Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1

by Kelly Thompson, Veronica Fish (Illustrator)

Kelly Thompson (Uncanny X-Men) and artist Veronica Fish (Spider-Woman, Archie) team-up to tell the story of Sabrina Spellman.

Sabrina is a teen witch who's struggling with balancing the double life of high school and her burgeoning powers. Newly relocated to Greendale with her aunts Hilda and Zelda (also witches), Sabrina is trying to make the best of being the new girl in town which so far includes two intriguing love interests, an instant rivalry, a couple of misfits that could turn into BFFs, and trying to save the high school (and maybe the world) from crazy supernatural events. NBD!

Sabrina the Teenage Witch collects issues #1-5 of the ongoing series and features bonus content including the first full issue of Archie and Sabrina written by Nick Spencer and Mariko Tamaki, with art by Sandy Jarrell and Jenn St-Onge.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Young Adult, Witches, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2019

About the author

KELLY THOMPSON has a degree in Sequential Art from The Savannah College of Art & Design. Her love of comics and superheroes have compelled her since she first discovered them as a teenager. Currently living in Portland, Oregon with her boyfriend and the two brilliant cats that run their lives, you can find Kelly all over the Internet where she is generally well liked, except where she's detested.

Kelly has published two novels - THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING (2012) and STORYKILLER (2014) and the graphic novel HEART IN A BOX from Dark Horse Comics (2015). She's currently writing ROGUE & GAMBIT, HAWKEYE, and PHASMA for Marvel Comics and GHOSTBUSTERS for IDW. Other major credits include: A-Force, Captain Marvel & The Carol Corps, Jem and The Holograms, Misfits, Power Rangers Pink, and the creator-owned mini-series Mega Princess.

Kelly's ambitions are eclipsed only by her desire to exist entirely in pajamas. Fortunately pajamas and writers go hand in hand (most of the time). Please buy all her stuff so that she can buy (and wear) more pajamas.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a lot of people who grew up reading the original comics or watched the '90s tv show as kids were turned off by the very dark adult version of the character, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, when it popped up. I liked it a lot, but not everyone was jumping up and down for more.



This one, however?
I think Thompson hit on a nice happy medium. A rebooted modern version that doesn't include cannibalism or incest. <--it can only go up from there, right?



This was a genuinely sweet story, but it didn't leave that gross saccharine taste in my mouth. Sabrina was cool, and unsure of herself, and badass, and sort of lost.
Kind of like a normal teenager.



The bad guys and bullies are a bit more complicated in this one, which makes it better than the old Evil to be Evil schtick. I was kind of afraid we were going to end up with yet another cackling mean girl, but that's not what happened. In fact, I thought all of the characters were well-rounded.
I was pretty impressed.
Yeah. I was actually very impressed, now that I think about it.

I think this one will work not only for those who hated the darker Sabrina but also for those who loved it.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lot of fun. Like Mark Waid's Archie, it updates the character to modern times while still maintaining the core of the character. It had a bit of a Buffy feel to it, from her high school days. The dialogue was crisp and the mystery interesting. Veronica Fish's art was perfect. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Sabrina in the future.

[nitya · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars for the art ALONE

I consider myself a decent Sabrina fan: read the comics (original and reboot), watched the 90s sitcom and animated cartoon, and there was a time where all the books I consumed were about witches and magic. I would have watched the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina show except the geniuses at Netflix decided to cancel it. Thanks a bunch, y'all. #JusticeforMirandaOtto #AndEowyn

So when I heard about a modern retelling of Sabrina (she has a smartphone AND broomstick!!!), I was rather intrigued. I think the writers and artists did a fantastic job at updating the story for a new audience, yet keeping the personalities close to the original comic. Sabrina's still sweet and full of mischief, Salem's still a smartass with a soft heart, Aunts Hilda and Zelda are still fun and badass. And the new characters like Jessa, Ren and Radka! YESSSSS LOVE

The art was really captivating and detailed; I want to do a reread just to appreciate it more.

