Sabrina, The Teenage Witch #78
	Story Title: 'The Four Blades Return' Writer & Artist: Tania Del Rio Inker: Jim Amash Colorist: Jason Jensen Letterer: Teresa R. Davidson Editor: Victor Gorelick Editor-in-Chief: Richard Goldwater Published by: Archie Comics
	Reviewed by: Bruce Logan

This is my first ever read of this title. In fact, except for the odd viewing of the TV show (starring Melissa Joan Hart) and the intermittent reading in the Archie comics, my knowledge of Sabrina is very limited. In fact, it was the aunts, Hilda and Zelda who drew me to Sabrina and her story the first time around. After all, it wasn’t everyday that a kid (I was seven or eight then) got to read a comic with not one but two rather fugly witches shown in a good, even comedic, light. Nevertheless, just picking up this title, I was sure that this wasn’t going to be the Sabrina (and Hilda n’ Zelda) that I remembered…and boy if it didn’t turn out to be true.

Drawn with rather heavy Americanized anime tones, the art alone is miles away from the usual Sabrina fare. It is clear that this title aims to keep with the times and thus cater to the comic reading crowd (i.e. teens) who favor this sort of art style. An’ with the anime star in a rising trajectory, it is a good start even from a financial angle. But then again, that isn’t what I am reviewing about.

Onto the story, and onto even more surprises for me, this issue is a sort of mixture of festivities, conspiracies and cover-ups, new and old boyfriends and a semi-jealous Sabrina. The festivities are for the ‘Four Blades Day’, a celebration of when the magical council  defeated the opposing group led by the parents (Kaji and Hana) of Sabrina’s classmate Shinji, who happens to be the ex-boyfriend of yet another friend of Sabrina, Llandra. As for Llandra, she has a new beau now and seems to be quite happy…but with one problem. The guy’s a mer-man. This brings in Sabrina and her having to cast a water-breathing spell daily to allow Llandra to go underwater to meet mer-boy, Narayan. Lastly, on the point of jealousy, with the way things are with Llandra, Sabrina misses the time they used to spend together and gets it in her head that maybe her friend is only using her for her ‘spelling’ abilities. However, by the end of the issue, that l’il problem seems to get taken care of.

Then there is the minor (for now) subplot about the ‘new’ Four Blades. It is formed by Shinji and consists of the other three (main-)teens appearing here, i.e. Llandra, Narayan and last of all Sabrina. Don’t know how and when this development will come to fruition but it is clear that it isn’t going to be particularly happy one for Sabrina, what with her aunt Hilda being a member of the magical council, the same one which the first Four Blades opposed and fought, something that the new incarnation looks fated/set to repeat.

Conclusion: A teen title, this series is very much in the vein of the various anime series on the Boob Tube nowadays.

RATING: 8/10