Bitter Root #5 Review

Writers: David F. Walker and Chuck Brown / Artist: Sanford Greene / Image Comics Issue #5 of Bitter Root ends the first arc of the series. It was full of action, surprises, and colors that will make you wish you never go blind. After the disappearance of Cullen and the presumption of his death, the Sangerye’s band together to take out Dr. Sylvester and the Inzondo running amok across Harlem. But as the tide turns in their favor, some confusing yet familiar faces show up with a warning that things are about to get a whole lot worse.

I really liked this issue. Questions were answered and character arcs were completed. All while more questions are raised and new arcs start. Structurally, it hit all the points that the end of an arc should, all the way down to the cliffhanger that propels us into the next set of issues. I’ve mentioned this before, but what I like that this series has done so far is that it’s provided you with the rules of this world from as early as issue one, but it quickly flips all of that on its head. We’ve now been living in the chaos longer than we have the serenity. So as readers living through these characters by proxy, it really makes us want to root for them because we can feel the sense of urgency trying to get back a slice of life that we’ve only briefly encountered. It’s a technique that really shouldn’t go unnoticed.

The true champion of this issue was the color theory on display. Greene and Renzi are channeling Game 6 MJ with their mixtures and c…