I finally get a chance to write about the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1. The preview included in the Afterlife with Archie #666 SDCC variant had me hooked. This new series certainly has the darker mood like Afterlife with Archie, but it is a whole different universe, even winding the clock back to the 1960s. Give yourself a good 10-20 minutes for the main story, but the extra content is well worth checking out as well.
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| Die-cut window cover. |
A cool feature with the regular #1 cover is the die-cut window opening. Sabrina can be seen through the window, which ultimately turns out to be a nice collage of characters after you flip the front cover. The second printing for this issue will omit the die-cut window cover, but gives the collage front cover honors.
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| Salem meets Sabrina. |
Introduced in the first issue are the common characters associated with Sabrina throughout the years. A brief origin of Sabrina's parents and their fate was a nice introduction to the series. Hilda and Zelda fill in their auntie shoes with ease. Salem and Ambrose also make their appearance. There are small nods to pop culture reminding readers what decade they are in -- Goldfinger and Roy Orbison. Hopefully future issues include more references because I actually enjoy them.
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| Sabrina. |
A neat tie-in is including some familiar faces from Riverdale. Betty and Veronica are witches. They somehow set free Madam Satan as the issue comes to an end. A series of panels eventually lead up to a beautiful splash page of Madam Satan in need of a new face.
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| Betty and Veronica. |
Included in the issue is Sabrina's Mad Mailbag and Tales from the Grimoire. These are basically two pages for Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to respond to fans and express his excited about this new series. Also included in the issue is a reprint of Sabrina's first appearance from Archie's Madhouse #22. Now that is a pretty awesome bonus. I haven't read Sabrina's first comic in a while, so it was refreshing to read, especially with a modern printing making the colors pop. There is a Robert Hack sketch gallery and promotional images for Sabrina #2 and Afterlife with Archie books on the last few pages.
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| Sabrina's first comic book appearance. |
I'm excited for the next issue, which will be released November 5.
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| Sabrina #2 regular cover. |
