IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: David F. Walker and Chuck Brown
ART: Sanford Greene
COLORS: Rico Renzi and Sanford Greene
LETTERS: Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Heather Antos
COVER: Sanford Greene with Jarreau Wimberly
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Mike Mignola; Denys Cowan and Don Hudson with Rico Renzi; Brittney Williams; Sanford Greene with Jarreau Wimberly
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2018)
Rated M/Mature
Bitter Root created by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene
Bitter Root is a new comic book miniseries from Image Comics. It is created by writers David F. Walker and Chuck Brown and artist Sanford Greene. It follows a family of monster fighters who are based in 1920s Harlem. The rest of the creative team is composed of Rico Renzi who colors the book with Sanford Greene and Clayton Cowles who provides lettering.
Bitter Root #1 opens in New York City of the 1920s. The Harlem Renaissance is in full swing, and at one of Harlem's hottest spots, “Sweet Pickin,” people are shaking their tail feathers. But all is not well. Supernatural forces are threatening humanity, and only the Sangerye Family can save New York and the world from the demon... the monster... the “Jinoo.”
Ma Etta does the root work to create the curing serum. Blink assists her, but the young woman wants to be out in the field fighting monsters with the boys. The burly and loquacious Berg puts young Cullen through his paces. The family, however, is not as large in number as it used to be, worn down by tragedy and conflict. They must heal and recover or watch the world be destroyed.
Black science fiction and fantasy – in film and television, in prose, and in comic books – is in full bloom. Comic books like Black Panther, House of Whispers, and Jook Joint provide a regular and consistent view of black and brown faces in speculative and fantastic fiction. Writer David F. Walker has been at the forefront of “Black Comics” thanks to his work on titles like Cyborg, Luke Cage, and Nighthawk, to name a few.
Walker and co-writer Chuck Brown, in Bitter Root, deliver a concept with quite a bit of potential. Even after one issue, it seems that five issues will not be enough to contain what they have created. I like the idea of hate being a thing that creates monsters, but Bitter Root seems to want to explore evil in ways that are layered if not complex. Plus, there are the dynamics of the Sangerye Family. They are four strong individuals, each one truly unique from the others, and all with glorious black and brown faces.
As an comic book artist and illustrator, Sanford Greene is bold and dynamic. The influence and manga and anime on Greene's graphical storytelling is evident, even in Bitter Root. Characters emote with kinetic ferocity and the suggestion of figures in motion here makes the characters move like a cat on a hot tin roof. Green's storytelling is alive and hypnotic. Is it okay to say that this is like crack for the comic book readers' eyes. Greene's coloring, done with Rico Renzi, is equally heady and kinetic.
The ever reliable letterer, Clayton Cowles, also goes shaka zulu with his lettering. A nervy story needs nervy lettering in order to be a nervy read, and Cowles work here is quite nervy. Bitter Root keeps the black gold flowing in our “Golden Age” of “Black Comics.” I recommend it and can't wait for the second issue.
9 out of 10
[This comic book includes text pieces by David F. Walker and Chuck Brown (“Bitter Truths: That ain't nothing but the Devil!”); Toni Morrison (excerpt from Beloved); and John Jennings (“Deep Roots / Rich Soil: Race, Horror and the Ethnogothic”).]
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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