Issue 4

Issue 4 is the fourth issue of Bitter Root and was published November, 2018. The fourth issue is included in the first collected edition, Bitter Root: Family Business.

Plot Summary

Following the previous outbreak of Jinoo, downtown Harlem is swarming with angry Jinoo who are terrorising the streets — the majority of them are ex-police men who have been turned into Jinoo. Sullivan and Samuels stay behind and try to get people to safety.

At the Sangerye establishment, Ma Etta tries to talk with Berg. She tells him that she might be small and old, but she still knows how to fight. After talking with him, she is able to reach him and tells him not to repeat the tragedies of 1919; the Red Summer. Etta admits that Enoch was right and they need his assistance if they are going to cure Berg of whatever has taken hold of him.

Enoch and Cullen find themselves in a hurry to return to the Sangerye establishment and help Berg. On the way, however, they encounter Miss Knightsdale in her raven-like form. Immediately, Enoch recognises that she is not Jinoo, but perhaps something far worse. Enoch references the idea that whilst black people cannot become Jinoo — given the Jinoo's entire essence is racism and hate — they can be twisted by great sorrow and pain; this is called Inzondo. It is shortly revealed that both Miss Knightsdale and Doctor Sylvester are suffering with this.

Ford arrives momentarily alongside Enoch and Cullen. Cullen and Enoch find themselves face-to-face with Doctor Sylvester and other-worldly creatures that are escaping from a gateway not far away. Cullen tries to battle the beings, but finds himself pulled within the gateway — Enoch and Ford look on, worried, and the two question if history is repeating itself.

Characters

Sangerye Family

• Etta Sangerye
• Blink Sangerye
• Cullen Sangerye
• Ford Sangerye
• Enoch Sangerye
• Berg Sangerye

Recurring Characters

• Doctor Sylvester
• Miss Knightsdale
• Samuels
• Sullivan

Other Characters

• Numerous police men
• Numerous Jinoo

Trivia

• Reference is made to the tragedies of 1919, this is a cultural reference to the Red Summer, a series of racial riots in the United States.
  • It is possible, and highly likely, that Cullen and Blink's parents were killed during the riots.