While Sabrina Spellman might be the most famous teenage witch in all of pop culture, she's actually not the only magical being in Archie Comics lore. As we approach the upcoming Wicked Trinity one-shot, on sale June 12, let's take a deep dive into the more magical side of Archie Comics, and look at the various enchanted denizens of Riverdale, Greendale, and their surrounding areas.
Sabrina Spellman
Of course, we couldn't explore magic in Archie Comics without first giving credit to the teen witch that started it all: Sabrina Spellman! First appearing in Archie’s Madhouse #22 in October 1962, Sabrina lives in Greendale (a town over from Riverdale) and is half-mortal and half-witch. She lives with her aunts Hilda and Zelda and Salem the cat, who acts as her familiar. Because Sabrina lives in the mortal world and attends a normal high school, she has to hide her magical abilities, which is especially difficult to do around her mortal boyfriend, Harvey. She just wants to help people, but since she’s still learning how to be a witch, her spells sometimes backfire.
In the world of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Sabrina was taken from her mortal mother when she was just a year old and given to her aunts Hilda and Zelda to be raised. Her aunts teach her how to use her powers and her familiar, Salem (a cat), helps be her moral guide, but Sabrina still has to figure out how to blend in as a mortal teen cheerleader during her daytimes at Baxter High School while learning the dark arts and her even darker history at home. On her 16th birthday, Sabrina needs to decide if she wants to be baptized into the Church of Nigh or lose all of her powers and live out her life as a mortal.
Hilda Spellman
Hilda Spellman is Sabrina’s paternal aunt and sister to Zelda Spellman. Hilda is anywhere from 300 to 700 years old (one never asks a witch her age). She’s strict with Sabrina, but it’s just because she wants her to be the best witch she can be. In later iterations, Hilda developed a great sense of style and is highly skilled at spell-casting, her attitude also swapped with Zelda's, thanks to the Sabrina the Teenage Witch television series.
Zelda Spellman
Zelda Spellman is Sabrina’s paternal aunt and Hilda’s sister. She’s much friendlier than her sister and helps Sabrina with her spells, as well as gives her guidance on living in the mortal realm. In later iterations, she's more strict and worldly, continuing to dole out sage advice and cautions.
Enchantra
Enchantra is the Queen of Witches and head of the Witches’ Council. She disdains mortals and if anyone wrongs Enchantra (in reality or imagined), they had better be able to run fast and hide! She and Salem were engaged at one point but when he called off the wedding, Enchantra turned him into a cat. Cousin Ambrose was also engaged to Enchantra, but realized his error and broke off the engagement with Salem’s help. When trying to appeal to mortals, she acts as a shopkeeper, peddling curiosities and definitely-not-magic-or-cursed-items.
Della
Della was the Spellmans’ Head Witch and assigned Sabrina to hex the students at Baxter High School. She tried to get Sabrina to be a proper witch, but was usually frustrated that Sabrina wasn’t devious and would use her magic to help mortals instead of cause chaos. In later years, Della is the no-nonsense personal assistant to Head Witch Enchantra. She helps Enchantra keep the Spellmans in check for the Witches’ Council and helps keep Enchantra’s anger in check.
Madam Satan
In the original lore, which dates all the way back to the 1940s, Iola, aka Madam Satan, was a mortal who killed her fiancé’s parents because they didn’t approve of the marriage. Before they died, they told their son and he, in turn, killed Iola. She went to hell where she became Satan’s partner. Satan sent her back to earth to seduce men and kill them, sending their souls to hell. While she outwardly is beautiful, Madam Satan’s real face is a skull and her kiss will kill men.
In Chilling Sabrina, Iola was Edward Spellman’s former love and the woman he left for Diana, Sabrina’s mother. Edward wanted a child, which Madam Satan, as a witch, couldn’t give him. Because of Edward’s betrayal, Madam Satan threw herself into the lion pit at the zoo where her body was devoured and her soul went to Gehenna, the capitol city of Hell. Due to some careless summoning, Madam Satan rose from the depths of hell, stole a woman’s face, and started to exact her revenge on the Spellmans. In order to get closer to Sabrina and plan her revenge, Madam Satan used her new identity as Evangeline Porter to fill in for the drama teacher at Baxter High School. Eventually Madam Satan kills Harvey and resurrects Edward in his body.
Madam Satan eventually found herself banished back to Hell. Over the course of Madam Satan, Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, and Return of Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, she desperately tried to make her way back to Earth, more specifically to Greendale and Baxter High, to finish what she started: exacting revenge on Sabrina, the daughter of her former love, Edward Spellman. She became a voice for the voiceless throughout her journey from Hell.
When we last saw her in Madam Satan: Hell on Earth and this year's Free Comic Book Day offering, Hell has come for Madam Satan, and she’s stuck without her powers, her companion, and worst of all: she's not even in Greendale, but instead trapped in Riverdale, bruised and bandaged, and at the mercy of Jinx Holliday and her library.
Jinx Holliday
Pre-teen Jinx Holliday's relationship with magic is... complicated, to say the very least. In the Jughead: the Hunger vs. Vampironica mini-series, we learned that Jinx’s name wasn’t just a cute nickname: instead, Jinx is the daughter of Satan, and she creates chaos in the multiverse thanks to casting a spell she read from the Book of Lucifer.
Aside from being the possible future ruler of the underworld, she is also the keeper of the Cursed Library. While it is still yet to be revealed how she came to own these twisted tomes, they have nevertheless been entrusted in her care. While she would typically use these tall tales to scare the brats she'd babysit, it's become apparent that these stories are much more sinister... and true. Discover who's writing these stories, why Jinx has them, and what she's going to do with Madam Satan in this summer's next Archie Premium Event: The Cursed Library, on sale in August!
