Love Sick Blues

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.

Bad Blood, Part Five: Love Sick Blues (also known as Love Sick Blues, Part Two) is the fourteenth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic comic book series. It was written by Andi Watson and illustrated by Cliff Richards.

Synopsis

As Sunnydale becomes an increasingly hazardous place to kill vampires, Buffy begins to suspect there might be something amiss… as do Spike and Dru, newly returned to town and none too happy to find that Selke has set up shop in their old haunt. Meanwhile, Buffy begins to question her relationship with Angel. And just what do Selke and the Doctor have in store for the ancient Slayer relic they hold in their possession?^[1]

Continuity

• Spike and Drusilla return to Sunnydale, having left in "Becoming, Part Two".
• Todd Dahl had began harassing Buffy in his first appearance in A Boy Named Sue.

Appearances

Individuals

• Angel
• Cordelia Chase
• Todd Dahl
• Dark Buffy (Only mentioned)
• Drusilla
• Elliot
• Dr. Flitter
• Rupert Giles
• Alexander Harris
• Daniel Osbourne
• Willow Rosenberg
• Selke
• Spike
• Buffy Summers

Organizations and titles

• Kien-Jus
• Scooby Gang
• Slayer

Species

• Human
• Vampire

Locations

• Sunnydale, USA
  • 1630 Revello Drive
  • The Bronze
  • Sunnydale High School library
• Tijuana (Only mentioned)

Weapons and objects

• Cross
• Garlic
• Gilesmobile
• Stake
  • Mr. Pointy (Only mentioned)

Death count

• Elliot, burnt with his own recipe.
• Unidentified bandana vampire, staked by Angel.
• Unidentified blonde vampire, staked by Buffy Summers and Angel.
• Todd Dahl, drained by the unidentified bearded vampire.

Behind the scenes

Production

• The title is a reference to the song "Lovesick Blues" (1922), continuing the thread of classic songs for titles since Hey, Good Lookin', Part One.
• First published as Love Sick Blues, the story was collected as Love Sick Blues, Part Two.
• The photo cover features a promotional picture taken for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3.
• From this issue on, vampires are no longer represented as they were since Wu-Tang Fang: 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.
• Spike and Drusilla debut in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic main series, having previously appeared in comics in one-shots Spike and Dru: Paint the Town Red and Spike and Dru: The Queen of Hearts.

Distribution

• Love Sick Blues was the 73rd best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 33,949 sales in October 1999 at comic specialty stores.^[2]

Collections

• "Crash Test Demons"
• "Omnibus: Volume 4"
• "Classic 23: Bad Blood"

Pop culture references

• A vampire mentions the fictional substance Kryptonite.
• A vampire mentions the fictional character Frankenstein.
• Buffy uses the phrase "Hallmark moment", from a Hallmark Cards advertising campaign.
• Flitter invokes Set, Belial, and Ereshkigal.

International titles

• Italian: Blues dell'amor malato (Blues of the Love Sick)
• Russian: Печальная мелодия любви (часть 2) (The Sad Melody of Love (Part 2))

Gallery

Cover artwork

Jeff Matsuda main cover

Original picture for photo cover

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International covers

Cover in Russia

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References