I am super thankful this is getting a sequel series, because that cliffhanger??? DISLIKE :( And the main villain reveal was a bit anticlimactic in my opinion. I am excited for future storylines though!

If you're a fan of Sabrina but not necessarily the dark/horror aesthetic or cheesy nostalgia with other versions, this comic is a great alternative and definitely worth a try!

(And #TeamRen, just saying! Sorry, Harvey. Can't beat brown boys with motorcycles.)

[Kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
This reminded me of the Melissa Joan Hart version of Sabrina in many ways, (a good thing!) but it was also different enough that it felt fresh and original.
A month or two ago I read Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, then watched the show -- I loved both, and really enjoy the darker take on Sabrina, but I have to say I appreciated the lightness of this, the bright artwork with lots of colour, especially pinks and purples. This Sabrina is funny and a little awkward -- I liked her a lot. Salem is, as ever, cool and sassy, Harvey is sweet, the aunts are brilliant. Although this is a new story, in a lot of ways reading it felt quite nostalgic, reminding me constantly of my childhood love of Sabrina!

[Melina Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

preciso da continuação ♡

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

whoops, i realized halfway through that i meant to read chilling adventures of sabrina rather than this one. but i'm not mad about it, because this is a super cute comic!!

the adventure is engaging (sabrina's new classmates may be turning into monsters!!) and there's some cute teenagery friendship and romance. the art is a classic comic style, yet feels freshly magical and is very pretty.

i haven't read any other sabrina or archie comics, but this seems like a really nice modern blend between the cheesy melissa joan hart sitcom & the darker new netflix show. i'm excited for the next volume!!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

New to Greendale, Sabrina Spellman runs afoul of twin enemies: a supernatural menace and teenage drama.

I read a ton of Archie comics as a kid but only a handful of Sabrina stories. My main exposure to Sabrina was that television show starring Melissa Joan Hart about a thousand years ago. I saw some comics pro, I forget which one, say this was one of the best comics of 2019 so I picked it up when the Archie website was having a sale.

I don't know about best comic of 2019 but this is damn good. Kelly Thompson does a great job of infusing her supernatural story with teenage drama WITHOUT annoying the shit out of me. Sabrina's a likeable outcast, new to Greendale with her aunts in town. Soon, there's a Wendigo, a kraken, and the alpha mean girl at school, Radka Ransom. How will the two threads intersect?

The art is pretty slick. Veronica and Andy Fish crafted some great art. It feels retro but still modern. The coloring is also slick, computer colored but not overdone. The color palette is a little purple-heavy but since most of the action takes place at night, that's fine.

My main gripes are that the ending seemed like it came out of left field. Maybe this was supposed to be six issues and got shortened to five for some reason? My other gripe is that the next miniseries hasn't been released yet. Seriously, this is some surprisingly good shit.

Loving this take on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Four out of five Masks of Malin.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to watch quite a bit of Sabrina growing up and honestly I didn't realize how much a role that she played in the Archie universe. I decided to read a little bit more about her backgroud/origin through comics and this did not disappoint. I've been hearing quite a bit about Kelly Thompson so I was excited to see that she wrote this story. It focuses on Sabrina as she starts at a new high school and has to figure out how to balance being a witch and just a typical teenage. When weird things start happening to the students at the school, Sabrina has to figure things out to help out her aunts and the rest of the town. The story was fast paced and really enjoyable. I didn't realize that there was going to be a love triangle and while I'm typically not a fan of love triangles this one was done very well and wasn't at the center of the story. I would have loved to see a little bit more of the interactions between Sabrina and her aunts, but I'm hoping that will come in future volumes. The artwork was great! I believe that I've seen Veronica Fish's artwork in about three other books and it never disappoints. Fish's artwork always compliments the storyline in such a beautiful and engaging way that makes the reader devour the book. I definitely will be picking up volume two when it comes out!

