Archie Comics 2014
Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Illustrated by Robert Hack
Lettered by Jack Morelli
On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Sabrina prepared to be baptized as a full member of the Church of Night. But Madam Satan manipulated Harvey into following Sabrina into the woods, where he witnessed her initiation--a profane rite no mortal should lay eyes upon… Harvey’s intrusion on the darkest of witch ceremonies led to his untimely demise, killed by the coven. Sabrina must hide the truth of his disappearance from everyone in Greendale while also grieving the loss of her first love. She’ll do anything she can to get Harvey back—but first, Sabrina must face the WITCHES’ COUNCIL to be tried for her sins of cavorting with a mortal…
I know this started out as a bi-monthly but it really has been a very long time since the last issue came out. Yes I understand that a lot was going on at Archie with the kickstarter than the ending of their long running series only to be restarted again anew but this was one of those that was exciting, fresh and new before all that happened. Hopefully this time around they can regain the momentum the series started and find a way to stay on schedule.
The best thing I realized when I was reading this was that I immediately remembered what had been going on up till now. The interest was still there and thanks to Robert’s interiors we were taken back to a time when things were very much different than they are today. Also the opening with Betty and Veronica was a nice surprise, personally gotta love the throwback cheerleader outfits.
What Madam Satan has done and is doing is kind of remarkable to me. After all she’s a pretty powerful entity and that she can hide herself in plain site from so many is kind of terrifying to me and I can’t wait to see just how this continues to play out as her plans come to fruition. How can a sixteen year old girl defeat someone like her? Well that remains to be seen.
Sabrina’s trial is something of a farce however it’s also a wonderful chance to see how her father came before the same tribunal and got permission to marry her mother. Also that Roberto is able to weave into this such a high drama and mysterious backstory into all this at the same time has me excited for what’s to come as well. I mean if foreshadowing is any indication than yeah this is going straight to Hell before the ship rights itself.
Robert’s artistic stylings really do add so very much to the experience here. His eye for storytelling and the flow of the book are remarkable to behold. He manages just the right balance of hope and horror in his work that few have ever been able to attain.
I love this series even if it’s constantly late, hopefully that changes, the overall effect of the writing and the artwork here bring us to this place that has that fifties/sixties feel to it in a classic horror pulp fashion. Seriously the events of this issue are spooky and have such a feel to them that harkens back to when things could actually scare you. There really isn’t anything not to love about this issue and hopefully it’s the starting point of a series that will regularly hit stands.