Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

"Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" is the name of a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a teenage fictional character named Sabrina Spellman. The comic's characters have also appeared in various other media formats. One format was a long-running television comedy series. Prior to that, there was an animated series produced by Filmation Associates. Another format was a series of paperback novels written by various authors, including Nancy Holder, Diana G. Gallagher, and Mel Odom, as well as a retelling in which Sabrina discovers her powers while in junior high.

Sabrina, who's really a half-witch (her mother is a "mortal", while her father was a warlock) lives with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda (both witches themselves), in the fictional town of Greendale, which was located somewhere near Riverdale, the home of Archie Andrews. Also living with the three women as the family pet is Salem Saberhagen, a warlock-turned-cat due to constant world domination activities.

Most of Sabrina's adventures consist of Sabrina either trying to use her powers in secret to help others (witches generally are not allowed to tell mortals about their abilities), learning more about her powers (either through her aunts or from trips to the "Other Realm", an extradimensional plane that was the home of various magical creatures, including witches), or trying to deal with the day-to-day trials of being a teenager. Sabrina also has a mortal boyfriend named Harvey Kinkle, who like nearly all the other mortals in Sabrina's world, is unaware his girlfriend is a witch. In the live-action sitcom, Harvey would eventually learn Sabrina is a witch on his own.

Sabrina's first appearance in 1962

Sabrina made her first appearance in issue 22 of the comic book "Archie's Mad House" in 1962. At the time, she was intended to be a one shot character. Since readers liked her character, she continued to appear in some later issues of that title. [ [http://www.toonopedia.com/sabrina.htm Sabrina the Teenage Witch - Don Markstein's Toonopedia ] ] [ [http://www.oddballcomics.com/article.php?story=2007-04-02 Oddball Comics - Archie's Mad House No. 22 ] ] [ [http://monsterama.blogspot.com/2006/10/mad-house-mania.html Cute Creeps From Pop Culture: Mad House Mania ] ]

Archie's TV Laugh-Out comic book 1969-1985

Sabrina made regular appearances in the comic book "Archie's TV Laugh-Out". The title was published from 1969 to 1985, and consisted of 106 issues. [ [http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=list&title=04471269710&snumber=1 Mile High Comics - Internet Store ] ]

Sabrina The Teenage Witch comic book 1971-1983

The comic book Sabrina The Teenage Witch was published from 1971 to 1983, and ran for 77 issues. [http://www.toonopedia.com/sabrina.htm] , [http://www.oddballcomics.com/article.php?story=2007-04-02] , [http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=list&title=70568804058&snumber=1]

Other comic books with Sabrina

Sabrina also occasionally appears in other Archie Comics as a visiting acquaintance of Archie, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones.

Manga-Inspired version

A Sabrina comic by Tania del Rio with a manga inspired art and design style has been released which features new characters. It has one graphic novel released.

In other media

In 1996, the comic was adapted into a live-action film of the same name. In September of the same year, the film had spawned the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch TV series. Both starred Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina. The sitcom ran for seven seasons and included two television movies and one soundtrack release. In 1999, Hart provided the voice of Sabrina's two aunts for Sabrina, the Animated Series. This series lasted one season and produced 65 episodes, the television/direct-to-video movie , and the continuation-spinoff series Sabrina's Secret Life.

Characters

(Please note that certain characters may only apply to the sitcom. Additionally, in Filmation's version, Sabrina is only known as "Sabrina"; her last name in this version, if any, is unknown.)

*Sabrina Spellman: the lead character of the series.
*Hilda Spellman: Sabrina's aunt.
*Zelda Spellman: Sabrina's aunt.
*Della the Head Witch: Often checks to make sure her witches are performing "bad deeds" like they should be. Along with Hilda and Zelda, she disapproves of Sabrina doing good deeds.
*Harvey Kinkle: Sabrina's boyfriend, a mortal who's unaware of Sabrina's being a witch (in the sitcom, Harvey would eventually learn, on his own, that Sabrina was a witch)
*Salem: the Spellmans' cat; Salem was formerly a warlock turned into a cat as punishment by the Witches' Council for attempting to take over the world. Salem has the ability to talk and possesses a sarcastic and somewhat self-centered attitude. He has been voiced in the past by Traxy McGea. In the Filmation version, Salem (voiced by Mel Blanc) is a cat of indeterminate breed who can only meow, and has no other name except "Salem". Additionally, this version is simply just a cat (as opposed to the sitcom's human-turned-into-a-cat portrayal), and often plays practical jokes on the two dog characters Hot Dog Jr., and Chili Dog.
*Ambrose: Sabrina's cousin, a warlock.
*Esmeralda: Sabrina's other younger cousin, also a witch; Esmeralda has an obnoxious, bratty attitude.
*Shinji: A teenage warlock who Sabrina met while attending a spellcasting school. He tries to compete with Harvey for Sabrina's affections.
*Drell: Head of the witches council. (Played by Penn Jilette of Penn and Teller)
*Skippy: Assistant to Drell. Doesn't talk. (Played by Teller of Penn and Teller)
*Witches' Council: A council of powerful witches that oversees the other witches.
*Enchantra: The Queen of Witches, and head of the Witches Council.

References

External links

* [http://www.archiecomics.com/acpaco_offices/askthearchivist/ask_june.htm Official Archie Comics website]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/sabrina.htm Toonopedia entry]