Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 4: Crash Test Demons [Paperback]

Andi Watson (Author), Cliff Richards (Author), Joe Pimente (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2000

She alone will stand against the vampires . . . the demons . . . and the forces of Darkness -- wait, she can't even drive yet! Buffy the Vampire Slayer is back, expanding the mythos of the wildly popular television series. As Sunnydale becomes an increasingly hazardous place to re-kill the undead, the ante is upped as Buffy must again confront her old enemy Selke, the vain vampire she once disfigured in battle. And Selke's back with bad blood -- a supernatural brew that can dramatically increase a vampire's powers! Will an army of super vampires be more than the Slayer can handle? Will Selke's dark alchemy produce her final revenge? Will Spike and Dru stand for a new vampire top gun on their turf? Will Buffy get her driving permit? There's only one way to find out!

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse; 1st edition (September 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569714614
• ISBN-13: 978-1569714614
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,878,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too many plots too few pages, September 15, 2000

By 

algerina "algerina" (Saint Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 4: Crash Test Demons (Paperback)

Crash Test Demons contains three tales of horror: Delia's Gone, Love Sick Blues and Lost Highway. Selke, an old enemy of the slayer, is the glue that holds the stories together. Just to sweeten the plot Spike and Dru make a cameo appearance with a promise of things to come. The sub plots of a quiz show, a love sick suitor, and Buffy's driving are not as developed as they could be. The art work is very detailed. The characters are well drawn although I believe Willow could be improved. Her face is a bit too rounded. The action sparkles with color. The vampires are quite nasty and entertaining. For those who enjoy graphic novels and especially for those who have read Bad Blood and Remaining Sunlight I recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, December 22, 2001

By 

Homa Woodrum (NV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 4: Crash Test Demons (Paperback)

This trade collects issues 13, 14, and 15 of the ongoing series. The cover art for each issue is great, and the interior art is crisp and clean. It makes for easy reading. In "Delia's Gone" Cordelia wants to be a quiz champion so she employs a little magic. Things go awry, and in the meantime Selke continues to plot and plan. This issue has some very funny dialogue, I really enjoyed it. Next is "Love Sick Blues" with everyone's favorite -- Spike and Dru! Also, Selke is trying to make some sort of Buffy clone. . .a very good continuation of the storyline. In "Lost Highway" Selke and co. are trying to make their dark slayer but with a few mess-ups. This trade is well drawn, exciting, and well written. Certainly worthwhile.

3.0 out of 5 stars The "Bad Blood" Story Arc Continues, May 21, 2008

By 

Pat Shand "Pat Shand" (Freeport, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 4: Crash Test Demons (Paperback)

Dark Horse's first run of Buffy (the old non-canonical comics not written by Joss) were uneven as far as quality goes, except with the early issues. The early issues of the comic were consistently bad, and that is mostly the fault of writer Andi Watson, who doesn't have anything resembling a feel for the pace, style, or wit of the show. His earlier issues made people believe he'd never even seen the show, and while it's clear in this book that he's done his homework since then, his writing still lacks the quality that should be attached to the "Buffy" name.

With "Bad Blood," (a nine issue long), Andi Watson attempts to create a longer narrative set in the show's third season. A vampire named Selke from Watson's "Cold Turkey" issue comes back, seeking revenge on Buffy for scarring her face. But first, Selke seeks out a plastic surgeon who resorts to magic AND mayonnaise to try to make Selke think he's successfully helping her. In the end of the first part (which, sad to say for readers wanting to not feel like they missed something while reading this) you get as an import or in the omnibus, which I'll write about later.

This volume, "Crash Test Demons," is made up of three issues that continue the "Bad Blood" story line. Andi Watson tried to give these issues the feel of a 'season' of Buffy by having side-stories happen while the Selke threat builds, but there are two problems with that. The side-stories are incredibly bad, featuring Cordelia wearing a brooch so she could participate in a school Quiz Bowl and Spike and Drusilla stopping into Sunnydale for an extremely unfulfilling three pages (there is one more page with him in Pale Reflections, the concluding volume to this story arc. But don't expect the Spike/Dru 'storyline' to get paid off, as you'll be very disappointed.

A plus about this volume is Cliff Richards' art. From this point on, we see much, much less of the green-skinned and bat-like vampires, which was a huge downer for Dark Horse's run of the older Buffy comics. Cliff isn't as good here as he became later, but I was surprised by how good the art was in this volume. Because, let me be honest, Andi Watson's writing doesn't deserve Cliff's art.

PS: If you don't want to waste your money on these individual trades, the entire nine issues of the "Bad Blood" arc is collected in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Omnibus, Volume 4.

3/10