Oni Press Summons a MIDNIGHT Release for Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1
Sabrina Spellman is about to make October 7 even more magical. Oni Press and Archie Comics are expanding the launch of Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 with a special MIDNIGHT release program, retailer discounts, and the debut of a wicked new Pyre Satanic variant cover by Chloe Brailsford.
Halloween is arriving early in Greendale.
Oni Press and Archie Comics are putting extra magic behind Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1, announcing a special MIDNIGHT retail initiative that will allow participating comic shops to begin selling the highly anticipated first issue at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
The launch gives retailers an opportunity to turn one of the fall’s biggest new comic releases into an actual midnight event, complete with an exclusive open-order variant, enhanced retailer discounts, and a release date that places Sabrina alongside several high-profile Marvel releases participating in the broader MIDNIGHT program.
For Sabrina Spellman, a normal Wednesday apparently was never an option.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 Gets a MIDNIGHT Launch
The new initiative marks the first time Oni Press is officially allowing participating retailers to release Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 beginning at 12:01 a.m. on October 7.
That gives stores the option to build late-night release events around the launch, putting Sabrina alongside Marvel’s Midnight Fantastic Four #1, Midnight Spider-Man #1, and Midnight X-Men #1 on the same major new-comics date.
The timing is especially appropriate for Sabrina. The new ongoing series launches only weeks before Halloween and is already centered around Greendale’s most magical time of year.
Readers who want a deeper look at what Corinna Bechko and Kano have planned can catch up with our Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 first-look coverage, where we broke down Sabrina’s new beginning, Salem’s role, the Halloween setting, and the massive cover program surrounding the launch.
Oni’s previously released interior preview confirms that this version of Sabrina is still learning how to balance being a teenager with discovering an entirely new magical identity.
Meet the First Pyre Satanic Variant
The MIDNIGHT program is not stopping with an early release.
Oni Press is also introducing the first-ever Archie Comics Pyre Satanic variant cover, with Chloe Brailsford bringing a much darker visual treatment to Sabrina Spellman.
The new Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 Pyre Satanic MIDNIGHT Variant will be available as an open-order cover, meaning retailers participating in the program will not have to meet an incentive ratio to order it.
Brailsford’s cover transforms Sabrina into a striking red-and-black composition filled with sharp graphic lines, gothic attitude, and a deliberately subversive edge. The design is dramatically different from Kano’s playful main cover, making the variant feel like its own interpretation of Sabrina rather than simply another alternate image.
The “Pyre Satanic” branding is designed as a playful riff on a distinctive piece of Archie Comics history, and Oni is positioning Sabrina’s cover as the first entry in this new variant subset.
For collectors already following the title’s extensive cover lineup, it adds one more significant option before launch.
Final Order Cut-Off Is August 31
The Chloe Brailsford Pyre Satanic Variant will be offered alongside the rest of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 covers through Final Order Cut-Off on August 31, 2026.
That open-order status makes the cover particularly interesting for both stores and collectors. Unlike the book’s 1:10, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, and 1:250 incentive variants, retailers can order the Pyre Satanic edition based on expected customer demand rather than having to qualify through a specific order threshold.
Oni previously unveiled Sabrina’s already substantial cover lineup featuring Kano, Marguerite Sauvage, Naomi Franq, Caroline Cash, Dan Parent, Erica Henderson, and Mahmud Asrar in its official Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 cover reveal.
Horror fans may also remember FANGORIA’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch cover reveal, which helped showcase how broad Oni and Archie are going with the visual identity of this new series.
Oni Press Adds Deeper Retailer Discounts
Oni is giving comic shops another incentive to make October 7 a Sabrina event.
According to the MIDNIGHT promotional material, retailers ordering Cover A by Kano can qualify for additional tiered discounts based on their order quantity.
Stores ordering 25–49 copies receive an additional 5% discount, orders of 50–99 copies receive an additional 7%, and orders of 100 copies or more receive an additional 10%.
Oni says the discount structure is designed to match the incentives being offered for Marvel’s MIDNIGHT releases, giving retailers an opportunity to stock Sabrina more aggressively ahead of the October launch.
For stores planning midnight parties, Halloween promotions, themed displays, cosplay events, or Sabrina-focused release celebrations, those additional discounts could make larger orders considerably more attractive.
