Sabrina: Something Wicked #2
Archie Comics
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artists: Veronica Fish and Andy Fish
We all know the deal with Sabrina the teenage witch at this point. Teenage girl, boy problems, and she’s also a witch. Spellcasting, broom flying, talking cats, and all that jazz. This new five-issue series picks up from 2019’s. Sabrina is trying to help Radka Ransom, a popular “mean girl” type, who knows she’s a witch, but also half of a wendigo. The other half of the wendigo is Radka’s brother, Ren, who happens to be one of the boys that really like Sabrina. The ending of the first issue drops a bomb on us, revealing Sabrina’s Aunts are the reason the Ransom siblings are a wendigo.
Picking up from that, Sabrina just doesn’t know what to do. She can’t talk to her aunts about it, since they’re the cause. And none of her friends know she’s a witch. The secrecy of it all takes its toll, with Sabrina unintentionally pushing everyone away from her trying to keep it all under control. There’s also a game of “savoir faire” Sabrina plays in this issue, and it’s the witch version of Yu-Gi-Oh. I like this issue a lot, for more than just the Yu-Gi-Oh game. But I mean, come on! They’re literally playing cards, and with magic, having apparitions of the cards fight each other in front of them. There are no explicit attack, defense, or trap cards, but the scene is only two pages long. It’s Yu-Gi-Oh for witches 100%, and if it doesn’t pop up again in the next three issues I will be very displeased.
Besides that, it’s still a good issue. Veronica and Andy Fish are very good artists, and their style is fantastic for this story. There’s a distinction between regular world life, and the things involving magic. The real world is plain in its colors, while the magic side takes a bolder approach, kind of. More highlights of colors, more shadows, and the setting take on the “stone building illuminated by a fireplace” look. The characters and expressions look good. Not to mention, again, the witchcraft version of Yu-gi-oh.
The story is moving along at a good pace. Not too fast, not too slow. By the end of the issue, we’re not too far from where it starts. Sabrina can’t tell anyone about the secrets she’s keeping. She hasn’t done anything about her friend’s wendigo problem. More importantly, she hasn’t made a choice between Harvey Kinkle and Ren Ransom. Something Wicked #1 starts with a woman dying by some mysterious hand, and there’s some follow up with that at the start of this one. There’s been 5 deaths and no answers, as a news report spells it out. But not much more to what I’m assuming will be the driving force of the plot by Something Wicked #5.
But it’s like I said, this is a good issue that I enjoy. There’s some good art, a bit of character development. We get introduced to the whole “there’s a price to magic” concept, although it comes at the very end of the issue. If you’ve been enjoying this series, including the previous one from last year, you should read this one. If not, or you haven’t been, I’ll leave you with these words: witch Yu-Gi-Oh.
Sabrina: Something Wicked #3
Sabrina: Something Wicked #2 continues the story of Sabrina Spellman dealing with all the problems of being a teenage girl, and also a teenage witch. The story is a little slow for a five-issue series, but it's got good developments. The art is great and works well for the world the story is set in. It's got witches playing what is essentially yu-gi-oh.
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