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

So mind numbingly bland, no real darkness to speak of.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute, fun, and probably not really for me LOL.

I think Kelly Thompson is a very talented writer. She has a lot of good voices for multiple characters. I also think Sabrina is a character that can work in any decade, she's charming, sweet, and badass. So Kelly decides to update her, make it more modern, more school problems as always, while also dealing with the wicked magical side of the world. This creates a fun, sometimes dangerous, but also witchy experience.

If you're a fan of Sabrina I think you'll enjoy this. It's charming and fun, and that was the main selling point. Even the art is bubbly and cute with some scary monsters on the side. I didn't love it though as I enjoyed the darker side of the "chilling adventures of Sabrina" but I can see people eating up this new series. A 3 out of 5 for me.

[Kadi P · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I’m getting whiplash from moving so quickly from horror to mean girls to hot teenage fantasy.”

This wonderfully illustrated and light-hearted read had a bit of everything to suit a wide variety of readers: action, mystery, teenage drama and of course, romance.

This was a great introduction to Sabrina as a modern teenager. She was powerful yet self-conscious, charming yet feisty. It was pretty much impossible to not like her, as Harvey and Ren both quickly discovered. The love triangle storyline felt like a weak distraction, especially in the face of the possibly life-threatening magic issues going on, but I liked that the narrative specifically addressed that so at least the comic was self-aware. Still, the love triangle continued on and that was the only element of this vol that I hated. Surely Sabrina is interesting enough of a character to carry the storyline herself without needing to add this extra fluff.

Radka was a surprisingly interesting character. She didn’t entirely conform to the bully trope and I liked the unexpectedness of that. I expect to see some more interesting things from her in Sabrina: Something Wicked.

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of the five volumes, I liked volume four the most. It felt like something was actually happening and it was the start of "magical girl Sabrina", as I'm choosing to call it.

Volume five wasn't bad either, even though the bad guy was defeated easily. The other three were okay, not like the other comics and not like the show(s).

Also Ren > Harvey. WHY DIDN'T WE GET REN INSTEAD OF NICK SCRATCH IN THE SERIES? Missed opportunity right there.

The art style is the best part of this, of course. It's perfect. Hopefully there's more of this Sabrina in the future.

3.5

[julia ☆ [owls reads] · Rating 4 out of 5]

✧ Pretty fun take on Sabrina that didn't try to be dark and, instead, was pretty adventurous.
✧ The art was beautiful!
✧ The side characters were also pretty interesting and I really liked Radka.
✧ The arc surrounding the creatures was also pretty well developed in 5 issues and I liked the resolution.
✧ Not a fan of the love triangle lol

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not the Sabrina I grew up with, but its an acceptable version compared to that godawful Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Vol. 1: The Crucible book I had the misfortune to read a while back. A tidy little magical adventure with a main character who seems real enough despite all the witch stuff.

Tucked in the back is the first issue of Archie by Nick Spencer Vol. 2: Archie & Sabrina, and that was just a dreary soap opera affair. Definitely skipping that book.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This was fun! It had a bit of a slow start but then picked up later on.
Salem is a national treasure and I love Sabrina here, also...the art style is gorgeous? The facial expressions are HILARIOUS and as an artist myself this is peak comic art and I love this way more than those same face (and Artstyle) Marvel/DC comics.

Only thing I didn’t like was the love triangle and girl on girl hate in the beginning (which gets softened pretty quick tho, so I hope there will be some development in that area).
The love triangle is especially annoying bc THEY ARE BOTH THE SWEETEST GUYS AND I WANT HER TO BE WITH BOTH OF THEM! Can she have both please?

[Julio Bonilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things always begin small, Sabrina.

I vaguely remember watching Sabrina, The Teenage Witch back in the 1990s on Channel 7, T.G.I.F. Must be because it was after Family Matters, which was my favorite show for awhile. There's her teacher, Professor Sampson, Radha and Ren Kinkle; best friend, Jessa Chiang...

