Comic Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2019-) #5

Sabrina the Teenage Witch #5

Archie Comics

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artists: Veronica and Andy Fish

This issue of Sabrina the Teenage Witch features a lot more monsters and magic fighting the monsters. I mean, it’s in the title (Teenage Witch) but it’s more than I was expecting. It’s not a bad thing either, just a pleasant surprise.

Sabrina’s Aunts have gone missing, and not one to wait around and do nothing, Sabrina goes searching for them. She gathers up a bunch of magic artifacts and magics herself armor. Salem the cat transforms into a giant cat, but with wings. Together they search for her aunts in the woods. They find them, but when they do, they find themselves facing a group of monsters looking for blood.

About half of this book is Sabrina “fighting” the monsters to save her aunts and their counsel of witches. Fighting in quotes, because she’s not trying to harm them, since they’re just kids her age being manipulated. Even so, I did really enjoy that part of the story. We’ve seen Sabrina use some casual spells in the other issues, but this was cooler. She’s using a bunch of magic items and Salem has wings. How could you not like it? The story wraps up neatly by the time we finish the issue. There’s a resolution to the monsters that have been plaguing Greendale that fits. I went back and read the other issues after this one, and it’s not too obvious to see, but the hints are definitely there. Besides that though, there are some teases for another Sabrina mini-series, and a “returning in 2020” at the end of this issue.

The art in this is good. It’s kind of at the halfway point between the cleaner, cartoon-style we see in the main Archie series, and the more horror-oriented style in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I find it very fitting, because that’s where I’d place this comic. It’s not entirely a horror story, but it’s not clean-cut “we’re regular teens” in high school either. Veronica and Andy Fish do a really good job balancing those two tones. And again, Salem as a giant cat with wings rocks.

This miniseries is a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing it return. Kelly Thompson writes a good story, and some of the better dialogue I’ve seen in comics. The art matches the tone of the story really well. If I have one complaint, it’s that there’s never a point where I feel like any character is in danger. I think we should feel a little like that since there is some monster fighting, but it’s not there. Even with that, I did enjoy this comic. Anyone who’s been reading and enjoying the series will like this issue.

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