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, including a long-running television comedy series.
Sabrina, who's really a witch (or a half-witch—her mother was a "mortal", as the comics called ordinary humans, 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 was the family pet, Salem the cat.
Most of Sabrina's adventures consist of Sabrina either trying to use her powers in secret (witches generally not being 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.
Sabrina also occasionally appears in other Archie Comics as a visiting acquaintance of Archie, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones.
The Japanese "magical girl" genre of manga shares some similarities to the Sabrina series.
In the TV series sitcom, the town it takes place in is called Westbridge,not Greendale, and is set in the US state of Massachusetts. Supposedly it is a suburb of Boston.
Characters
- Sabrina Spellman: the lead character of the series.
- Hilda Spellman: Sabrina's aunt.
- Zelda Spellman: Sabrina's aunt.
- Harvey Kinkle: Sabrina's boyfriend, a mortal who's unaware of Sabrina's being a witch.
- Salem: the Spellman's 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.
- Ambrose: Sabrina's cousin, a warlock.
- Esmeralda/Amanda: 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.
- Witches' Council: A council of powerful witches that oversees the Other Realm and establishes various rules for witches to follow.
History
Sabrina first appeared in comics, in the October 1962 issue of Archie's Madhouse #22, published by Archie Comics. Sabrina was created by Archie Comics writer George Gladir and longtime Archie artist Dan DeCarlo.
December 1969 brought the first issue of another comic book, Archie's TV Laugh Out, in which Sabrina was one of the leading characters. Sabrina eventually received her own comic book in 1971, with the comic running until 1983, after which Sabrina was reduced to occasional guest appearances and specials in the various Archie comics.
In the late 1990s, Sabrina received her own comic again thanks to the success of the television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The book, after briefly diverging into the adventures of Sabrina as a preteen in junior high school, gave Sabrina and, more so, her two aunts a makeover; up until this point, Sabrina's aunts were always portrayed as looking like the stereotypical depiction of witches (complete with pointy hats and Puritan-style dresses). The makeover gave both of them more conventional, contemporary appearances.
Even later, in the early 2000s, the book was given yet another makeover, this time being drawn in a Japanese manga style and written in a loose continuity, both by Mexican-American manga artist Tania del Rio.
Animated series
Sabrina debuted in animated form as a supporting character in the 1969 series The Archie Comedy Hour. Thanks to Sabrina's popularity in this show, she soon began appearing on all types of merchandise, including jelly glasses, paper dolls and coloring books.
The following year, Sabrina gained her own series, Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies, sharing the bill with a group of various classic movie monsters. In 1971, Sabrina was spun off into her own show which ran on CBS Saturday mornings until 1974.
In 1977, Sabrina returned to the airwaves in two short-lived shows, The New Archie-Sabrina Hour and Superwitch.
In 1999, Sabrina returned to animated form in Sabrina, the Animated Series, presenting the adventures of Sabrina as a 12-year-old in junior high school. A sequel called Sabrina's Secret Life was created in 2003.
Made-for-television movie
Sabrina first appeared in live-action form in a Showtime made-for-television movie. Melissa Joan Hart was cast for the title role in 1994, and the movie was released in 1996. In this movie, Sabrina's last name was "Sawyer." Sabrina's two aunts were played by Sherry Miller (as Hilda) and Charlene Fernetz (as Zelda). As the TV series continued to gain popularity, two more telefilms were made: Sabrina Goes to Rome and Sabrina Down Under.
Sitcom
The longest-lasting of Sabrina's various spinoffs was created by Nell Scovell, a sitcom featuring Sabrina and her supporting characters ran from 1996 to 2003, and starred Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina), Caroline Rhea (Hilda) and Beth Broderick (Zelda). Salem the cat was voiced by Nick Bakay. Also, Nate Richert costarred as Sabrina's boyfriend, Harvey Kinkle.