Archie's Madhouse #22
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeArchie's Madhouse #22 is the single most consequential Silver Age issue in Archie Comics history, because it introduced Sabrina Spellman — the teenage witch who would grow from a five-page humor anthology short into one of the publisher's flagship characters, spawning decades of comics, a long-running Filmation animated series, and multiple live-action television productions. The debut planted a genuinely original character in a genre — the supernatural teen — that Archie had not seriously explored before, effectively expanding the Archie universe beyond Riverdale into the adjacent fictional town of Greendale. What makes this origin particularly remarkable is that both creators considered it a one-shot with no sequel expectations; the organic fan response that kept Sabrina returning to the book throughout the 1960s is a textbook case of readers driving editorial decisions rather than the other way around. Decades later, the Netflix series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina — a dark reimagining of the same character — confirmed just how durable and adaptable this 1962 debut concept proved to be.
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The five-page lead story, titled 'Presenting Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch,' was written by George Gladir and drawn by Dan DeCarlo, inked by Rudy Lapick, and lettered by Vincent DeCarlo — a tight Archie house-team assembled for what the creators assumed would be a standalone gag strip. Gladir has stated in print that the character's name was inspired by a woman he remembered from his junior high school days, though he later realized her name was actually 'Sabra' rather than 'Sabrina.' Comics scholars and the Grand Comics Database have noted that the story draws heavily from the 1958 film adaptation of *Bell, Book and Candle* starring Kim Novak: several witchery rules introduced in the debut — including that witches cannot cry, cannot sink in water, and lose their powers if they fall in love — mirror plot mechanics from that film and were quietly dropped in later Sabrina installments. The issue was published by Archie Comic Publications and edited by Richard H. Goldwater, appearing in a 36-page anthology that, by issue #19, had already pivoted away from the regular Archie gang toward monster, sci-fi, and wacky one-off character stories.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Sabrina Spellman (billed as 'Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch') in the five-page lead story 'Presenting Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch,' cover-dated October 1962.
- First appearance of Salem, Sabrina's cat familiar, and Della (also spelled 'Delia'), identified as the Head Witch — both characters who originated in this issue alongside Sabrina.
- Created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, with inks by Rudy Lapick and lettering by Vincent DeCarlo; Richard H. Goldwater served as editor.
- Both Gladir and DeCarlo reportedly conceived the character as a one-shot; Gladir later recalled being 'flabbergasted' when the strip became popular enough to warrant repeat appearances throughout the decade and eventually an animated series.
- The story's rules of witchcraft — including that witches lose their powers if they fall in love — were drawn from the 1958 film *Bell, Book and Candle* (starring Kim Novak), with Salem paralleling that film's familiar Pyewacket; these rules were dropped in subsequent Sabrina stories.
- Sabrina made intermittent appearances in Archie's Madhouse through issue #74 before transitioning to Archie's TV Laugh-Out and her own solo title (Sabrina the Teenage Witch Vol. 1, 1971–1983, 77 issues), which launched after Filmation's CBS Saturday-morning animated series debuted in 1969–1970 as a segment of *The Archie Comedy Hour*.
- The debut story and several companion strips from this issue were reprinted in Madhouse Comics Digest #1 (1975–76) and Archie's Madhouse Annual #3 (1965–66).
- The issue exists in two cover-price variants: the standard 12-cent edition and a scarcer 15-cent price variant.
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