A Love Like Blood is a graphic novel from the pages of the British anthology comic 2000 AD, written by John Smith and drawn by Frazer Irving.
The vampire and werewolf races are locked into an eternal war with each other. Jacques, the heir to vampire king Karkossa, falls in love with a female werewolf by the name of Bethany and both flee to find love together. But with both races determined to exterminate each other, this love is not to last...
This comic provides examples of:
- Bat Out of Hell: The first vampire Karkossa is a giant anthropomorphic bat-beast. His trueborn son Jacques is able to summon swarms of bats to swamp his enemies.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: The Bathory family are descendents of the vampire king. At one point he resurrects some of his "daughters" (banshee-bat creatures) to hunt down his rebellious son Jacques.
- Blood Bath: The vampire king Karkossa is seen lounging in what appears to be a blood jacuzzi while also being entertained by female vampires.
- Fur Against Fang: The Sangrael (vampires) and Luperci (werewolves) are at war with each other, with Fantastic Racism on both sides. Then a male vampire and female werewolf fall in love.
- Hemo Erotic: Karkossa is seen engaging in an orgy with his concubines while bathing in the blood and body parts of humans.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: The female werewolf is murdered by Sangrael and Luperci foot soldiers shortly before she was about to give birth to a vampire-werewolf hybrid.
- Loves the Sound of Screaming: As human victims are being boarded into his private plane, Lord Karkossa remarks that "nothing whets the appetite quite like the sound of screaming cattle".
- Monster Progenitor:
- Lord Karkossa is the vampire from whom all others derive, who was apparently a Roman soldier who drank the blood of Christ. His direct offspring are also stronger than other vampires, such as his son possessing wings and being able to summon swarms of bats.
- Lord Romulus is presumably the same for the werewolves, though we don't get any look into his backstory other than his name alluding to the two mythical brothers who were weaned by a wolf bitch before founding the city of Rome.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After his lover Bethany and their unborn child are killed on Karkossa's orders, Jacques goes on a rampage to destroy his father and anyone who stands in his way.
- Roll Out the Red Carpet: A very gory variation appears when vampire Lord Karkossa arrives to dine with his followers. The vampires arrange a row of helpless humans and then slit all their throats to create a bloody "red carpet" for their master to walk on.
- Starcrossed Lovers: A male vampire and a female werewolf fall in love when both their races are at war with each other. The woman is killed by vampire and werewolf soldiers while pregnant with their child.
- Tested on Humans: Vampire scientists develop new diseases in secret laboratoria to ease the process of feeding, such as a hemorrhaegic fever that causes humans to bleed out within minutes.
- Turbine Blender: Jacques finishes his father Karkossa by kicking him out of his private plane into a jet engine.
- Vampire Monarch: Karkossa is the king of all vampires as well as their progenitor. Regular vampires look more or less like humans with fangs; Karkossa is more of a batlike monster after feeding for so long.
- Vampire's Harem: Lord Karkossa is always accompanied by his vampire concubines.