Corinna Bechko and Kano Begin a New Sabrina Era
All of the promotion would mean considerably less without a strong comic behind it, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 already looks like a confident new direction for the character.
The ongoing series is written by Hugo Award nominee Corinna Bechko, whose credits include Green Lantern: Earth One and EC’s Blood Type, with artwork by Eisner Award nominee Kano, known for work including Daredevil and Gotham Central.
Oni and Archie are using the series to reintroduce Sabrina as a 16-year-old still adjusting to one enormous revelation: she is a witch.
Magic sounds wonderful until it comes with rules.
Sabrina cannot reveal herself to mortals. She cannot leave spells unfinished. She cannot casually ignore the consequences of supernatural power.
Unfortunately, she is also sixteen.
That is where Bechko’s concept gets interesting.
Sabrina is dealing with the same questions about friends, parties, identity, embarrassment, crushes, clothes, and independence that occupy any teenager—but every mistake now has the potential to become magical.
Oni’s first look inside Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 shows exactly that balance, with Sabrina worrying about her Halloween costume while Salem and her family are considerably more concerned with the responsibilities that come with being a witch.
Kano Gives Greendale a Bold New Look
The preview artwork from Kano gives this new Sabrina series an immediately recognizable visual identity.
The pages are clean, graphic, colorful, and expressive, with an approach that can shift quickly between teenage comedy and supernatural weirdness.
One sequence finds Sabrina standing in front of a mirror in a black witch costume, wondering whether dressing as a witch is too obvious now that being one is actually part of her life.
It is exactly the kind of character joke this series needs.
Sabrina wants to participate in a perfectly normal Halloween tradition.
Her new reality has made even choosing a costume complicated.
The strong yellows, blacks, reds, blues, and negative space make the pages feel contemporary without completely abandoning the pop-art sensibility that has always fit Archie characters so well.
Salem Is Definitely Not Staying Out of Trouble
Then there is Salem.
The preview pages make it very clear that Sabrina’s familiar is not going to spend this series quietly sitting on a windowsill.
On Halloween night in Greendale, a massive catlike creature stalks through the darkness beneath an enormous red moon before making its way into Sabrina’s life.
Sabrina’s initial reaction is understandable.
She wants the thing gone.
Salem seems to have other ideas.
That leads directly into the central problem teased for the first issue: when Sabrina’s feline familiar brings a mythical trickster into her life, her magical and mortal worlds begin heading toward a collision.
Oni’s official synopsis describes Sabrina as still processing the revelation of her magical birthright while attempting to balance witchcraft with the responsibilities of being sixteen. Halloween only makes hiding those two lives more complicated.
Sabrina’s Friends Bring the Teenage Half of the Story to Life
The interior pages also make it clear that magic is only half the equation.
Sabrina still has friends.
She still cares how she looks.
She still gets embarrassed.
She still wants to attend Halloween events without turning everything into a supernatural lesson.
Her friends respond to Sabrina’s witch costume like normal teenagers would, teasing her while also offering advice. Sabrina, meanwhile, has to process those conversations knowing that her costume is suddenly much closer to reality than anyone suspects.
That separation between what Sabrina’s mortal friends see and what Sabrina actually knows should provide the new ongoing series with a strong source of tension.
Sabrina has been told one of the fundamental rules.
Do not reveal yourself to mortals.
For a teenager trying to figure out who she is, hiding a huge part of that identity is easier said than done.
Greendale Looks Perfect for Halloween
Setting the launch around Halloween is one of Oni and Archie’s smartest choices.
Sabrina is synonymous with autumn, magic, witches, black cats, costumes, and supernatural trouble, and Kano’s preview art embraces that atmosphere immediately.
One of the strongest preview images opens on Greendale on Halloween night, with enormous yellow eyes cutting through the darkness before a monstrous feline silhouette races beneath a huge red moon.
It feels spooky without becoming overly grim.
That balance matters.
This is not being presented as another full horror reinvention of Sabrina.
It is an all-ages-accessible supernatural adventure with mischief, strange creatures, teenage anxieties, and enough eerie imagery to make October feel essential to the story.
