Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Something Wicked #1 Review

Story by: Kelly Thompson

Art by: Veronica Fish and Andy Fish

Lettering by: Jack Morelli

Published by: Archie Comics

In the new Archie Universe (Archie Forever labelling), Sabrina has been a great addition in the main titles and her series has been a  breath of fresh air. Kelly Thompson with Veronica and Andy Fish are back for a second mini series starring our favorite teenage witch. The start of this new mini is a direct continuation of the 2019 series where we saw Sabrina begin to learn more about her powers, make new friends/frenemies at Greendale High, and we finally meet a classic Sabrina character: Della the Head Witch. 

Something Wicked’s first issue starts off really strong with Thompson and the Fishes planting the seeds for what to expect throughout. They start off with a great two-page teaser of an unknown assailant that will probably become the antagonist of the mini, continue with a callback to the 2019 series with Sabrina trying to help her frenemy Radka’s curse(?), give us a glimpse of Della the Head Witch’s school for witches, and finally some intrigue with Sabrina’s aunts Hilda and Zelda. 

What I’ve really enjoyed about Thompson's take on Sabrina has been the character work. Sabrina as a character has been explored in many different mediums at this point, with different levels of craziness (Chilling Adventures being the more out there version), so seeing one where we see her as a teenager, dealing with everyday teenager problems times 100 due to the witchiness of her life. This, coupled with a great supporting cast that is both known, Hilda and Zelda, and new like Radka, Ren and Jessa, make for a great “teen” drama. Thompson has a really great grasp on Sabrina and her supporting cast’s voice and the interactions between them all is always fun and energetic. 

Speaking of energetic, Fish has created one of my favorite versions of Sabrina in comics, probably since her initial design. In addition to the great revamp of an iconic character, Veronica and Andy Fish offer some great dynamic character work within each panel. The best part to me, is the amazing facial expressions that the Fishes use to portray emotion with all their characters. You can feel Sabrina’s frustration, joy, surprise, and sleepiness on each panel that she appears - and not just her, all characters. 

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Something Wicked #1 is a great debut issue from a team that are firing on all cylinders with a character they clearly love. It’s also a fun distraction to all the craziness in the world today.