My Rating
“60 Magical Stories”
What can one say about an iconic comic book character that hasn’t already been said? Sabrina Spellman has spent decades casting spells across comic books, television screens, cartoons, and a vast sea of merchandise. In 2022, Archie Comics celebrated the teenage witch with Sabrina: 60 Magical Stories, a massive collection showcasing some of her classic adventures from across the decades.
The book contains sixty Sabrina stories pulled from the pages of Archie TV Laugh-Out, Little Archie, and the various Sabrina the Teenage Witch titles. Readers get plenty of Sabrina, Aunt Hilda, Aunt Zelda, Salem, Harvey Kinkle, and the rest of the supernatural gang. The stories range from magical mishaps and teenage romance to the kind of goofy supernatural comedy that made Sabrina such a perfect fit for the Archie universe.
One of the best parts of a collection like this is watching Sabrina evolve through the years. Comic book styles change, fashions come and go, and different artists put their own stamp on the character, but Sabrina remains Sabrina. She is still the lovable teenage witch trying to balance magic with the everyday problems of school, dating, friends, and family. The artwork throughout the collection has also been cleaned up and remastered, giving these older stories a bright new presentation without stripping away their original charm.
Review
If you are already a Sabrina fan but have never spent much time with her original comic book adventures, buy this book. Are you simply Sabrina-curious after watching one of her television shows? Go buy this book. You will not regret it. Sixty stories provide a fantastic crash course in the history of a character who became much bigger than the comic books that created her.
I especially enjoyed the variety. You aren’t locked into one particular period of Sabrina’s history. Instead, the collection becomes a miniature time machine through Archie Comics, allowing readers to see how the artwork, humor, clothing, and storytelling changed while the basic appeal of Sabrina Spellman remained intact. There is something wonderfully nostalgic about these short stories. They don’t need sprawling crossovers or complicated continuity. Sabrina gets herself into some magical trouble, chaos follows, and everything usually wraps up with a smile and a laugh.
Sabrina: 60 Magical Stories is exactly what an anniversary collection should be: fun for longtime readers, accessible to newcomers, and packed with enough material to keep you reading for quite some time. Archie Comics gave one of its most recognizable characters a collection worthy of her long history. I’m giving Sabrina: 60 Magical Stories 5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended!