Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

PART ONE

A teenager raised by magical Satanists maybe doesn't like Satan all that much.

3/4 (Good).

There's a lot to love about this show. It's jam-packed with cool and interesting stuff. The story is very unsatisfying, though. I guess they wanted to have a lot of stuff set up to get to in later seasons, but what they've done is continuously introduce new story threads and then immediately forget about them. 11/11/2018

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SPECIAL: "A MIDWINTER'S TALE"

Magical Satanists vs Christmas demons.

2/4 show more (Indifferent).

What a mess. I guess they couldn't decide which idea to use for their special, so they used all of them. Now I'm worried about how quickly they jumped into filming season two. 12/16/2018

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PART TWO

A teenager raised by magical Satanists is a pawn in the devil's plans.

3/4 (Good).

It's more focused than part one. But it still has a lot wrong with it, like Salem barely being in the show, or the out-of-nowhere musical number in the middle of what should have been the season's climax. 5/12/2019 show less

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Vol. 1 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa came onto my radar because I saw the super edgy trailer for the Netflix show and of course I felt I needed to at least read the first volume (containing the first 6 issues) before I started in on the show. :-P [A/N: For those unaware, this alternate reality version of Sabrina exists in the same realm as Archie and his pals over in Riverdale and you can keep your eyes peeled for my review of that too.] This is a comic book series show more that takes the familiar character of Sabrina Spellman (Remember that cute show about witchy magic with that super sarcastic talking cat named Salem?) and turns it onto its head. This is Dark Stuff and trust me the capitalization is warranted. The story starts out with Sabrina's parents, Warlock Dad and Mortal Mom, who disagree on how to raise their newborn daughter. According to coven law, Sabrina should be blessed by Satan so that when she comes of age she can formally sign Satan's book and give her soul over to him. (Did I mention this was dark?) These parental disagreements result in the mother being driven insane and Sabrina being entrusted to her witchy aunts to be raised 'properly'. So now Sabrina walks in two worlds (witch at home and mortal at school) and by the time she is 16 (present day in the comics where it's the 1960s) she is thoroughly confused about where she fits in which is par for the course with most teenagers if we're completely honest. Gore, violence, Satanism, cannibalism, necromancy, first love...your standard high school experience. The artwork was unlike anything I'd ever consumed in a comic or graphic novel medium before with bold colors and almost grotesque characterizations. I dug it. Horror fans and those that like re-imaginings of familiar tales will enjoy the world that Aguirre-Sacasa has crafted immensely. Yes, it's Dark Stuff but it's also boldly imaginative and well-formed. He's not only crafted this but another series called Afterlife with Archie (not to mention the tv series Riverdale). This is an author to watch! 10/10

PS Salem the cat is in this version as well!

PPS I started the series and I'm digging that too! show less

I've never been an Archie fan until I watched Riverdale, so I wanted to give the Archie Horror line a try. I love paranormal stuff, so this book was fun to jump into.
The plot, in a nutshell: after Jughead's dog (wonderfully named Hot Dog) gets hit by a car, Sabrina brings him back to life. Chaos ensues. People die and become zombies, including our beloved Jughead, and Sabrina mysteriously "disappears."
There are a lot of characters, but if you read closely, you don't need to be familiar with show more the whole Archie-verse, which is like 70-plus years long. That's a lot of reading! That said, I'm grateful I was already familiar with most of the characters thanks to Riverdale (Ginger and Nancy were the only ones I didn't recognize). Every time Hiram Lodge made an appearance, though, I kept thinking he was Commissioner Gordon from Batman. LOL! They could be twins!
Anyway, I loved the writing and the art. The book has the creep-factor down pat, so if you love horror comics, this should hopefully be a fun read. show less

Tom Hiddleston, the actor who played Loki in the recent Marvel films, once said "every villain is a hero in his own mind" and this graphic novel explores that idea. In a way, it reminded me of Anne Rice's "Memnoch the Devil" as that was Lucifer's version of creation. So, while many of the tales within put Loki in a sympathetic light (most especially his statement to Frigga that he is "resigned to it [his fate]"), he's still the God of Mischief and Lies. And, even gods are not immune from show more lying to themselves.

This graphic novel is more like a retelling of major Norse myths, rather than a "comic" as the setting is not modern and Earth is only referenced rather than being a central location. Most of the book is taken up with the death of Balder, and Loki's machinations to bring it (and his supposed ascension) about. Loki is a liar, but even the original Norse myths do not paint Odin as a particularly good or loving father. Loki's isolation and loneliness are palpable throughout the book, and provide strong motivation for his anger. What I found interesting is that Thor is not portrayed as the good and long-suffering brother. He's arrogant, dismissive, and somewhat cruel toward Loki. Not at all like I am accustomed to him in other comics (who loves his brother no matter how far he falls). How much of this is in Loki's own mind is difficult to tell, but the final scene of the comic gives us Loki chained beneath the snake's venom. This event did occur in the original tales, though it was Odin, and not Thor, who tortured Loki in this manner. Since that event is not a product of Loki's lies, how much more might also be true?

Overall, this novel doesn't bring anything particularly new to the Thor mythos. What is does do is give Loki more depth, underscoring the fact that he is not simply a two-dimensional big bad, but a complex opponent worthy of a Mighty Hero. An excellent, albeit sad, tale for fans of the God of Mischief. Highly recommended. show less