Independent Month: Zelda and Hilda's Appearances and Last Name

It's Independent Month here at Jor-Ellis Island! As I stated back in the Thirty Days of Turtles, I want to start branching out this blog beyond Marvel and DC. It won't happen often because I'm not as familiar with other comics companies and I'm not sure they take to immigrants as well as Marvel and DC do, but I will be on the lookout for them in the future. They won't always be in a theme month like this, I don't think, but we'll see how it goes. Let's get to it!

Sabrina the Teenage Witch first debuted in Archie's Madhouse #22 (August 1962) in a story that was meant to be a one-off. The character was very popular, however, and gained multiple series of her own over time, not to mention several tv shows. In her most popular show, she had two aunts named Zelda and Hilda.

They're from the comics, but they're not what you'd expect. Hilda actually premiered before Sabrina, as "Hilda the Witch", the host of Archie's Madhouse, beginning with issue 19 (April 1962).

She didn't become "Aunt Hilda" until Archie's Madhouse #37 (September 1964). Aunt Zelda wouldn't show up until Archie's Madhouse #65 (October 1968), and by that time, Hilda's appearance changed somewhat; she now had red hair.

As you can see, the ones in the show were much more attractive and hip than in the comics. But in 1997, Sabrina got a new comic series to capitalize on the hit show. And it - wisely - decided to make the comics characters a little closer to what the show depicted. In the case of Hilda and Zelda, they got younger and hipper, and gained the last name Spellman, as seen on the cover of Sabrina the Teenage Witch #5 (July 1997):

(Obviously the last name goes for Sabrina too, but I'm not making a whole extra entry just for that.)