Alexandra Cabot
The Cabot twins are always up to no good, and the Pussycats are always caught right in the middle of it. As the Pussycats’ manager, Alexander Cabot III is in charge of all the band’s endeavors, but his sister Alexandra Cabot always interrupts his plans in an attempt to steal the spotlight. Not only does Alexandra want Josie’s position as lead Pussycat, but she’s constantly trying to win over her boyfriend as well! The siblings come from a wealthy family, which is how they can afford their lavish schemes.
It is believed that Alexandra also has magical powers! It is unclear if she is a witch or not, but some say her powers come from her cat Sebastian, others say it’s from the white streak in her hair. She isn't willing to speak, nor even admit she has powers. But maybe someday...
Betty and Veronica???
In Chilling Sabrina, it was Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge who conjured Madam Satan from a forest lake, when they were attempting magic without knowing what they were about to release.
Sabrina later called on their help, along with Mrs. Porter/Madam Satan, to summon back to life Sabrina's deceased love, Harvey. Unfortunately, what comes back isn't quite the Harvey Sabrina once knew...
While it has not yet been confirmed that Betty and Veronica have magic powers outside of the Chilling Sabrina universe, there's reason to believe they, or at least someone in Riverdale, posses some sort of magic...
Darkling
Darla Lang, aka Darkling, was a mysterious character that made her first appearance in The Mighty Crusaders #3, published in 1983. She aided the Mighty Crusaders in a battle against the villainous supergroup of Eterno, the Brain Emperor, and the Malevolent Legion of Juggernauts, thanks to her mystic cloak, which she used as a melee weapon, trapping her opponents inside and teleporting them away. She was soon accepted into the ranks of the Mighty Crusaders, though she seldom ever revealed much about herself to them.
In 2023's Darkling one-shot, Darla Lang is a quiet, mysterious young college-aged woman who stumbles upon a sinister secret her university has been hiding. Using her magic, she's able to unveil the darkness hiding behind the hallowed halls and bring its perpetrators to justice.
Jaguar
Ivette “Ivy” Velez, aka Jaguar, was first introduced in the New Crusaders in 2012, as Ralph Hardy’s young apprentice. She spent her life in an orphanage after her parents died when she was a baby. While there, Hardy took her under his wing as her mentor.
Ivy’s animalistic powers in originate from the mystical jaguar helmet Ralph discovered and gifted her. While "magic" might not exactly be the correct word to describe the powers Ivy/Jaguar possesses, a helmet granting a young woman powers from an ancient god that gives her animal-like instincts and abilities sounds pretty magical to us!
Amber Nightstone
Watch out, Sabrina—a new nemesis has made her way to Greendale! And unlike the teens Sabrina has faced off against before, this one has an edge: she’s also a witch! First appearing in Sabrina Anniversary Spectacular in September 2022, Amber Nightstone is an evil witch born exactly at the same time and on the same day as Sabrina. Per the Code of Sorcery, only one witch born that day may live among mortals—and Amber wants her turn, which means that she must erase Sabrina from history on her seventeenth birthday!
With her signature bright red and yellow hair resembling flames, fiery is an apt word to describe Amber’s personality! Like Sabrina, Amber also has a familiar, a pet snake named Percy. The duo proved to be formidable opponents for Sabrina and Salem, until head witch Della stepped in and returned order, trapping Amber in an hourglass. But a teen witch with as much personality and power as Amber can’t be held back for long!
In Welcome to Riverdale, Amber was the real person behind the mirror. She used her powers to turn Riverdale into her own little doll house, meddling with everyone's lives while she was imprisoned in the mirror world. It was her goal to be released and find her true foe in Greendale, Sabrina.
Jade Kazane
Jade Kazane is a fierce woodland fairy who generates her power from the wind. She can command it at will and use it to create great destruction—which she relishes in doing. Jade is an agent of chaos, and is often the wildcard of any operation. Her small stature and slight frame allow her to easily maneuver from place to place without getting caught. She may seem unhinged, but she’s very quick-witted and has a sharp tongue that often gets her into trouble—something she also loves! Jade adores being in nature, it’s the only time she’s truly at peace.
Sapphire Gill
Sapphire Gill comes from a family of sea-witches, but she was never quite able to command her voice enough to become a siren. Instead, she was forced to abandon her family, develop legs, and live on land. She still has the ability to conjure water and communicate with sea life,
sporting gill tattoos on her neck as a reminder of what she left behind. Despite the abrupt changes she’s faced in her life, she maintains a calm demeanor and can harness a massive destructive power with her water-bending abilities. Despite being linked with Amber and Jade, it seems that deep down Sapphire may want to do more good than harm, but she can’t get past the resentment she has towards the sea witches who cast her aside.
The Wicked Trinity
With the powers of Fire, Wind, and Water combined, Amber, Jade, and Sapphire unite to form... THE WICKED TRINITY! The Wicked Trinity is a trio of evil outcast teen witches led by Sabrina’s nemesis Amber Nightstone. All bent on revenge and amassing power, the group has made it their mission to capture and imprison magic users, with the goal of absorbing their powers. Their hope is to take over the magic kingdom and become the most powerful witches in the magic realm—but that’s not all. The three all have strong ties to the Salem Witch Trials, and all hunger to get revenge on those that hunted their ancestor witches, which means taking over the mortal realm as well.
In The Wicked Trinity on sale this June, we learn that these three Greendale witches really want one thing above all: to be their truest selves.
...how many of those magic Archie characters were you familiar with? Learn all about the newest witches in Archie Comics, The Wicked Trinity, in their one-shot, which you can preorder in comic shops or online right now.
And who knows? Maybe one day the paths of all these magical women will cross. Only time will tell...
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