Bitter Root Vol 1 by Chuck Brown and David F. Walker

The Sangerye family have fought monsters for generations. When evil turns people against themselves, when greed and avarice blind, the Sangerye family has the remedy. They collect these rampaging zombies-like turnings and take them to their shop in Harlem to bring them back to humanity. Set in the 1920s during a time of great cultural renaissance and civil unrest, Bitter Root is a beautifully drawn hunt for power-hungry monsters.

I loved the art. The characters, the monsters, the settings, the two-page fight scenes… colorful and pointedly exaggerated, yet subtle and heart rendering when needed. There’s an initial fight to introduce the characters, then they regroup to assess the situation. A threat is out there that wants to undermine the “saving the zombies from themselves…” And it’s up to the family to figure out their inner conflicts as well as the fate of NYC.

I know this is surprising, but I found the pace of this one to be a bit too quick. I needed some more time with the characters to really feel their motivations and place in the family. All hell seems to break loose on page one of the book and there’s just not enough time for them to develop fully.