Red Roots #1 is written and illustrated by Lorenzo De Felici and published by Image Comics. Letters by Rus Wooton and the main cover art (left) is by Lorenzo De Felici.
Red Roots #1 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
The lives of a professional killer and a high school teacher are bound by a terrifying, mysterious force.
Review
In recent years, Lorenzo De Felici has made a name for himself as a truly talented writer and artist, working on various Image titles such as Transformers, Void Rivals and Oblivion Song, just to name a few. Now he has been given full rein with his own series, Red Roots, to show what he is fully capable of when left to his devices.
As the synopsis suggests, the series follows two very different stories, one about a mysterious killer going on a rampage and the other about a high school teacher who is being tormented in her own home. For the most part, this first issue keeps these narratives at arm’s length, letting them both play out side by side with no initial connective tissue on show. This may frustrate some, but personally, I think it works surprisingly well at building unease and paranoia between the perspectives.
The driving force of this issue is easily Felici’s artwork, which is striking from page to page. He does a great job at giving the series its own visual identity and making both stories work within it at the same time, while making them distinct from each other. Pages focused on the killer are dark, bloody and driven by visual storytelling with minimal dialogue, whereas anything focused on the teacher is dialogue-heavy and has a warm, Amblin feel to it…veering more into Poltergeist territory as the issue goes on.
Again, these two vastly different approaches may seem like they best fit their own comics, but somehow they do work next to one another. The growing uncertainty and somewhat playful style of the teacher’s story help break up the constant bloodshed and violence found in the killer’s pages. If the comic were to be purely focused on just one of these narratives, I think they could get old very quickly, either due to the excessive, non-stop action of one or the building anxiety of the other.
The way these dual storylines are executed raises questions from start to finish, none of which are answered, but all of which keep you, the reader, on the edge of your seat, hoping for some closure in future issues. Who is this killer? Why is he killing these people? Why is this woman seeing decapitated heads in her house? How will these two paths meet? Tons of threads for Felici to explore moving forward.
Considering everything this first issue brilliantly sets up, Felici somehow finds the time to throw in an extra curveball at the last minute, setting a cliffhanger in a place that just raises even more questions but opens up a lot of possibilities for the story and potential blends of genre.
This is a very strong debut for Red Roots, taking a bold approach that mixes intense action, gritty tone and a palpable mystery that continues to get more ambiguous with each panel. This is also a great showcase of Felici’s talents as a writer and artist, flexing every creative muscle he has to take genre tropes we take for granted and present something wholly unique.
Verdict
Red Roots takes two drastically different perspectives and puts them together with great effect. Felici bounces between these varying stories with ease, giving each their own breathing room without prioritising one over the other and leaving just enough intrigue to keep you wanting more.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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