The Function of Colour in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

The story of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and her past is told and illustrated by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Robert Hack. The creepy reveal sets an eerie tone to the comic, setting the mood for what is to come. Creatively, there is a cut out box on the front cover that allows the illustration on the reveal to be seen. This plays with the idea that when it comes to magic, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Importantly, this reveal perfectly matches the last page in the issue that illustrates the Deamoness of Desire with her disgusting skull face who is in search of a new face for herself. Putting Sabrina’s face inside the skull poses the question of whether Sabrina will be whom she seeks.

This book of magic is appropriately coloured with black, orange and yellow tones that fit with the story that begins on October 31, 1951. The trademark colours of Halloween overtake this piece and are extremely effective in conveying how truly unpredictable magic really is. Tones of black and orange mingle to create brown hues, perfect for creating shadows on the page and in the illustrations, allowing for an ominous feel on the panel borders.

There are only few exceptions of colours that stray from the Halloween palate: red hues and blues. To me, the colour red in this issue signifies the growth of Sabrina: swaddled in a blanket with her mother, in a red hat with her father, fashioned in a red dress when she lives with her aunts, and a red cardigan when she is ready to start high school.



The colour blue on the other hand, to me, is always associated with magic. For example, her aunt wears a blue dress or hat with a blue ribbon, Sabrina's aunts, her cat and Sabrina herself have blue eyes, there is a scene where she plucks a blue jar from a cupboard using magic, there are two Riverdale cheerleaders who wear blue sweaters when trying to summon the Deamoness, and then finally the Deamoness herself takes refuge in a pale blue lake.

The colour red is important too because it can signify evil. It does play a part in Sabrina’s wardrobe in the comic, but it is also a colour of deception: the blanket Sabrina is swaddled in as a baby is actually used as a way to conceal a fake baby, therefore making Sabrina’s mother think she is holding her child, but in reality she is holding a voodoo doll. Her aunts wear red shoes which can pick up on the fact that they tricked Sabrina's mom and stole Sabrina from her with help of her father. There is also a scene where Sabrina is having a tantrum and the whites of her eyes are replaced with a dark red colour and black lines are emanating from her face, like she is a cracked doll from a scary movie. It is images like this that make this comic seem like it should not be read by children… the images are scary. Also, the young girl that makes Sabrina upset wears a red jumper, and her cousin Ambrose (who seems to be a fishy character alongside his two King Cobra snakes) also wears red pants.

The use of red in the piece fits with the palate because red and yellow mix to make orange, so in terms of the physical creation of the comic, it is understandable that the colours be mixed in order to work together. The colour blue is what stands out on the page. It has a calming effect and lets the eye rest; sometimes a thick blue colour takes the place of a detailed background. It provides a contrast, especially on pages where the panels look washed out and are predominantly light orange and pale grey. The effect is that the eye is drawn there almost instantly, and most often it brings the reader to a place of magic, conflict, or a combination of the two. Using blue in select places makes it like a game for readers to wonder why exactly the creator put it there. For me, it points to magic, but like real magic, I may never find the real answer behind it.

This issue was extremely fun to read and gave me an interesting background of Sabrina the Teenage Witch that I did no know before. It is a series that can stand alone because it does not require readers to have knowledge about Archie comics before picking it up. Overall a great read… I will definitely pick it back up around Halloween next year!

- Daniela Palombo