Sabrina Spellman is the titular character from the Archie Comics comic book Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and designed by artist Dan DeCarlo, and she first appeared in Archie's Mad House #22 in October 1962.
Creation
Sabrina the Teenage Witch debuted in Archie's Madhouse (the logo sometimes given as Archie's Mad House) #22 (Oct. 1962). Created by writer George Gladir and designed by artist Dan DeCarlo, she first appeared in that humor anthology's lead story (the logo then spelled "Teen-Age"), and eventually became one of Archie Comics' major characters, appearing in an animated series and a television sitcom. Gladir recalled in 2007:
"I think we both envisioned it as a one-shot and were surprised when fans asked for more. We continued to do Sabrina stories off and on in Mad House until 1969 when we were flabbergasted to hear it was to become an animated [TV series]. When it came to naming Sabrina I decided to name her after a woman I recalled from my junior high school days ... who was very active in school affairs, and who assigned a number of us to interview prominent people in the media. In addition, the woman's name had a New England ring to it. Some years later I recalled the woman's name was not Sabrina, but actually Sabra Holbrook."
Character and story
In the comics, Sabrina, a "half-witch" (her mother is an ordinary human, or "mortal" as witches refer to them, while her father is a witch) lives with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda Spellman (both witches themselves), in the fictional town of Greendale, which is located somewhere near Riverdale, the home of Archie Andrews. Also living with the three women as the family pet is Salem Saberhagen, a witch who's been turned into a cat as punishment for world domination attempts.
Most of Sabrina's adventures consist of Sabrina either trying to use her powers in secret to help others â€" witches generally are not allowed to tell mortals about their abilities or existence â€" or dealing with the day-to-day trials of being a teenager. A recurring theme in Sabrina's stories is her learning more about the proper use of her powers, either through her aunts or from trips to a magical dimension that is the home of various magical/mythological creatures, including other witches. Various names are given to this dimension; the late 2000s comics refer to it as the "Magic Realm," while the live-action sitcom referred to it as the "Other Realm." These adventures even contained moments where Sabrina had to act as superhero on occasion.
Sabrina's primary romantic love interest is her mortal boyfriend named Harvey Kinkle who, like nearly all the other mortals in Sabrina's world, is unaware his girlfriend is a witch.
In other media
Filmation version
Sabrina first appeared in non-comics media in 1969 in a segment from Filmation's The Archie Comedy Hour, and she later gained her own half-hour series in 1971.
Appearance
Sabrina has blonde hair bound with a pink headband, and blue eyes. She wears a blue dress with a black belt and black shoes. In Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch, her eyes are bright green.
Animated series origin
Sabrina was created by Hilda and Zelda Spellman out of magic potions, as well as the accidental addition of teenage girls' stuff, due to being accidentally bumped by Zelda.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (live-action sitcom)
Brief production history
The 1996 live-action situation comedy version of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch starred actress Melissa Joan Hart, whose mother was one of the show's producers under the "Hartbreak Films" banner and whose younger sister Emily later provided the character's voice for Sabrina: The Animated Series. (See Additional other media, below.)
Background
Sabrina's story takes place in the fictional town of Westbridge, Massachusetts, where she grew up with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda Spellman, and the talking cat, Salem Saberhagen. Her father, Edward "Ted" Spellman, was a witch, and her mother, named Diana, is a mortal. Her father has at least four sisters: Vesta, seen only once in the first-season episode "Third Aunt from the Sun" (played by Raquel Welch) but mentioned many times and Hilda and Zelda, both of whom Sabrina lives with, and Sophia, a witch who lived in Rome and looked identical to Sabrina. Sabrina's evil twin Katrina is not considered one of Sabrina's sisters as the evil twin has different parents from the good twin. Her stepmother, also a witch, is named Gail Kippling Spellman. Sabrina was an only child, but she has one evil twin (by different parents) and a stepbrother. Sabrina's evil twin, named Katrina Spellman, is also a witch(series lead Melissa Joan Hart acted out both roles); and her younger stepbrother, named Donald, is both a witch and the son of Sabrina's stepmother. Her grandmother, who is nice to Sabrina but overbearing to her aunts, visited once or twice, as did her great-aunt Irma, the Spellman family matriarch. Though not evil, Irma is domineeringly powerful. Sabrina also has many other relatives such as Cousin Larry, Aunt Beulah, Cousin Zsa Zsa, Aunt Vesta, and Cousin Marigold. Marigold's daughter Amanda is known to torment Sabrina throughout the show, but by the end of the show they become closer and closer.
