BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: HAUNTED #4

Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp corners and no visible creases or spine stress; the direct sales barcode box is intact and clean. Minor edge wear is not apparent at this resolution, and the book is in a protective sleeve which may slightly obscure fine surface detail. Interior pages and back cover were not assessed, so grading is based solely on this front cover image.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Haunted #4 closes out the four-part "Haunted" arc published by Dark Horse Comics in 2001 as part of its long-running licensed Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics line, which ran continuity-adjacent to the television series during its fifth and sixth seasons. The arc, scripted by series writer Jane Espenson with art by Cliff Richards, finds Buffy and her circle confronting a haunting that dredges up unresolved grief in the wake of Joyce Summers's death on the show, giving the story a more introspective, character-driven tone than the line's typical monster-of-the-week fare.

This is a licensed media tie-in comic from a title that Dark Horse published in substantial and steady print runs throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the direct-market single issue was never scarce. It has no first appearances, deaths, or landmark creative milestones attached to it, and it does not appear on price-guide key-issue lists; it is a mid-run chapter of a well-regarded but ordinary story arc within a very large ongoing series.

Collecting interest in this issue comes almost entirely from Buffy franchise completists and Dark Horse licensed-comics collectors building full arc or series runs, rather than from speculative or investment-driven buyers. Raw copies in any grade trade near cover price and are readily available; the primary price differentiation in this book comes from certification and top-census grading rather than storyline importance, with slabbed 9.8 copies commanding a modest premium purely as graded pop-report rarities rather than as keys.