Here's a new adventure with Sabrina Spellman struggling to balance her academic with her personal life. This ends in a cliffhanger!

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 EDIT:

Reread: Not quite as good, or even, or well paced, as I remember. A few characters are barely characters and they appear out of nowhere for when it's convenient for the messy plot. But the comic is still enjoyable, colourful and magical. Hooray for Sabrina! The teenage witch and magical girl!

Final Score: 3.5/5





Original Review:



I think I might be falling under the spell of Sabrina Spellman. Enough to maybe read some of her original Archie comics from the sixties, despite review warnings of how sexist and dated they are.

'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' in 2019, as penned by Kelly Thompson, she of the usually mixed quality bag, isn't about Satanism, or anything particularly dark or "adult", or particularly light and fluffy for that matter. I'll just say that if you like witches, and you feel nostalgic for Sabrina in any one of her incarnations, then you are sure to enjoy this. The constant stays to her character are thus: She's white, platinum blonde and pretty, and hetero; Salem, everyone's favourite cat familiar; Sabrina's aunts Hilda and Zelda; a Witches Council (containing, more often than not, the high witch Della/Enchantra); and love interest Harvey Kinkle.

I don't think that Sabrina has ever been this introspective, self-aware, deductive, capable, brave, and full of independent agency (take note, 'Chilling Adventures'). She's still a messy teenage girl, who justly equates high school with hell and her peers with monsters. She makes mistakes, and is in a love triangle between two hot boys, but the direction it takes subverts expectations somewhat. One of its merits is that it criticises toxic masculinity. I can't believe I'm actually finding a love triangle interesting! It's not a main focus, at any rate, thank Circe.

Sabrina can fix anything, and fight for anything, when she puts her mind to it. She's proactive! Magical powers aside, she is a relatable heroine worth rooting for. She's a damn cool teen in this comic. Salem is as quippy, sarcastic and funny as ever, and receives his moments in the fun spotlight too.

And "fun" describes 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2019)' to a W, I, T, C, and H. It's modern magical fantasy witch action. It can be read by all ages - never mind its Teen rating. Its lovely, colourful artwork doesn't stray too much from the Archie aesthetic. How simultaneously sweet and soft, and dark and dramatic, it is!

A few plot threads are a little uneven, rushed, muddled and confusing, but it's not a tragic case. A few characters could have used more panel time, especially Sabrina's new friend Jessa Chiang, who is fat, Asian, and LBGTQ, and who leans towards tokenism. At least the obligatory mean girl, Radka Ransom, a POC (her brother Ren is also one of Sabrina's love interests), is interesting and is given depth and intrigue.

I love too that the comic's cover pays homage to 'Kiki's Delivery Service'. It fits so well, even though Sabrina never actually rides on a broom once in this volume.

Regardless, she is like a Magical Girl in this reboot. Her changing her hair colour from white to blonde every morning is just the beginning (she learns to embrace and love herself for who she is at the end, no worries!). Also she wears a crescent moon necklace, and a dark hairband and lipstick. To add anything more about her accessories and arsenal would be spoilery.

Final Score: 4/5

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And if you want to fight a witch… Let me give you some advice… Don’t drag her into the woods… ‘cuz you just gave me home-field advantage, dummy."

Sabrina the Teenage Witch was my childhood. It makes me fondly remember the ‘90s. The weekend didn’t start until TGIF on ABC. We would rush to do our homework and then gather around the tv to watch Boy Meets World, Family Matters, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It was perfect and I miss those days. So I’m glad that Sabrina is still around to bring generations old and new some joy.

This graphic novel is an updated version to a classic that we all love. They make it current and a little dark. While it reminds you so much of the hit from the ‘90s, it also makes you think of the Chilling Adventures. I love that combination feeling because it brings generations together and doesn’t disappoint.

The artwork is absolutely gorgeous, everything sticks out and you have to gaze over it a few times to take in everything that is there. It’s beautiful. Pair that with the storyline and it was fantastic.

