Series: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artwork: Robert Hack
Page Count: 35
Price: $3.99
Summary from Comixology: “There are some things in this world that mortal eyes should never witness — that’s a lesson poor HARVEY KINKLE will learn the hard way, when he makes the unfortunate mistake of intruding on the darkest of ceremonies — an offense that the witches’ coven takes very seriously… Though HARVEY’s life hangs in the balance, it is the SPELLMAN family that will come face-to-face with TRUE EVIL. Indeed, the choices made by teen-witch-in-training SABRINA on this dread night will determine the fate of every living soul in Greendale…”
Whenever this book is in my box, I become extremely excited, and I never thought I would ever say that about a Sabrina book. But this is, hands down, one of the best books coming out. My pull consists of Marvel, DC, Image, and Archie. Out of all four publications, this book is easily my second favorite being published (Batman has the first spot). What’s great about this series is, the first issue came out last October, and each issue has been just as good (if not better than) the previous issues. We are only four issue into the series, and it’s been longer than four months, so the release schedule is a little wack. (But, luckily, it’s not as bad as Hawkeye was, and hopefully it never will be.) The writer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is the Chief Creative Officer at Archie Comics, so that explains why the book comes out so sporadically. I can imagine being the CCO for Archie Comics doesn’t leave a lot of time to write. But, when he does find the time, he knocks it out of the park and every issue feels like a grand slam.
The feel of the book is very much classic horror, with a bit of disturbing content thrown in for fun. I am not a fan of horror but I’ve been on a witches kick lately (Salem, Wytches, and Sabrina), so who knows, maybe witches will become the new vampires. (I for one welcome our new witch overlords.) I mention “classic horror” because Robert Hack does an AMAZING job capturing the feel of the 1960’s and giving it a solid horror twist. The book opens with Sabrina’s love Harvey Kinkle running in the woods, as he is chased by the Coven. There were a few really eerie moments in this book that left me a little uncomfortable. Besides the momentary discomfort cause by general creepiness, we also get a glimpse into what could have been, which makes the story even more painful. It’s not all bad however. We get a guess appearance from Riverdale High School, which includes Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead. Although, Betty and Veronica are the only ones who the issue focuses in on. We also get a nice throwback to issue #1, that answers a couple questions.
If you haven’t been reading Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, you’re really missing out. If you are a fan of horror, this is a book you MUST read. It will not let you down, and it will leave you on the edge of your seat. Sabrina faces some of the most challenging moments during her ceremony with the Dark Lord, she witnesses scenes that will haunt her to the core, and she will have to lie for the rest of her life to protect the ones she loves. The outcome of said events will determine the fate of every living soul in Greendale, so this is not a comic you want to sit on. Hurry and run to your local comic shop and get all four issues of Sabrina before it’s too late!
Music Paring:
For this issue, I can’t think of anyone better than Alkaline Trio to completely capture the feel and tone of this book. Pop-Punk with a dash of emo, and horror themes makes them perfect for the soundtrack to this book. Jam the song You’re Dead while you read.