Archie Comics
(w) Kelly Thompson (a) Veronica Fish, Andy Fish
Nothing good lasts forever, if so you start to milk the franchise to a point it becomes stale and boring. Luckily that doesn’t seem to be happening with Sabrina The Teenage Witch just yet. As of today the magically amazing five-issue series comes to an end, but luckily this great series ends on a potential sequel setup. But there is no need to speculate, as Archie Comics recently announced the next chapter! Rejoice! But first, the ending, Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5.
Picking up with the recently transformed Sabrina and Salem, Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5 has its titular character on the hunt for her Aunts, who haven’t made it back from the woods. With mystic artifacts in tow, Sabrina flies on Salem’s back to find her missing family, but as rescues go in comics, it doesn’t all work out. Nay, instead she is ambushed my classmates that have been turned into mythical creatures. Fighting these creatures off -while not trying to kill them- she finally finds the culprit behind it all, Professor Sampson from school.
In this villain writer Kelly Thompson makes him the opposite of Sabrina, with the belief he is owed a place in the Council due to past family members. Whereas Sabrina never comes off this way in the series, instead she works for what she wants, busting ass to prove what she can do. Even if she flubs up every once in awhile. With Professor Sampson, Thompson creates a foil for our hero that she easily expels, showcasing how much she has improved since first met.
Although it’s an issue that deals heaver in action, and drama, Thompson keeps the wit and charm sprinkled throughout that has worked wonders in the past issues. Sadly these heavier dialogue moments is were Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5 starts to crumble. Not much, but with its heavy use of bubbles there are a few instances where they clutter panels taking away from the art, which per usual is magical.
Veronica and Andy Fish’s art has been a magical treat for readers eyes throughout the last few issues, this statement remains in this final issue. If anything they stepped their artistic spell up a tier. The duo keep their art as minutely detailed as they have throughout the series, while adding another layer upon it, with images that seem mythical, yet real. A great example: the moment Sabrina is face-to-face with her classmates turned creatures. In this Sabrina is prepping her sword with her back turned to the reader, poised to attack her (creature) classmates.
Using a full page to illustrate this, Sabrina is drawn small in comparison to the creatures, who in turn are drawn larger to life. Each of the classmate are variations on mythical creatures, but the duo puts their own spin on the designs. Another moment that is great on this page is the color, which in the previous issues have been some of the best, brightest, most beautiful colors seen in comics as of recent. This statement also remains true in Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5.
The Fish’s don’t use bright colors constantly, instead they throw in some darker hues of purple, grey, and black for the forest especially. This contrast of colors help amplify the hit that Sabrina’s magic makes (pictured above), our sets the mood in the aforementioned creature stare down. Although the colors shine through out, the one scene that looks the greatest when it comes to the colors is the fire panel (pictured below).
This moment of beautifully colored fire may be one of the best in comics, with the heat nearly jumping off the page. Every hue in the giant fire hits hard, looking gorgeous in the process, while they add the purple and yellow shadows to help contrast the bright. With the art looking as gorgeous as it does it’s worth mentioning the letterer, well beside the cluttered part which we already went through. Since her transformation Sabrina talks in a more stoic, sure of herself font style courtesy of Jack Morelli. That change of style doesn’t stop with her, as Salem has the same change in is dialogue style.
The dialogue may be heavy in some panels, with the bubbles cluttering what is happening, but beside that small blemish, Sabrina The Teenage Witch #5 ends the series on a high note. The five issue series is worth checking out for older and new fans alike, plus with the announcement of the TPB’s date (11/20) and the follow-up series coming next year, why not check it out?
Memorable Quote: “Yes, great work, you destroyed the staff of Hecate so that this dumb human-kraken-boy would live. Those staffs don’t just grow on trees, Sabrina.” – Salem
But aren’t staffs made of wood? And trees are wood? Maybe it’s from a magical tree!