The “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” is finally here — but how does the Greendale of the comic books stack up against Netflix’s on-screen version?
The show remains pretty truthful to the comics — which makes sense, considering that the writer of the “Sabrina” graphic novels, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, is also the series’ showrunner — but there are a few notable differences between the Netflix series’ first episode and the first issue of the comics.
In the first episode of “CAOS,” Miss Wardell, Sabrina’s favorite teacher, finds what appears to be a young girl on the side of the road, and graciously picks her up and takes her home. We find out that this definitely isn’t an innocent runaway, but a servant of the dark lord. She kills Miss Wardell and takes over her body, in order to get closer to Sabrina.
In the comic version, however, things are even darker.
Two cheerleaders from Riverdale (yes, that Riverdale!) are trying to summon Succubus, the demoness of desire, to help them settle a blood rivalry. Instead, they accidentally conjure up a spirit from the capital of hell. She eats a pregnant doe’s unborn calf, and then is blessed by the blood moon and then spends a year at the bottom of a river.
It’s not until the next issue when we find out that this woman — well, she used to be a woman — was actually Sabrina’s dad’s lover when he met her mortal mom. She was so upset that Edward (who, btw, now lives in a tree) was leaving her, she threw herself into the lion’s cage at the zoo and let herself be ripped apart and eaten by the lions.
She does eventually drag herself out of the river, and long story short, befriends Miss Wardell only to take over her body — similar to the show, though it takes a couple more issues to get there.
“I love you”
In the first episode, Harvey declares his love for Sabrina a few days before her sixteenth birthday, since they won’t be able to celebrate together (you know, cause of her whole Dark Baptism thing).
In the comics, however, Sabrina and Harvey don’t start out together. During Sabrina’s first day at Greendale High, she sees Harvey for the first time and is smitten right away. She’s determined to get the football player to like her, too, and so she and Ambrose conduct a honey jar spell to make him “sweeten” on her. It works, and they make plans to go to the movies.
And while Ambrose doesn’t help her with a charm to woo Harvey in the first episode, he does help her with a spell to frighten her school principle out of commission for a few days.
In the comics, Ambrose is a teenage Warlock who comes to live with the Spellman sisters and Sabrina after removing a fellow student’s hands at boarding school in England. In the show, Ambrose has been living with them for 75 years, under house arrest. He also has twin snake familiars in the comics, but the serpents are absent from the show.
Salem
In the Season 1 premiere, Sabrina spends a good chunk of the episode on the hunt for her Familiar. But in the first issue of the comics, she’s given her Familiar by her Aunts Zelda and Hilda when she’s still a young girl. In the comic books, Salem speaks and has a lot of the snark that viewers loved from Nick Bakay’s Salem in “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.” But in “Chilling,” Sabrina’s familiar only speaks once, when still in goblin form, and only says her name. The comic book Salem was turned into a cat as punishment for trying to enact the Book of Revelation.
“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” is now streaming on Netflix.
'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' Season 1 Photos: Check Out Harvey Kinkle, Aunt Zelda and More
Get ready for a deep-dive look at the residents of Greendale. Netflix released new character photos for "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" this week, making us even more excited for the series to arrive than the trailer did.
See below for Netflix's official character descriptions. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" premieres on Oct. 26 on Netflix.
Netflix
Harvey Kinkle (Ross Lynch) is Sabrina’s boyfriend. The prince charming of this dark fairy tale, Harvey is the son of a coal miner, a dreamboat and a dreamer, completely unaware of the dark forces conspiring to keep him and Sabrina apart.
Netflix
Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka): An empowered young woman, half-human, half-witch, Sabrina is just beginning her dark education as a sorceress, even as she tries to maintain a normal life as a sophomore at Baxter High. Intelligent, compassionate and brave to the point of recklessness, Sabrina is all that stands between us and the forces of darkness that threaten our world. Pictured with Lachlan Watson (as Susie Putnam), Jaz Sinclair (as Rosalind Walker) and Ross Lynch (as Harvey Kinkle).
Netflix
The Weird Sisters: Agatha (Adeline Rudolph), Prudence (Tati Gabrielle), Dorcas (Abigail Cowen): The three Weird Sisters—a trio of powerful, uncanny teenage witches at the Academy of Unseen Arts who look down their noses at Sabrina for being half-mortal.
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Hilda Spellman (Lucy Davis) is one of Sabrina’s two witch aunts. More nurturing than Zelda, Hilda’s motherly nature and warm sense of humor belie a wicked, ghoulish streak. She is as adept at brewing spite jars against her family’s enemies as she is at concocting love potions for the students at Baxter High.
Netflix
Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) is High Priest of the Church of Night and Dean of the Academy of the Unseen Arts. Ruthless and ambitious, Blackwood hides a terrifying dark agenda that will put him in direct conflict with Sabrina and other members of the coven.
Netflix
Zelda Spellman (Miranda Otto) is Sabrina’s sterner witch aunt. Proud and devout, Zelda believes there is no greater honor than serving the Dark Lord as a member of the Church of Night. She is the family’s disciplinarian, fiercely protective of Sabrina, and very much Cain to Hilda’s Abel.
Netflix
Nicholas Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood) is a young, handsome warlock at the Academy of Unseen Arts who befriends new student Sabrina Spellman. An acolyte of Sabrina’s father’s teachings, Nicholas is drawn to Sabrina, as well, and there are immediate sparks between them.
Netflix
Sabrina's friends, Rosalind Walker (Jaz Sinclair) and Susie Putnam (Lachlan Watson): Rosalind is the brash, empowered and outspoken daughter of Greendale's minister and Sabrina's best friend at Baxter High. Susie Putnam is one of Sabrina’s friends at Baxter High and a founding member of the school’s newly formed WICCA club. Brave and optimistic despite being bullied at school, Susie lives on a farm at the outskirts of town and deals with a terrifying supernatural threat at home.
Netflix
Mary Wardell / Madam Satan (Michelle Gomez) is Sabrina’s favorite teacher and mentor at Baxter High. When she is possessed by the Devil’s handmaiden, Madam Satan, Ms. Wardwell turns into a sultry, cunning manipulator, always trying to lure Sabrina down the Path of Night.
Netflix
Ambrose Spellman (Chance Perdomo) is Sabrina’s warlock cousin from England. Placed under house-arrest by the Witches Council, Ambrose is forbidden from leaving the funeral home where he lives with the Spellman women. Witty, puckish and pan-sexual, he is one of Sabrina’s partners in crime, always up for mischief.
Netflix
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Netflix also releases images of Aunt Hilda and Sabrina’s cousin Ambrose
Get ready for a deep-dive look at the residents of Greendale. Netflix released new character photos for "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" this week, making us even more excited for the series to arrive than the trailer did.
See below for Netflix's official character descriptions. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" premieres on Oct. 26 on Netflix.