Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #8

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 5. SEPT. 2016

Set in the 1960s, this Archie spin-off draws heavily on the tropes of pulpy teen horror comics. Warlock Edward Spellman marries a mortal wife instead of a witch, gaining a powerful enemy. His daughter, Sabrina, is taken from him and raised by two aunts who happen to be witches. Years later, teen Sabrina is faced with all of the usual preoccupations: a football-star boyfriend, auditions for the school musical, swirling hormones, and a bloody Satanic ritual that will mark her coming-of-age at 16. Unlike most young witches, Sabrina has a choice: to live as a normal human or to dedicate her soul to the devil and gain access to unlimited power. Both choices come with a terrible price. Hack's brushy line work captures Sabrina's youthful na vet and decay and murder in dark forests. Aguirre-Sacasa's (Afterlife with Archie) well-realized characters and humor bring depth to what could have been a rather dreary tale of revenge and gore.