The Cover Program Is Massive
Even before the addition of the Pyre Satanic edition, Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 was being positioned as a significant collector launch.
Kano provides Cover A, establishing the primary visual identity for the ongoing series.
Marguerite Sauvage contributes Cover B.
Naomi Franq provides Cover C.
Caroline Cash delivers Cover D.
Kano and Caroline Cash also receive separate $8.99 foil variants.
Kano contributes the 1:10 Teaser Variant.
Legendary Archie artist Dan Parent handles the 1:20 Legacy Variant.
Erica Henderson provides the 1:50 incentive cover.
Mahmud Asrar contributes the 1:100 variant.
And Kano returns for the extremely limited 1:250 black-and-white variant.
Oni’s official cover reveal confirms this broad lineup, while FANGORIA also spotlighted several of the designs when the series was initially announced.
Now Chloe Brailsford’s Pyre Satanic Variant joins the mix as the MIDNIGHT program’s open-order addition.
Why the MIDNIGHT Program Matters
Comic launches have become increasingly dependent on making an issue feel like an event rather than simply another book appearing on Wednesday.
Sabrina is especially well suited to that strategy.
October 7 falls at the beginning of the Halloween season.
Comic shops can build midnight launches around costumes, horror comics, Archie history, Sabrina merchandise, themed displays, contests, giveaways, and other seasonal programming.
The Pyre Satanic variant gives those events something exclusive in spirit without locking retailers behind a high incentive ratio.
The tiered discount program gives stores another reason to bring in deeper inventory.
And having Sabrina arrive alongside several Marvel MIDNIGHT launches gives retailers the opportunity to make the evening broader than any single publisher.
Rather than competing with the unusually crowded date, Oni is leaning directly into it.
Sabrina Is Becoming a Major Part of Oni’s Archie Relaunch
Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 is also part of something much larger happening between Oni Press and Archie Comics.
The companies are using Archie’s 85th anniversary era to rethink several corners of the Riverdale universe through new creators, new series, and dramatically different tones.
Sabrina may be one of the most immediately accessible of those projects.
She can support comedy.
Horror.
Teen drama.
Romance.
Mystery.
Supernatural adventure.
Sometimes all within the same issue.
That flexibility gives Bechko and Kano enormous room to build an ongoing series without disconnecting Sabrina from the qualities that have kept the character recognizable across generations.
Oni describes the launch as part of its new line of Archie comics and has emphasized that Sabrina’s ongoing arrives as a major piece of the publisher’s expanding Archie initiative.
October 7 Is Turning Into a Major New Comics Day
With the MIDNIGHT announcement, October 7, 2026 is shaping up to be considerably more than an ordinary New Comic Book Day.
For Sabrina fans, it means the beginning of a brand-new ongoing series.
For Archie collectors, it marks another major launch in the property’s 85th-anniversary era.
For variant collectors, it brings one of the year’s deeper Sabrina cover programs.
For retailers, it provides a midnight-sale opportunity plus additional discounts.
And for anyone who thinks comic shops could use more actual event-driven releases?
This is exactly the sort of launch designed to get people through the doors.
Final Thoughts
Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 already had the ingredients for a major October launch. The MIDNIGHT program gives Oni Press and Archie Comics another way to make it feel like an event.
Corinna Bechko and Kano are introducing readers to a Sabrina who has only recently discovered just how complicated being a witch can be. Salem is bringing trouble home. Halloween is approaching. Sabrina’s mortal friends cannot know the truth. Magical rules are piling up faster than Sabrina can learn them.
Now retailers can officially begin the fun at 12:01 a.m. on October 7.
Add Chloe Brailsford’s first Pyre Satanic variant, the expanded retailer discounts, the already impressive regular and incentive cover lineup, and Kano’s expressive Halloween-ready interiors, and Sabrina’s newest era is arriving with a considerable amount of magic behind it.
Midnight is coming to Greendale.
Sabrina Spellman appears ready for it.
The bigger question is whether everyone else is.
Join the Discussion
Are you planning to pick up Sabrina the Teenage Witch #1 on October 7, and which cover has your attention—the Kano main cover, one of the incentives, or Chloe Brailsford’s new Pyre Satanic MIDNIGHT variant?
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