Thanks to the "Twilight effect," vampires seem a bit like ubiquitous pop culture garnish these days, but in the upcoming "Mutants vs. Vampires" arc that begins in a relaunched "X-Men" #1 by Victor Gischler and Paco Medina in July, Marvel is aiming to make the bloodsuckers a bit more than storyline sprinkles.

"After the Second Coming, things are different for the X-Men," said Marvel's Manager of Sales and Communication Arune Singh at the C2E2 X-Men panel, "There is someone very important dying. People think that that's a joke, and there are going to be very many people mad about that."

"X-Men" #1 also kicks off the Children of the Atom's new adventures in the "Heroic Age," which means the vamps they face may not fit conventional archetypes. Teaser images indicate that not only will the X-Men be fighting vampires, but also that a few may join their ranks. We've already seen promo images involving Blade and vampire Jubilee, and Marvel displayed an image of a typical X-Men lineup at the panel -- which was followed by a second version where the Marvel mutants were suddenly sporting red eyes and fangs. Check out bigger versions after the jump!

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