Requiem Chevalier Vampire


Requiem Chevalier Vampire is a Franco-British comic originally published by Nickel Editions, with a republication of the series by Glénat. The story was written by Pat Mills, with illustrations by Olivier Ledroit. It was translated into English and published by Heavy Metal magazine in the United States. It was also translated into German and published in Germany by Kult Editions as Requiem Der Vampirritter. The comic was characterized by its extreme violence, with sadomasochism as a common theme and frequent scenes of violent sex.
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History

In the hope of breaking into the French comic market, Pat Mills established his own comics publishing company in France, Nickel Editions, along with Jacques Collin and Olivier Ledroit. Jacques Collin had previously founded the company Zenda Editions. Mills and Ledroit had previously worked together on Sha.
Requiem Chevalier Vampire was Nickel's first editing job on comics, and found success in France. As the company had been founded to release Requiem it was financially very fragile, with Mills, Ledroit, and Collin as the only employees. Ledroit made all the blueprints himself with his wife. For this reason, issues had to be released every eight months at first, with more time given to the artists to work only as the comic became more successful. Roughly 30,000 copies of each issue were published, and Nickel subsequently expanded, acquiring offices and a website, and recruited more artists including Adrian Smith and Franck Tacito.
Originally a total of 12 issues were expected, with issues released roughly a year apart; however, the series has been on hiatus since issue 11, published in November 2012. In late June 2022, Mills announced that he had begun writing issues 12 and 13, which would be the final issues. In July 2025, Mills announced that due to how much material he had for issue 13,he has decided to split the volume in two,so that the series will now end with issue 14. He has also announced spin-offs focusing on Otto and Bathory,and is also planning a sequel to Requiem.

Premise

The story is set in a world called Résurrection, which is often called Hell, but also carries some of the characteristics of Purgatory. In Résurrection people are reincarnated into monsters according to the sins or otherwise of their life. The lowest ranks are formed by zombies and Kobolds whilst vampires form the elite of the society and the ruling class. There is an inverted concept of justice, in that the more sinful a person was in life, the more they are rewarded in Résurrection. Résurrection has a similar shape as Earth, but everything appears to be the opposite way around to Earth: land has replaced the oceans, while Earth's continents are occupied by perpetual fire and time flows backwards. People do not age, but rejuvenate until they become a foetus and are forgotten; their memory follows the same cycle and is "lost" as people get younger. To avoid total insanity during this process, Résurrection's residents are addicted to a drug based on black opium. People do not land on Résurrection in the same order that they died.
The protagonist is a German soldier during World War II named Heinrich Augsburg, who is killed on the Eastern Front facing the Soviet Army. He is sent to Résurrection after his death and attacked by a mob of zombies. During the confrontation he meets and befriends a vampire who calls himself Otto von Todt. Otto reveals he is a vampire and explains that now Heinrich has become a vampire as well. As the story progresses, Heinrich discovers the world of Résurrection, its people and politics. However, he is single-mindedly focused on rescuing a woman he loved during his lifetime, who he knows by the name of Rebecca.

Publications

French-language edition

Nickel Editions:
  • Box of Volume 1–3 :
  • * "Résurrection"
  • * "Danse macabre"
  • * "Dracula"
  • Box of Volume 4–6
  • * "Le Bal des vampires"
  • * "Dragon Blitz"
  • * "Hellfire Club"
  • "Le Couvent des Sœurs de Sang"
  • "La Reine des âmes mortes"
  • "La Cité des pirates"
  • "Bain de sang" )
  • "Amours défuntes"
Glénat Editions:
  • "Résurrection"
  • "Danse macabre"
  • "Dracula"
  • "Le bal des vampires"
  • "Dragon Blitz"
  • "Hellfire Club"
  • "Le couvent des soeurs de sang"
  • "La reine des âmes mortes"
  • "La cité des pirates"
  • "Bain de sang"
  • "Amours défuntes"
  • "La chute de Dracula"

English-language translations

The series was translated into English and published in Heavy Metal between March 2003 and March 2012:
  1. "Resurrection"
  2. "Danse Macabre"
  3. "Dracula"
  4. "The Vampire Ball"
  5. "Dragon Blitz"
  6. "Hellfire Club"
  7. "Requiem"
  8. "Requiem"
  9. "Pirate City"
  10. "Blood Bath"
  11. "Amores Defuntes" Heavy Metal Magazine failed to publish this volume in 2013 for unknown reasons.
They are collecting these stories in trade paperbacks :
  • Requiem:
  • * Resurrection
  • * Volume 2
Panini Comics are also collecting the stories into trade paperbacks :Tome 1: Resurrection & Danse Macabre Tome 2: Dracula & The Vampires Ball Tome 3: Dragon Blitz & Hellfire Club Tome 4: The Convent of the Sisters of Blood & The Queen of Dead Souls Tome 5: The City of Pirates & Blood Bath
  • ''Tome 6: Deceased Loves''

Dutch-language translations

The series is being translated into Dutch and the volumes are published by Prestige in the series "Requiem, de vampierridder"
  1. "Verrijzenis"
  2. "Dans met de dood"
  3. "Dracula"
  4. "Bal der vampiers"
  5. "Dragon Blitz"
  6. "Hellfire Club"
  7. "Het klooster der Bloedzusters"
  8. "De koningin der dode zielen"
  9. "De stad der piraten"
  10. "Bloedbad"
  11. "Oude liefde"

''Claudia Chevalier Vampire''

Claudia Chevalier Vampire is a separate story featuring Lady Claudia. It takes place in the same world as Requiem Chevalier Vampire and adds new characters to the story. Pat Mills writes the story while illustrations are drawn by Franck Tacito. It is translated in German and published in Germany by Kult Editions as Claudia Der Vampirritter. This series is also translated in Dutch and published in the Netherlands by Prestige as Claudia de vampierridder.

Publications

  1. "La Porte des Enfers"
  2. "Femmes violentes"
  3. "Opium rouge"
  4. "La Marque de la Bête"
  5. “La nuit du loup-garou”

Awards