Bitter Root #4
Publisher: Image
Story: Chuck Brown, David Walker, & Sanford Greene
Pencils: Sanford Greene
Colors: Sanford Greene & Rico Renzi
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Sanford Greene
It’s only the fourth issue of Bitter Root and the creative team wasted no time getting us to the point of blood, terror, and monsters flooding the streets of Harlem. The mayhem has found it’s way to the door of the Sangerye household and the monster hunters are fighting on several fronts to save the day. It’s pure bedlam that Walker and Brown have been curating the past few issues as they continue to build a world in Bitter Root that has you eagerly turning every page. Even through all of the action taking place the pacing on the reveals is on point and layered as we find out this is deeper than just monster hunting. This is something that was hinted at earlier in the series but we’re now seeing how the Sangerye family is more at risk as the cause of a new monster is revealed. The explanation given hits pretty hard and you begin to wonder which catalyst is worse as each has the potential to spread through it’s victims like wild fire.
Just as much as the narrative is responsible for Bitter Root’s greatness, Sanford Greene with color assists by Rico Renzi has made the book a visual joy in every panel. Greene’s characters are so full of emotion and humanity that you hardly need the word balloons to understand what’s going on. However, when there is dialogue it’s perfectly in sync and leads to some wonderful moments. The sequence with Ma Etta and Burg is one of those as you see the love in her face/body language but you know she means exactly what she told Burg and would follow through if he was to step out of line. The color palette used here also adds another layer of awesome to the sequential storytelling and is quite unconventional and that’s what makes it so fantastic.
Bitter Root is living up to the hype and promises from the creative team but they’re also exceeding reader expectations with every issue. From the Sangerye family dynamic to the monster hunting action there’s something special about Bitter Root that makes it more than deserving of being in your read pile every month.
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Infinite Speech
infinitespeech@comicattack.net
