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Sabrina and Salem's introductory panel. |
Sabrina Spellman is
just your average teenage girl with average teenage problems. Boys. Homework.
Oh, and she’s a witch.
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Head Witch Della pops in. |
Created by writer George Gladir and artist
Dan DeCarlo, Sabrina
first appeared in the 22nd
issue of the humor anthology Archie’s Madhouse in
1962. Originally intended as a one-off, fan response prompted the pair to
continue producing new stories for Madhouse.
Sabrina eventually became a feature in Archie’s TV Laugh-Out,
which published stories based on Archie Comics characters currently appearing
on TV at the time, before gaining several self-titled series of her own
beginning with Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
in 1971.
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Sabrina with aunts Hilda and Zelda. |
Sabrina, whom Gladir
incorrectly named after a former junior high classmate (the girl’s name was
actually Sabra) feeling it had a nice New England ring to it, was a half-witch
on her father’s side. Sabrina attended mortal school but was also actively
studying the use of her witchcraft. Sabrina frequently dated mortal Harvey
Kinkle (Archie’s
TV Laugh-Out #1, 1969), a kind
and loyal boy prone to moments of klutziness. Sabrina often used her magic in
secret to try and help others despite the witch’s code of causing mischief. This
often annoyed her overseer for the Witch’s Council, Della (Sabrina
vol. 1 #12, 1972), who had a short
temper and often intervened in order to get Sabrina to act more like a real
witch. Sabrina resided with her two aunts in Greendale: Hilda and Zelda, both
responsible for her continued training.
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Hilda, Zelda and Salem's first modern make-over. |
Hilda actually
appeared before Sabrina in Madhouse #19 (1962). She was an ugly witch with
green skin in both her own stories and occasionally host for the book. Greta
the Fairy Witch Mother appeared in Sabrina’s stories in Madhouse
#28 (1963) and was eventually
combined with Hilda to become Aunt Hilda in Madhouse #37 (1964), gaining regular skin and
red hair but maintaining a witch’s appearance right down to her long, black
dress and pointed hat. Hilda was short-tempered and shown to enjoy casting evil
spells, particularly against mortals whom she despised (namely Harvey). When
Sabrina gained a live-action sitcom in the 1990s, Hilda’s personality was
soften and her look updated into a slender, attractive red-headed woman with
contemporary clothing.
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Zelda and Hilda's second modern makeover. |
Zelda first appeared
in Madhouse #65 (1968) and was the complete
opposite of Hilda. She was short and stout with green hair and glasses, and had
a relatively good-natured personality while also wearing traditional witch’s
garb. Around the time of the 1990s sitcom, she became taller and slender with
short green hair and an updated wardrobe.
The Spellman’s also
resided with Salem Saberhagen (Madhouse #22),
a warlock cursed into being a cat as punishment by the Witch’s Council for
plotting world domination (or for standing up, Enchantra, the Head Witch who
first appeared in Sabrina
vol. 2 #20, 1998, at the altar,
or for using magic to entice a mortal to kiss him, depending on the continuity).
Named for the Salem Witch Trials, Salem originally appeared as an ordinary
orange cat. With the success of the 1990s live-action sitcom, Salem was altered
in the comics to be a black and white cat who could talk and use limited magic.
As her fellow Archie
creations from Riverdale were doing well on Saturday mornings, it wasn’t long
until Sabrina joined them.
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