With Oni Press taking license from Archie Cmics, we are gifted to a new reboot.
It’s going to be hard to follow up on Kelly Thompson’s delightful blend of mystic and hijinks but Corinna Bechko gives her best shot. Bechko starts the series post-Sabrina’s discovery of her witchy heritage, leaving a unspecified portal incident that left Sabrina off-balanced about her new status. I assume it will be revealed in later issues, leaving it to be an intriguing mystery for readers to ponder. Same with the classic questions of Sabrina’s parents.
Salem is the real star of the comic as the narrator, sarcastic and droll as ever. Sabrina is relatable in her jumpiness, eagerness to learn and blend in with her normal friends. Like a teenager. Aunt Hilda and Zelda have little to distinguish them from each other or previous incarnations. Hopefully that will be rectified as the series goes on. Sabrina’s friends are pretty one-note. In fact, only Harvey is given a name, the others have none. On the other hand, Bechko’s choice to jump readers right into the story means that there’s little exposition so they have to figure out who’s who on their own.
As for the magic involved in the story, it wa fine. Sabrina saves the day while hiding the fact that magic is real. Predictable stuff. What saves it is Kano’s art in depicting Sabrina’s powers outside of generic energy blasts and making very disgusting rat demons. Ugh, I could feel the bristly fur.
Salem and Sabrina are set up to have a very interesting teacher-student dynamic that is usually given to Zelda/Hilda which should be fun. I wonder if his backstory will be enfolded into it.
There’s also some cute bits of a witch magazine showcasing how to care for a familiar, and a familiar magazine talking about how to treat their humans.
Initial impressions-Cute with hints of cosmic horror that plays safe with Sabrina’s prominant theme of juggling humanness with witchiness. New readers will get into it, but older readers may want to wait till later issues to see how Bechko will expand the mythos and make it her own.
3 stars
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