Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Volume 1

I grew up reading a lot of Archie Comics, and I have a soft spot for those characters. In the recent decade, Archie has been doing a lot of work to update these characters, bringing in some high caliber creators to do so. Although Sabrina the Teenage Witch has never been one of my favorite titles, I am very taken with the creative team here, especially writer Kelly Thompson and artists Veronica and Andy Fish. I have to say that this series delivered some top notch entertainment.

This series, originally published as 5 issues, has everything I want from a Sabrina comic: high school drama, mysterious monsters, moments of genuine suspense, magic, modern-day witches, and a snarky, talking cat.

It even kicks some of these features up a notch, but I won't spoil things here by saying how. Suffice it to say that Sabrina is the new girl at Greendale High School, which attracts some wanted attention from a couple of love-lorn boys, Harvey and Ren, as well as unwanted attention from mean-girl Radka. As Sabrina settles in, makes some friends, and gets acquainted with high school life, she also finds herself the target of attacks from magical beasts that roam not only the woods but the high school. Unraveling this mystery detracts from her academics, but when her aunts get involved Sabrina finds she has to bail them out as well.

As I wrote earlier, I love this creative team, and they bring so much to this book. Thompson writes lots of clever dialogue but also spins a compelling mystery/horror plot with style. The Fish art team creates ambiances that suit the humor/drama of high school while also portraying some frightening beasts and appropriately spooky magical events. The coloring also plays a big part in creating appropriate tones that make the artwork dazzling. This book was thoroughly entertaining, and I recommend it for fans of YA horror or supernatural fantasy.

Thompson has written a bunch of comics series for various publishers over the past few years, and some of my favorites include Hawkeye, West Coast Avengers, Captain Marvel, and Nancy Drew. Veronia and Andy Fish have collaborated on a number of comics projects, including a few other Archie series and the horror series Blackwood. Thompson talks about her work on this Sabrina series in this interview.

Reviews I have read about this book have been generally positive. Nick Smith called it "an excellent restart to this classic series." J. Caleb Mozzocco wrote, "Thompson and artists Veronica Fish and Andy Fish are telling what is basically an adventure comic, with character-driven humor, drama, and yes, plenty of cool-looking monsters, but never so much of any of those elements that they threaten to overwhelm the comic and push it into another genre." Oliver Sava opined, "There’s a lot of potential in this new take, but also room for improvement."

Sabrina the Teenage Witch was published by Archie Comics, and they offer a preview and more here. A sequel series titled Something Wicked has recently been published.

Blackwood

Blackwood is a fun book, if you are into tales of horrific, otherwordly creatures trying to break into our world to devour and subjugate all of humanity. It is about four misfit teenagers who have been recruited to attend Blackwood College. Nothing seems to unite them except series of strange life experiences and some ability to either perceive or interact with supernatural entities. Campus life is eerie and weird, and soon everything escalates into an apocalypse-level event. The four motley teens need to find ways to unite their abilities in order to figure out what is happening and also save the world.

 

This book had a pretty interesting mystery that unfolded in intriguing and gruesome ways. The characters are more types who do not have much space for development, but they are sympathetic in the same way teens trying to survive 1970s/1980s horror movies were. The book had some cool features along the way, including professors trying to decipher arcane texts, a two-headed chimp mummy, giant mutated insects, and people infested with inter-dimensional tentacle beings. It was a fun read, and I think it ended in a satisfying way that also leaves things open for a sequel that will be published next year. I know I'm looking forward to seeing more stories set in this world, which is well detailed and has a lot of possibility for more grotesque supernatural hi-jinks.

Originally published as a 4-issue limited series, Blackwood was a collaboration between writer Evan Dorkin and artists Veronica and Andy Fish. Dorkin is a multiple Eisner Award winner most known for writing Beasts of Burden, but I am also partial to his work as writer/artist of the series Dork and Milk and Cheese. Veronica Fish is a painter who has done a lot of different work for Marvel Comics (Silk and Spider-Woman) and Archie Comics (Sabrina the Teen-Aged Witch and Archie). Andy is Veronica's husband who did the coloring artwork here and has worked on a variety of other comics, including ones about Batman and urban legends. All three creators speak about their work on this series here.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Forrest Hollingsworth called it "one of my favorite horror comics of the year." Dustin Cabeal wrote, "To have a book that’s entertaining, horrific and enticing makes Blackwood a comic no one should miss." Joe Grunenwald opined, "Dorkin, Fish, and Fish are at the top of their game here."

Blackwood was published by Dark Horse, and they offer a preview and more about it here.