Roots of Madness (2025)

Tweet

A haunting tale from Stephanie Williams (Nubia & the Amazons) and Letizia Cadonici (House of Slaughter).

At the turn of the 20th century, a young Black woman named Etta picks up the tradition of her late mother for creating special medicines using natural ingredients and secrets handed down from generation to generation. Her mother has passed on a book of recipes and formulas, but it’s also full of strange symbols and dark musings that she doesn’t quite understand. Within her community, one of the problems she hopes to fix is counteracting the poisonous and abrasive solutions Black women and girls are sold for straightening their hair. So, when the Meridian Fellowship reaches out and offers her a spot at their institute in Savannah, GA, to use their facilities to do her research, Etta jumps at the chance. She packs up her mother’s book and heads to the sprawling establishment, but what she finds is a place surrounded by natural wonders that may point the way to understanding the more mysterious parts of her mother’s work…if dark forces don’t claim her first.

Inspired by the life of Madame CJ Walker, this alternate history combines tradition with cosmic horror for something truly modern and unique. Featuring main covers by illustrator Juliet Nneka, whose illustrative work has appeared on prose novels, comics like Absolute Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, and in galleries. more