Bitter Root #6 // Review
The return of the creative team of writers David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and artist Sanford Greene's popular Bitter Root series has been highly anticipated. Since the end of the first story arc last year, a lot has happened for the team. The first run ended with a movie option with Ryan Coogler on board producing. In the new jump off the Sangeryes clan returns to fight the evil Jinoo and also faces new threats from within.
Rage and Redemption part one opens in the Barzakh, the dimension between heaven and hell, where Cullen is clearly a more cynical, darker version of himself. He and Blink are fighting off demons and reconnecting with family members they thought were deceased. This story begins right where it left off, the future is looking grim, but now the stakes are even higher as not only Harlem, but the whole world is now in danger from the racist Jinoo. But a new threat also looms. The Sangeryes family is pretty big, and they have to be to fight the Jinoo on multiple fronts now. We get reacquainted a little bit with each character, just enough to engage new readers and refresh the memory of old Bitter Root fans. New characters arise, and it's revealed that the Sangeryes aren't the only family in the demon-fighting business. And some of these other families aren't looking upon The Sangeryes very highly right now. As a matter of fact, they are blaming them for a lot of the increased number of Jinoo in Harlem and the mayhem and chaos they have wrought. The blame game is an all too familiar motif for black people that have been demonized and ostracized for doing what they think is right.
There is even more Jinoo running loose, causing havoc and with a threat from a new protagonist that actually utilizes traumatized people to create a new type of monster. There are many different directions this can go, luckily Walker and Brown created enough characters that you actually care about to pull off several different plots and angles in the future. It's not character saturation, but an expansion of the world of Bitter Root beyond Harlem. Blink is still on her mission to prove that she is more than just a potion maker for the family. Ma Etta is noticing her and Nora are more alike than she thought. Berg is back, and he's as funny as ever with his loquacious vocabulary. But the malady he was afflicted with is still with him, and he has to fight his urges to hold those demons at bay.
David F. Walker and Chuck Brown did an extraordinary job of dropping us right off in the thick of the action from the first arc. While fighting in another dimension, letting you know this world has expanded to other realms. They also added new protagonists that are interesting and have a backstory that makes them easy to empathize with, which always makes for a good villain. The writing and art on Bitter Root are still complimentary. Sanford Greene uses scratches and imperfection to communicate the urgency in each panel. Sofie Dodgson uses a minimalist approach to the colors as the panels are laid over each other like a flipbook that gives each page a cartoon feel and helps the story flow. Sofie blends the colors perfectly, and the deep pinks, blues, and purples are like 1920's Harlem jazz against the brown textured bodies. The marriage of art and dialogue is flawless in Bitter Root, and this team brought the Sangeryes family back in excellent form. Bitter Root aficionados should be thrilled with the latest offering. Going forward, there are more racist Jinoo, more monsters, and more realms of possibility for the Sangeryes family outside of Harlem. This was a solid beginning to the second arc, with all of the pivotal characters looking good, showing some growth and coming into their own.
All of the adulation for this series is well deserved. And if you missed out on the first run of Bitter Root, the sixth installment is a great way to catch up on the story.
