Review: Trust Issues Abound In ‘Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Something Wicked #2’

Still reeling from last issue’s reveal, Sabrina doesn’t know who to trust. The problem with Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Something Wicked #2 is those trust issues start to get in the way of the story. Sabrina is a witch but she’s also a teenager, so maybe her avoiding her aunts is how she’d react to learning they’ve been keeping secrets from her. The trouble is Sabrina needs to confront them if she wants to get answers, and not just answers about whatever’s been going on with Ren and Radka, but answers about magic as a whole.
There aren’t a lot of people Sabrina can talk to about witchcraft. Writer, Kelly Thompson, has Sabrina go through her options this issue and the only other person who knows her secret is Radka. Radka may not be savvy when it comes to spells, but she has the potential to become someone like Cordelia on Buffy, who started out as an enemy but evolved into a friend. For that to happen, though, Radka and Sabrina need to spend more time together, and with Della around, they don’t have to depend on each other in that way.

One thing’s for certain: savoir faire is one cool looking game. Artists, Veronica and Andy Fish, get to show how it’s played this issue. Between the stances Sabrina and Della take, when they’re competing, and the sour colors, it’s naïve to think it’s not dangerous but, without blood, a witch can pretend.
The thing about Della is she feels like a villain waiting to happen. Sure, in a perfect world, being Head Witch would make her someone Sabrina could trust, but it’s too much too fast. Aunt Zelda doesn’t like her, but that could be the jealousy talking. Seeing her watching Della and Sabrina from the window in silhouette is a wonderful piece of comedy by the Fishes, but while Thompson could subvert things still and not make Della a villain, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she was.

Sabrina’s admission that she’s been considering an amnesia spell, on the other hand, is surprising. Apparently, she’s “… considered using [this spell] on [Radka] a dozen times…” For one thing, it makes you realize how much Sabrina doesn’t see a friendship with Radka going anywhere. If she’s tossing around the idea of using an amnesia spell on her then that means she doesn’t trust her one bit, but it also means Sabrina hasn’t ruled out using dark magic, and that’s not good in an arc titled “Something Wicked.”
Sabrina laments the fact that she has to keep secrets from people, but she’s keeping secrets from readers, too. If nothing else, we’re not on the same page as Sabrina this issue. Starting with the TV, while letterer, Jack Morelli, makes sure readers pay attention to the news, Sabrina isn’t listening, and it creates this disconnect that’s usually not there when readers have access to Sabrina’s thoughts. For an opening, it’s attention-grabbing but when Sabrina casts a spell without explaining what she’s going for, it makes the results hard to assess and the ending of the issue suffers from readers being kept in the dark.
Sabrina The Teenage Witch: Something Wicked #2 is available to own digitally from Archie Comics and other digital comics’ retailers.