Delia's Gone

The subject of this article is non-canonical.
While created as part of licensed material, it has not been confirmed as part of the "real" Buffyverse continuity.

Delia's Gone

Publication

September 29, 1999

Length

22 pages

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic #13

Previous	Next
A Nice Girl Like You	Love Sick Blues

Colorist(s)

Guy Major

Letterer(s)

Amador Cisneros

Bad Blood, Part Four: Delia's Gone (also known as Love Sick Blues, Part One) is the thirteenth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic series. Written by Andi Watson and illustrated by Cliff Richards, it was originally published on September 29, 1999 by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Beauty, popularity, and impeccable fashion sense are just a few of the qualities that help define the character of Cordelia Chase. When a gorgeous, mysterious beauty begins to invade Cordelia's spotlight with the men of the Bronze, though, she undergoes a shift in priorities. With an upcoming school quiz-show contest looming, Cordelia decides it's time to flaunt her intelligence… by any means necessary!^[1]

Continuity[edit | edit source]

Buffy is sure she's seen Selke before, but fails to remember the two had confronted in Halloween.
Selke avoid killing Buffy with the certain that her death would cause a potential to become the new Slayer, which already happened due to her first death ("What's My Line? Part Two").
Surprising the Scooby Gang with her intellectual abilities, Cordelia would be accepted in prestigious colleges ("Choices") and revealed as top ten percent of her class ("Untouched"). Upon her impressive SAT score, she would declare she has "some experience in covering these things up" to preserve her popular image ("Lovers Walk").

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Individuals[edit | edit source]

Organizations and titles[edit | edit source]

Horton's military academy (Only mentioned)
Quiz-Bowl Champions

Locations[edit | edit source]

Bavaria, Germany (Only mentioned)
Las Vegas, USA (Only mentioned)
Sunnydale, USA
- Bronze
- Espresso Pump
- Dr. Flitter's clinic
- Sunnydale Cemetery
- Sunnydale High School
  - Sunnydale High School library

Objects[edit | edit source]

Brooch of the Ottobeuren
Stake

Death count[edit | edit source]

Unidentified vampire, staked by Buffy Summers.
Lyle, sired by Selke.

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Production[edit | edit source]

The title is a reference to the song "Delia's Gone" (1940), continuing the thread of classic songs for titles since Hey, Good Lookin', Part One.
First published as Bad Blood, Part Four: Delia's Gone, the story was collected as Love Sick Blues, Part One.
The photo cover features a promotional picture taken for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2.
Differently from other representations, at this point the comic issues had vampires also able to transform into green creatures with red eyes, pointy ears, a wide mouth, and long teeth. Although, this seems more like an artistic choice, not having direct consequence to the stories.
The Bronze differs in this appearance as well in the comics at this point; as the "Bronze Club," it has a consistent façade of two large statues, since its first comic appearance in Wu-Tang Fang.

Distribution[edit | edit source]

Delia's Gone was the 85th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 33,949 sales in September 1999 at comic specialty stores.^[2]

Collections[edit | edit source]

Crash Test Demons
Omnibus, Volume 4
Classic 23: Bad Blood
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Legacy Edition, Book 2

Pop culture references[edit | edit source]

The quiz-bowl is live broadcast at PBS.
Cordelia mentions television host Joan Rivers.
Lyle compares television and film screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski to novelist Charles Dickens.
Buffy refers to television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Buffy mentions the Planet of the Apes franchise.