Lost Highway

Bad Blood, Part Six: Lost Highway is the fifteenth issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Classic comic book series. Written by Andi Watson and illustrated by Cliff Richards, it was originally published on November 24, 1999, by Dark Horse Comics.

Synopsis

She alone will stand against the vampires… the demons… and the forces of Darkness… wait, she can't even drive yet! Learning how to operate an automobile is a rite of passage that all teenagers face, the Chosen One being no different. And while Buffy faces the horrors of Drivers' Ed., Selke and the Doctor are busy breeding disaster for Sunnydale. Does their evil alchemy spell disaster for Buffy and the gang? Have we seen the last of the super-vampires that have plagued Sunnydale lately? Will Buffy get her driving permit?! There's only one way to find out!^[1]

Summary

Continuity

• Buffy attempts to drive Joyce's car without license, for much of her mother's concern, as in the episode "Band Candy".
• The second attempt of making Dark Slayer is thrown at the sewers, to reappear in She's No Lady.

Appearances

Individuals

• Angel
• Bob
• Cordelia Chase
• Dark Slayer (second attempt)
• Dark Slayer (third attempt)
• Dolores (Only mentioned)
• Flitter
• Rupert Giles
• Alexander Harris
• Daniel Osbourne
• Willow Rosenberg
• Selke
• Buffy Summers
• Joyce Summers (Only voice)
• Vero
• Unidentified Slayer (Love Sick Blues) (Only bone)

Organizations and titles

• Scooby Gang
• Slayer

Species

• Human
• Rat
• Vampire

Events

• Tsunami gig

Locations

• Sunnydale
  • Dr. Flitter's clinic
  • Sunnydale High School
    • Sunnydale High School library

Objects

• 21DW407 (Only mentioned)
• 2GPU947
• 3HUJ259
• Stake

Death count

• Bob, eaten by the old crew.
• Two unidentified vampires, staked by Rupert Giles.
• An unidentified vampire, staked by Angel.
• Vero, staked by Buffy Summers.
• Two unidentified vampires, staked by Buffy.

Behind the scenes

Production

• The title is a reference to the song "Lost Highway" (1948), concluding the thread of classic songs for titles since Hey, Good Lookin', Part One.
• The photo cover features promotional stills taken for Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3.
• Angel debut issue Surrogates, Part One has a parallel photo cover of a broken mirror, with its respective characters.
• In reference to Angel's habits, Buffy questions Giles if there's a name for the fear of knocking doors. Known related phobias would be phonophobia, the fear of loud sounds, and entamaphobia, the fear of doors.

Distribution

• Lost Highway was the 79th best selling comic issue in its publishing month, with 31,940 sales in November 1999 at comic specialty stores.^[2]

Collections

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

Pop culture references

• Cordelia mentions Giles car as the older model Citroën 2CV.
• Buffy compares waxing the car with a scene from the movie The Karate Kid (1984), which Xander quotes: "Wax on. Wax off."

International titles

• German: Spritztour des Todes (Joyride of Death)
• Italian: Perdere la Rotta (Losing the Route)
• Russian: Шоссе в никуда (Highway to Nowhere)
• Spanish (Mexico): Camino perdido (Lost Path)

Gallery

Covers

Cover artwork

References

1. ↑ "Buffy the Vampire Slayer #15." Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved on April 24, 2018.
2. ↑ "November 1999 Comic Book Sales to Comics Shops." Comichron. Retrieved on January 9, 2019.