Review: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Vol. 1

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 
Author, Roberto- Aguirre Sacasa 

by Jarad Johnson 

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Readers, I need help. I’ll get to that in the end.  But I’ll start with my last reading experience. I’m not someone who reads comics. Actually, I don’t remember ever reading all the way through any before, although I’ve glanced through some at some point. However, my addiction to the Netflix show Chilling Adventures of Sabrina led me to this one. This comic is actually the basis for the show, so when I found it, I had to pick it up. 
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To be honest, I didn’t love the comic, and if I hadn’t watched the show, I probably wouldn’t have liked it as much as I did. Because I’m a reader of novels, I found the pace far too rapid. The plot was fine here, and I was glad to have recognized certain things that also happened in the show, but I like to see a plot unfold over hundreds of pages. I like detail, side plots, world building, I like to get invested into a story and stay with it for as long as possible. Sometimes, I even slow down my reading pace when I like a book, so I won’t get to the end as fast. In short, I like to marinate in a plot on low heat for at least a week.
I guess this, my first real comic book read, just went too fast. I read it in an hour, and it was like reading a summary of a larger plot. I wanted more. I realize that’s not the format I’m working with here, but a 400-page novel would have been more to my liking.

Maybe comic books just don’t have enough side plot for my taste. Most of them seem to have more straight forward plots, with not very many twists and turns or side characters, which makes them more suited to the shorter format. For example, I don’t think you ever read about Batman’s cousin coming to visit him or Wonder Woman’s adventures in house hunting. No, they fight bad guys, plain and simple. So, I was a little sad, because this comic felt very rushed, one event stumbling over the next.

​There was no buildup, and the main points felt very stark when not surrounded by the usual padding of a novel. In short, I think that the plot of the story itself is great (obviously, since it also formed the show) but being me, I kind of wish it had been a novel. I’m kind of sad that I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I may consider reading volume two, but I would love some input from readers on how to read comics.  What’s special about this genre? What should heavy novel readers like me know? What makes a great comic? What switches in your brain do you turn on to read comics?

​If anyone out there wants to send in review of comics that you love that would be great too. Send them to [email protected].
 

​Bio:
Jarad is the co-administrator and writer for Sacred Chickens, attends college at MTSU, loves tea and coffee, and tries to spend every spare second reading. He recently developed an interest (some might say obsession) with gardening. Jarad is an English major with a concentration in literature.  Bless his heart!  Let's all light a candle for him and send him happy thoughts!

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