Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artist: Robert Hack
Reviewed by: Brett Israel

I can’t begin to tell you the excited I had last week when I saw that the second issue of Sabrina was coming out today. After reading issue 1 a few months ago, I was completely blown away, in all aspect of the comic, from presentation to text on the page. With issue 2 today, I was once again floored with it, finding myself actually angry that it was over on the final page.

I need to start here with the art, cause I am a few hours removed and cannot stop thinking about it. Hack has a painterly, hyper detailed and line work style that I can only compare to Sienkiewicz. While not as loose, it’s still totally uninhibited and gives the story such grounding in the horror lore style, it’s just 100% perfect. Also, while some painter like styles aren’t the best at storytelling, this is spot on. The pacing panel to panel, which is essential in a classic horror style like this, is very solid, leaving me on the edge of my seat for the whole issue. If the gap between issues was due to getting this art done, I will gladly wait, because this is infinitely worth it.

All that said, Aguirre-Sacasa is creating one of the most compelling worlds in comics right now here, adding the new character of Madam Satan in this issue, which might be my favorite villain in a long time. She is truly a bad, bad creature. She’s also incredibly well fleshed out, in design and story, making a very solid foil for the (presumably) hero of the series in Sabrina. As we see the characters lives come together, you can just feel that it is gonna go down in future issues.

I wanted to note that while this issue was certainly wordy it never felt bogged down. I already touched upon the pacing in the art, but Aguirre-Sacasa certainly nails the written pacing as well. I found myself filling in some of the history of this story, in the sense how horror can be at it’s best not showing as much, as it leaves it all to the imagination. Also, this isn’t just horror, there’s interesting family dynamics involved between Sabrina’s family as well as the history of Madam Satan. The characters you may remember from the TV show in the 90’s are completely different, and in my opinion, much more compelling.

I cannot praise this book enough. It makes sense that this is a companion book to Afterlife With Archie, and it certainly can be argued that, so far, this story is stronger. Robert Hack should be looked at as one of the best in the business, and I sure hope that this is only the beginning for him.

5 Skull Eyes out of 5