Fans old and new are going to love this current version of Sabrina. Everything about it was awesome and I can’t wait to read the second volume.

[A Fan of Comics · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels like classic Sabrina!

Tired of the dark and demonic Netflix Sabrina the teenage witch series? Well here’s a fun take on Sabrina that feels like the old 90s tv show with a mix of “real” magiks. Sabrina is living with her two aunts and talking cat Salem. As if starting a new school wasn’t hard enough, evil creatures start to emerge from the nearby woods. I really liked this series, for it being young adult it doesn’t feel kiddie. The art and colors are amazing and I really liked the character designs. My favorite part is the amount of magic there is in the book. They reference gemstones and herbs often, with creatures from actual old mythology and Sabrina even has a spell to change her hair so she can have both white and blond. It’s super fun! One complaint, the issues that came out were normal size but when the book came out it was so small!! The art and colors are so great, I think the book should be bigger!!!


Visual review here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVz5Z...

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and simple, this isn't the Sabrina of the Netflix series or the previous Chilling Adventures series. There's a little magic, a lot of teen shenanigans, and whole bunch of weird creatures roaming Greendale. What there is not is darkness. This Sabrina has been thoroughly Archie-fied.

Still, I liked it. It's an easy, quick read that assumes some knowledge of Sabrina's world even though it basically re-introduces every major character. The primary mystery (those creatures) is tied up quickly and neatly at the end, leaving me somewhat disappointed. Sabrina's witchiness cries out for an overarching narrative and that isn't evident in this first volume. But the characters are pure and the dialogue feels real. Maybe standalone Sabrina is okay?

Veronica Fish's artwork is cute, clean, and bright. Probably my favorite part of the book, particularly in the last issue when a powered up Sabrina clashes with the local monsters.

[L. McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

SUPER FAST REVIEW:
Yay, an Archie comic published comic I didn’t dislike! Okay now don’t get too excited, this doesn’t mean I was a fan either!
So I will say I absolutely LOVE the artwork! Seriously, this style is so fun and cartoony, it is absolutely wonderful!

Salem (referring to the cat) is great in this comic and I was pleasantly surprised by the story’s unpredictability.
Okay, it’s not all good. I honestly didn’t care about the non-cat characters. The dialogue, while fortunately not falling into a “fellow kids” category with the young characters, is still a bit iffy. I didn’t care for all the drama-y angst stuff.
The story in general is okay, some of it I liked but some of it I didn’t. I’m probably not the target demographic for this one in all fairness so some elements that probably aren’t meant to appeal to me didn’t so... that’s probably what happened there.
There’s a bonus first issue from a different series as Archie usually includes in their trades, this time it was for a Sabrina/Archie story. That first issue was terrible and made me decide to definitely not read the full series but fortunately that’s just one preview issue, not the main attraction here.
Overall, it’s not bad but I didn’t particularly like it much either. I’ll read the sequel because it is nice as a fun, light-hearted read which my followers know... yeah, I don’t read many smiley comics (that’s the term I’ll use because... eh, just thought of it and it’s the best description I can come up with right now) on a particularly frequent basis. Anyway, I liked it better than the other trades I’ve tried from this publisher so... yeah, it’s fun.
If you like the stuff Archie Publications puts out you’ll probably enjoy this a lot. If you don’t, eh maybe give it a try? I mean I usually don’t and still had fun with this so if this does get your attention it might be worth checking out.

3/5

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - This was cute and magical 🥰

🍂This was the perfect spooky fall vibe I was looking for. I wasn’t super invested and there wasn’t too much action until that bomb if an ending 🤩 but the illustrations and coloring were absolutely gorgeous! I might just pick up the next one.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

*chefs kiss* could not put it down! It was SO CUTE and the art was amazing and the colors?! Phenomenal. Loved it, it was exactly what I needed right now. I cannot wait to read the next installment (but I'm going to have to, my library hold won't come in for 8 weeks 😩)

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can Kelly Thompson write a bad comic book? Her track record says that that's a big fat no, because Sabrina's latest series is another home run for her.

