One of the most powerful tools available on social media is the ability for fans to voice their opinion in attempts to save their favorite TV shows. Such is the case with the CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, where outcries from fans seemed to have saved the show from cancellation.
I wonder how many of these fans, mostly younger, realize that the character of Sabrina was originally in a comic book back in the early 1960's?
Her early stories have similarities to a successful 1958 film starring Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart, BELL BOOK AND CANDLE, such as the addition of her pet cat "familiar", Salem. Novak's character also had a cat named Pyewacket.
Here is the inside "secret" scoop on Sabrina, The Teenage Witch from the Archie Comics website:
Likes: Casting spells, her cat Salem, flying on her broomstick
Dislikes: Trolls, evil spirits, when her spells backfire!
1st Appearance: Archie’s Madhouse #22, 1962
Hanging out with Sabrina, the spunky, flirtatious, sometimes scatterbrained teenage witch, is a cauldron of fun. Though it seems like magic would solve every problem a teen could have, Sabrina has to live a double life–keeping up with her responsibilities in the mortal world as well as the Magic Realm. Her long-term boyfriend, Harvey, is totally oblivious to her powers, and Sabrina would rather keep it that way than risk freaking him out and losing him! She is persistent and honest, but often looks before she leaps and later regrets her decisions. Luckily, her Aunties, Hilda and Zelda, and her sorcerer-turned-cat Salem are there to guide her through whatever may come her way.
And here is her first appearance in ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE #22. . .
ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE
Vol. 1 No. 22
October 1962
Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
Editor: Richard Goldwater
Cover: Bob White?
Pages: 36
Cover price: 12 cents
"Presenting Sabrina The Teenage Witch"
Script: George Gladir
Pencils: Dan DeCarlo
Inks: Rudy Lapick
Letters: Vincent DeCarlo
BONUS: During this period, ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE was known to have included monsters as a part of their humorous content. Below are two examples from issue #22.
This was so much fun!! I LOVE Archie comics, and even though Sabrina was never my favourite, I adore anything illustrated by Dan DeCarlo. It was so interesting to see how Sabrina started out being more of a typical witch, happy to perform some bad witchy deeds (so out of character for her)... but that at the end of this very first story, the writers already set her up to make a "good girl" turn -- which she obviously did to become to the Good Witch most of us know her to be! Reading this somehow made her more endearing to me. Terrific post!
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