Life in the series
Sabrina is the protagonist of the series. On her sixteenth birthday, she learns that she is a half-witch (through her father's side) and has magical powers. She also learns that her two aunts are witches themselves and that their black cat Salem is a witch who has been turned into a talking household pet as punishment for attempting worldwide domination. At Westbridge High, she befriends Jenny Kelly (and later Valerie Birkhead) and has an on-again, off-again relationship with Harvey Kinkle. She also has to deal with the snobby and headstrong cheerleader, Libby Chessler, who becomes Sabrina's rival for school activities as well as Harvey's affections. In later seasons, Sabrina is enrolled at the fictional Adams College in Boston. After getting her degree in journalism she moves back to her aunts' house with Morgan and Roxie. She took a job with the fictitious Scorch Magazine, a music-themed magazine for which she interviews famous artists. Later on, she meets a man named Aaron, who also worked in the music industry, and the two begin dating. Before long, Aaron proposes, and in the finale, the two are set to wed when unforeseen events took place. Sabrina starts to suspect that Aaron was not the one for her, and after trying to connect her soul stone with his, she becomes sure of it. While the stones mostly fit, it is not a perfect fit. She tries to ignore this but finally follows her heart and cancels the marriage at the altar. When she runs out of the church, she finds Harvey waiting for her outside on his motorcycle, holding his soulstone that Amanda, her cousin, had left him. Harvey and Sabrina toss their soul stones aside and ride off together in true finale fashion, not even noticing that the stones fit together perfectly.
For most of the series, Sabrina would regularly cast spells that landed her in trouble, requiring her to turn to her aunts for help. In Season Five, after moving out of her aunts' house, Sabrina starts thinking of herself as independent, and whenever something goes wrong, she tries to solve the problem on her own. However, she cannot help but get herself into situations beyond her control (as in the episode Heart of the Matter, when she uses a dating spell to attract boys, but the spell goes wrong when Sabrina's head and heart becoming conflicted. She is then forced to go to Zelda for help).
During her time at Adams College, as revealed in the episode "The Whole Ball of Wax," Sabrina is finally able to meet her mother. However, it is revealed that the Witches' Council had set a decree that if the two were ever to meet face to face, her mother would turn into a ball of wax. While the decree was never repealed, Sabrina accidentally frees her mother by crying into the ball of wax. However, they could not ever see each other face to face again, the one exception being the series finale, in which Hilda volunteered Zelda to be turned into wax until the wedding ended.
In the TV movie Sabrina Goes to Rome, Sabrina, accompanied by Salem, travels to Rome, Italy in order to discover the secret of a mysterious antique locket and save her Aunt Sophia. While there, she befriends Gwen, an inexperienced British witch, who helps her to solve the mystery of the locket. The sequel, Sabrina, Down Under, depicts Sabrina and Gwen going on vacation in Australia's Great Barrier Reef and end up trying to save a hidden colony of merpeople from water pollution and a scheming marine biologist.
Love life
Throughout the series, it is shown that Sabrina has many love interests and boyfriends she has romantic crushes on. Her most prominent one is her first boyfriend, Harvey Dwight Kinkle. In Seasons 1-4 she meets and dates Harvey Kinkle, who becomes her first true love which is proven when Harvey is turned into a frog by her kiss, she takes the test of true love and passes it, proving she truly loves him. Though in the early seasons, they break up but usually make up in the end. However, in an episode of Boy Meets World, The Witches of Penbrook she is seen at the end of the episode on a date with one of the main characters, Eric Matthews. When she was dating Dashiell, another half-witch, she had to choose between both Dashiell and Harvey and, with the help of a spell, she is able to choose Harvey.
In season 4, she is romantically attracted to Josh who is her manager at the coffee house where she works. She kisses him and Harvey witnesses it causing them to break up though they get back together in "Love Means Having to Say You're Sorry". They officially end their romantic relationship in "The End Of an Era" but Harvey still appears in the show as a recurring character.
Mid-season 5, she meets Kevin, a student from Adams whom she constantly seems to bump into but is officially introduced through her roommate Morgan. Kevin is a guitar player and apparently got inspiration from Sabrina to write songs, even calling her his muse. They only seem to date for 1 month and ends as Sabrina and Kevin don't seem to find time to define their romantic relationship.
In season 6, she starts dating Josh who at first dated Morgan, her roommate. Meanwhile, in the season 6 finale, Sabrina gives up her one true love to save her Aunt Hilda and it happens when during her aunt's wedding she falls to pieces when Harvey tells her he still has strong romantic feelings for her but she does not return them, making him leave for California. Josh says he is taking the photography job he was offered in Prague, and a cute waiter named Luke says goodbye but she is saved when her Aunt Zelda gives up her adult years to save her.
In the seventh season, she meets and starts dating Aaron whom she met at the Scorch magazine office. They become engaged but Sabrina's aunt Irma turns him into a goldfish but Aaron is turned back when Harvey (who is in love with Sabrina) uses Sabrina's magic because he wants to make Sabrina happy. In the series finale, Sabrina prepares for her wedding but stops it when she realizes Aaron is not her soulmate and she runs off with Harvey, her soulmate and first true love (they are soulmates because when their soul stones drop to the ground they fit perfectly) at 12:36, the time they first met seven years ago.
Additional other media
In the 1990s, Sabrina's comic was made into a live action film, with an alternate younger version appearing in 2000's Sabrina: The Animated Series, Sabrina: Friends Forever, Sabrina's Secret Life, and Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch.(produced by DIC Entertainment).
References
