Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Artist: Robert Hack

Something’s not working for me in Archie’s second horror title, the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.  Admittedly I’m walking in late with the fourth issue, but I found no problems jumping into the story.  I think what’s bothering me is that the story doesn’t push the right buttons, but only the expected ones.  It’s grim without being terribly scary, possibly because I’m not seeing anything new in here.

The plot, even at the fourth issue, is accessible enough: Sabrina’s high school sweetheart Harvey has stumbled across an actual witches’ coven and is hunted down to be sacrificed before he can expose what’s going on.  (I won’t spoil how this ends, except to say “not well.”)  Meanwhile, Sabrina’s devil-worshiping mistresses work at furthering her corruption, bringing the plucky teen into their coven by forcing her into a web of lies and deceit as they cover up their illicit activities.  And then they offer Sabrina something better…or is it worse?

It’s not a bad plot.  There’s certainly story elements worth reflecting on here: the fact that horror works well when it makes familiar things unsettling (nuns; high school; classic comic book characters who, up until last year, were done entirely in a comedic and cartoony style).  We even get an appearance by a familiar group of teens from the neighboring town of Riverdale, and while no physical harm befalls them, I get the impression that Aguirre-Sacasa includes them to make us even more uncomfortable as the story’s darkness spreads to a group that should remain untouchably innocent.

Similarly, evil works well (as a story trope) when it manipulates the hero into villainy, first by taking something away and then by offering a lesser prize back.  However, I think it’s the latter element that hurts the story.  The witches’ manipulation of Sabrina by getting to her through Harvey and then offering her a consolation prize for what she’s done–really for the purpose of furthering their hold on her–has been done before.  A classic example is Palpatine’s manipulation of Anakin Skywalker through the Star Wars prequels.  We can read between the lines that the Emperor-to-be is manipulating the hero’s downfall behind the scenes, but with an empty promise of saving his wife to make him think it’s for the greater good.

Robert Hack’s art isn’t bad either, as his realistic-yet-sketchy designs seem fitting for the wholesome-gone-wrong world that this Sabrina occupies.  There’s a sort of 1950s vibe to his art which makes this modern book seem fittingly very old.  However, the coloring job occasionally works against his art here.  (The colors are uncredited, which makes me wonder if Hack himself is behind the colors as well as the pencils and inks.)  Although the lighter pastel style complements the throwback-styled penciling well, there’s a running emphasis on Sabrina literally having blood on her face.  On some panels, it looks as though the red ink was hastily applied, as it bleeds (no pun) into areas where it shouldn’t.  It doesn’t look nearly as natural as it should.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1 is due for a reprint for this year’s Halloween ComicFest.  If readers want to wait until then to get a free reprint of the first issue, that might make for a better venture into the series to see if it’s worth it.  This issue is acceptable, but seasoned horror fans shouldn’t expect to be chilled in any way they haven’t been before.

Rating: Three cauldrons out of five.