Salem, Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s familiar, advisor and feline friend, will get a second shot at a solo story in October’s The Nine Lives of Salem. The Archie Horror one-shot will reunite Cullen Bunn and Dan Schoening, who worked on 2022’s Chilling Adventures of Salem, and add artist Ben Galvan into the mix.
While the previous one-shot saw Salem defending local stray animals from an evil magic user, this time he’ll be facing his fellow four-legged creatures “in a series of magical battles culminating in a new direction for Sabrina’s once-cuddly confidante.”
“We’re setting our fiendish feline up as an occult investigator of sorts, the John Constantine of the Archie Universe,” Bunn said. “And, make no mistake, even with a cat as the protagonist, these stand-alone stories are dark and horror-filled. You can grab a copy and delight in the terror we’re unleashing in these pages.”
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The new story sees Salem facing off not just other magical beasts, but also with his past:
Salem was once a powerful warlock whose misuse of powers led him to live the rest of his life in servitude, acting as a cat familiar to a family of witches. But even in feline form, he can’t escape the sins of his past. And when some familiar faces return seeking revenge, he might just use up all of his nine lives trying to save himself from their wrath.
“I’m grateful to be back in the world of Archie Horror, and to sink my teeth into this terrifying story penned by the amazing mind of Cullen Bunn,” Schoening said. “This time around, I’ll be working on designs and layouts, then passing along finishing duties to the sublime hand of Ben Galvan. We’ve also whipped up some never-before-seen gruesome characters for this issue that you won’t want to miss.”
Galvan, a regular contributor to Archie’s all-ages line, gets lured over the dark side for the one-shot.
“It’s always exciting for me to switch over from classic Archie to demonic Archie because it’s such a striking switch-up,” Galvan said “Cullen’s mythical Americana mixed with Dan’s scary-beautiful style and detail guarantees some horrifying fun for the Archie Universe.”
Robert Hack did a variant cover that has a classic horror movie vibe:
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“It brings me so much sick joy to return to the dark, twisted, and pawsitively riveting world of Salem,” said Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante. “It makes me even giddier to return to that world with the same team that brought us the first Salem one-shot. Cullen and Dan have worked perfectly together to craft classic-style horror that not only spotlights Salem, but expands his world and those within it. Nine Lives of Salem explores Salem confronting sins of his past as a warlock, and how he handles them now, as an apex predator.”
The Nine Lives of Salem will arrive in stores Oct. 16.