Distancing herself from the Riverdale crew, this is pure Sabrina - not as dark as Chilling Adventures, not as twee as her early adventures, but a lovely middle ground that combines the magic and mystery of the former with the romance and teen drama of the latter. Thompson's characters are fully formed from the get-go, and her Sabrina is independent and loving, but flawed and a little over-confident. She's great, is what I'm getting at.

The plot, featuring Sabrina navigating Greendale High and her classmates mutating into magical creatures, straddles the line between Sabrina's two worlds nicely. There's some convenient unconsciousness in certain parts, but overall it works, and the way Thompson uses Sabrina's magic makes it less of an auto-win button and more of a complicated problem solver, so it's not a crutch so much as a last ditch effort.

Veronica and Andy Fish's artwork also manages to walk the line between cutesy and creepy, with some bright colours from Archie resident Jack Morelli. Fish has made the rounds at Marvel and Archie before, but this is easily her best work yet. She and Thompson craft a modern day Greendale that feels like a real town with personality, and very distinctly un-Riverdale-like.

Let Sabrina weave her spell around you and you'll find yourself entranced by the pretty art and the clever plotting that combine to make her latest ongoing series truly magical.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this! It sits somewhere in a happy middle ground between soapy teen fantasy, like the original TV show, and more serious action like Chilling Adventures, leaning more towards the former. Tonally, it's very similar to early Buffy, which I think is a good fit for a modern take on Sabrina. Introducing a second boy interested in Sabrina besides Harvey raises the soap factor just a bit. Normally, I am not thrilled with love triangles, but I like the way Sabrina is handling it (she likes both boys, but she's honest with them about that and won't stand around for them to outright fight over her).

[Anna Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it in about 40 minutes, I absolutely love the artwork in this! It kind of reminds of the Jem & the Holograms comic series from a few years ago in the best way. It updated Sabrina and her world in a realistic way, without purposefully making things dark just to be edgy. And Salem can talk in this one, which is important to me personally. I really enjoyed this and I hope they continue the series.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the Sabrina I know and love! The story was really good and the art and colouring were perfect. The lettering was sometimes a little hard to read but I think that's because I read a digital copy on a tablet. Super fun!

[Tomer · Rating 4 out of 5]

{4.5 rounded down} Now that the TV series is over, it is time to check more of the written lore to fill the void. This was a fun, cool writing with perfect inking for the source material. I do hope to see more of it continue..

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ I liked this graphic novel, made me laugh a few times and reminded me of the tv show from my childhood, Salem is as adorable and sassy as always! Beautiful art work. Overall it was enjoyable.

[Sarah B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not really familiar with Sabrina but I did greatly enjoy this fast moving story of magic, creatures and teen problems. And it's the perfect read for October too (which is a big reason why I read this). And her cat Salem is cute too! Who doesn't love a black cat?

So this starts off with Sabrina going to a new school and trying to fit in while keeping her secrets of being a young witch. The town is very unusual though and seems to have a strong magical history. Then weird things start happening! Weird as in bizarre beasts! Yes, this is definitely a monster story! Lots of monster action here! Fights, danger, running for your life, scary woods and if that isn't enough - people are not who they seem to be! Plus there are two cute boys in her life now too. Who should she date?

The art is just fantastic in here! And that is a big reason why I loved this so much! I loved seeing all of the cool mythological creatures but my absolute favorite was the feathered serpent! So cool! And at the back there were cool alternate covers too!

And Salem's new appearance was utterly cool! Yes, I don't give out spoilers..

Way at the back there is the first chapter of a new story about Sabrina and Archie. This was ok but I didn't really like it. I am used to the old Archie comics (as in the really old ones) and the characters just don't look right at all! It just turns me off from it. Because I just keep thinking they don't look right!

But the actual story in here was fantastic and full of fantastic beasts.