Today's story comes courtesy of the Archie Giant Series title "Sabrina's Christmas Magic #220", and in that story, we learn that sometimes it takes witches and warlocks some time to understand that even their strongest spells are no match for Christmas magic!
In "The Real Power", it's very clear that Sabrina is the most rebellious of the Spellman family because she has integrated herself into the Christmas swing. She loves seeing everybody in a good mood, treating each other with kindness, and being happy all the time. It's also important to note that Sabrina is not in a shopping mall on the 23rd of December, so perhaps she might be suffering from tunnel vision.
Do you want to know who isn't happy? Aunt Hilda. And it's important to note that even though Hilda is depicted as being much nicer in the Sabrina comics that were printed around the same time as the 1996 television series, prior to that, Aunt Hilda could be a...well...witch. Aunt Zelda was always the much kinder of the two and always seemed to understand Sabrina more, but alas, Zelda does not appear in this story, so we get Aunt Hilda who gets more pleasure wrecking people's holiday plans than anything. Wonder if her middle name is Ebenezer or Scrooge?
To show Sabrina she means business, she conjures up a sinister spell in which a runaway toboggan speeds towards a woman carrying an armful of presents. The toboggan knocks over the woman, the woman sustains a sprained ankle, her gifts get destroyed, and Aunt Hilda has a very merry Christmas.
But Hilda's plans are foiled by the sudden appearance of a little kid on said toboggan, and he arrives in time to ask the woman if she needs help with her presents. As the woman heads towards the kid on the sled to load the presents onto the sled, a cinder block from the roof of a building falls and narrowly misses striking her on the head! A nearby pedestrian comments that the Christmas magic saved her life. A sentiment that makes Aunt Hilda want to grab the nearest garbage bag to puke into. Sabrina can't help but poke fun at Hilda, considering that her desire to cause evil was overthrown by the goodness of Christmas. But Hilda's not about to give up so easily.
At first, Sabrina seems pleased with Hilda as she zaps up a purse containing a nice sum of money and no identification inside. She initially thinks that Hilda has learned her lesson, but in truth, Hilda just wants to exploit people's greedy nature, and wants to see just how nasty they can be. Her plan is to have two people spot the purse at the same time and watch as they scratch each other eyes out to stake claim on it. And sure enough, two 40-something women spot our handbag and almost immediately begin fighting over it the same way that Tommy and Angelica Pickles would fight over a toy on the television series "Rugrats".
However, a funny thing happens as both women grab onto the purse.
They both agree that fighting over the purse is silly and they both try to give the purse to the other one, wishing each other a Merry Christmas. And it appears as though the store that Hilda zapped the purse in front of was some sort of travel agency, as a man comes out and announces that both women have won an all-expenses paid vacation to Hawaii! Once again, Hilda's spell has backfired, and she is not happy about it. In fact, it takes everything in Sabrina to restrain Hilda!
Hilda is concerned that she might be losing her touch, and she decides to go back home and speak with Cousin Ambrose. Now, in most cases, Ambrose is just as kind-hearted as Sabrina and Zelda, and while he's not above causing a little mischief now and then, most of the time, his magic is limited towards easy targets like Aunt Hilda or Della the head witch. But Ambrose is willing to set aside his Christmas cheer for a little bit and cause some havoc on the streets - mainly to prove to Hilda that he's a better wizard than she is.
Ambrose, Hilda, and Sabrina return downtown and Ambrose has his target locked.
You know those Santa Claus kettle ringers who try to collect as much money as they can for charity? Well, this street corner Santa doesn't appear to be having a profitable day. And Ambrose is determined to make it even more profitable. With a quick zap, his kettle erupts into a gigantic fireball, and Santa is shocked as it appears his money has burnt to a crisp. Or, has it?
In some weird alchemy twist, the coins in the kettle change from copper pennies into a solid brick of gold, similar to the ones found inside Fort Knox! Santa is completely gobsmacked, Sabrina is happy, and Ambrose and Hilda are cowering in fear, as every single spell that they have tried to cast backfired on them. They're seriously wondering if they have lost their powers. But Sabrina has a very simple explanation.
So, basically it's like the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". They know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake. And if you aren't good, the magic of Christmas will make sure that you are doing good! So, be like Sabrina and embrace the Christmas magic!
Tomorrow on Day #22, I realize that I haven't done a feature on a Little Archie story, so I think I'm going to do one tomorrow. In that tale, what happens when Little Betty requests the one toy that is almost impossible to get? Just ask Santa and his elves!
AWESOME
ReplyDeleteNOT LATE BY ME ---- perfect timing !
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