I’d read the first issue of this series in the Sabrina Super Special.” I was really impressed with it. There was an ad in the magazine advertising
for this trade, so I kept an eye on the racks for when it was supposed to come
out. I picked up the only copy I saw at
Barnes & Noble. A week later, I
noticed there were two more on shelf, so maybe it’s selling well.
I’ll start off by saying that I like and recommend this
trade to anyone who is inclined to like Archie Comics, Sabrina, or magical
girls in general. This may be the most
visually appealing version of Sabrina in her history. (Apologies to Melissa Joan Hart and Kiernan
Shipka. Further apologies to Kiernan,
whom I misidentified in the Special review as looking like she was in her late
20’s. She actually just barely turned
20.) Artist Veronica Fish has definitely
enhanced a classic look. The colors by
Andy Fish (I’m presuming that was his main job) are incredibly warm and
enticing. The basic premise for the
teenage witch needed no updating and pleasantly wasn’t. The story by Kelly Thompson is also a fun,
romantic, and adventurous read.
Having said all of that upfront; most of the rest of this
going to be a bunch of bitching. There
is an undercurrent in this and most other current comics. This is especially present in the comics
written by feminists, which seem to be the only kind of female comic book
writers there are. (Don’t get me started
on the male “feminists.”) This attitude
didn’t ruin the comic, but it was hard to totally ignore. I tried watch the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Netflix show. I couldn’t even get through the first episode
before the Agenda forced me to turn it off.
Funny, I was sure the demonic horror element would cause me to stop
watching, but the real world horror show got me first. (And I’d heard the show wasn’t as bad as the
comic book it was based on, which I’d read a little of and was repulsed by.)
Kelly Thompson’s forward set the SJW tone, saying that
Sabrina was better than Betty and Veronica since she had “real power” and her
life didn’t revolve around a guy. I’m
questioning how much Betty and Veronica Thompson has actually read. Those girls have their own lives and date
other guys, and it’s not like women don’t fight over hot guys in real life. This is especially ironic as Sabrina is
stringing along a couple of guys in this story.
She’s beautiful and charming and has magical powers, but is somehow
disadvantaged in life. Of course,
Sabrina has an ethnic pudgy budding lesbian BFF, like the author inserting something
like a teenaged version herself into the story.
In consistent fashion though, Thompson’s life doesn’t revolve around
some man either. From her Instagram, it
appears to revolve around her cats. (I
like cats too. I don’t blame her.)
You can see the devolution of the audience for
comics. Originally, the opinion was,
“Comics are for kids.” Later, it became,
“Comics aren’t just for kids.” Then it
was, “Comics aren’t for kids anymore.”
This was never said out loud, but it was kind of obvious from the titles
being produced. This volume seems to
say, “Comics aren’t for boys anymore.”
(This will be followed by, “Gee, whatever happened to comic books? Does anybody still make them?) Marvel Comics seem to specialize in this
maxim. Archie Comics have always mostly
been aimed at girls, but had an appeal for boys. I doubt Archie can really afford to section
off what’s left of their audience.
I do believe the staff of the comic genuinely loves the
character. In that respect, this reminds
me of Tania del Rio’s manga Sabrina. I
reviewed that on an Archie fan forum once and called it a, “Labor of
love.” That fits here too. For whatever Agenda items were mandated or
inserted into the material, they wanted to make a comic that appealed to
everyone to share their enthusiasm for Sabrina.
They couldn’t make the comic more Agenda-driven and have it be anything
but ugly.
Regardless of my questioning of the motives of the writer,
the story and setting are basically really good. It’s certainly light-hearted compared to the Chilling Adventures, but there’s
supernatural action here too. In the
best tradition of the character, you get teenaged angst and the magical trials
of a witch. Sabrina herself is sweet,
but tough and capable. She’s fickle in
love, but without being cruel.
Sabrina’s relationship with Salem is a bit contentious,
but not to the point of acrimony. Salem
is a cursed wizard and a cat, but can’t help being fond of his charge. He isn’t always helpful, but is Sabrina’s friend. The aunts are loving and somewhat nervous
caretakers of their ward, but are much more enigmatic in their own
affairs. (What do Sabrina’s aunts do for
a living in any version of their characters?)
Is it just me, or does Zelda looks like Magik from the New Mutants? (Illyana is one of my favorite comic
characters. I’m okay if this is a
ripoff.)
Harvey is a love interest, along with a cooler kid, who
has a sister who becomes Sabrina’s social nemesis. For whatever reason, Harvey’s had to face a
revolving door of suitors for Sabrina’s affections in the last several versions
of the comic. Much of the high school
setting for the comic is a bunch of really tired tropes. I swear I’ve seen most of this setup
(including the gay best friend) exactly repeated in a couple of other unrelated
stories recently. You wonder if the
writer actually went to public high school, or only remembers what she read in
books and watched in movies and on TV.
The villain for the story felt like something out of Scooby Doo. There was some ambiguity about the morals of
Sabrina’s fellow students who were working with the villain. The villain thinks he’s entitled to power,
but gets a lecture from Sabrina that he has to earn it. Funny hearing that attitude from a current
day comic book professional, most of whom seem to have gotten their jobs
because of what they are, not what they’ve done. In any case by the end, the matriarchy in
Greendale is firmly established as a girls-only club.
The physical production of the trade is smaller than a
full-sized comic. The cover is thick,
but pliable and meant for repeated readings.
The pages are sturdy and slick.
The bright colors pop off them.
There are five issues reprinted in the volume. There are a couple of pages of character
sketches and then a gallery of alternate covers. This would seem kind of thin, but lastly,
there’s a first issue of Archie and
Sabrina romance series.
There was a decided lack of Sabrina in that sample issue. Moreover, I thought Jughead and Sabrina were
an item. Maybe they were just
friends. What’s the deal with hooking up
Archie with yet another established female character anyway? At this point, it’s probably quicker to name
the name the Archie Universe girls he hasn’t been with. Josie? Only because they might be related. Black Josie on Riverdale is not canonical in any way as far as I’m concerned. Melody? Okay, I have no idea why he’s not hitting on
her. I’d dump Betty and Veronica for
Melody. I’m sure there’s a couple more. (Sh*t, on Riverdale
he banged Miss Grundy.) The story had an
interesting setup, but not interesting enough to get me to want to buy it,
especially since this was totally decompressed in format and little to nothing
happened. For the current price of a
floppy, something better darn well happen.
For all the salt in my review, I totally recommend
this. It looks good, has a good premise,
and has a good story. If there’s another
volume, I’ll probably be looking for it.
I’m sorry this rambled and went off on so many tangents. I’m obviously very frustrated with comics in
general. This reminds me of CW’s current
Crisis on Infinite Earths series with
their DC heroes. It’s so much fun, but
their usual shows are so Agenda-driven, they’re almost unwatchable. In other words, they’re capable of doing a
good show, but choose not to. Every
instance of Agenda in this comic only pointlessly detracted from it and added
nothing to it. It’s sheer bitter
indoctrination to anyone susceptible to it.
Do better.
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