Garth Ennis and Carlos Ezquerra's Judge Dredd epic, 'Helter Skelter'.