As a native of New York, I have seen the city change over the years. My neighborhood changed demographics within waves of five to ten years. It went from being influential to the middle class. Then right after I joined the military, it went through one more transformation, gentrification.

Neighbors whom I knew for a lifetime, lost their homes. It wasn’t lost on me that this was part of the larger machine. As it is with the “Haves and Have Nots”, those with money have choices. Those who don’t are at somebody’s will.  In the years since then, it has increasingly more prevalent and pervasive, with no urgency for equity. In Ginseng Roots #4, Craig Thompson gives readers another dimension to gentrification, as he illuminates the reader on how it affects rural communities.

We find the Thompson siblings visiting an old friend, Rollie, whom they work for in the summers they did not work the Ginseng gardens. There they did even more grueling work, rock picking. The reader soon finds out just how crucial the work was to pruning ginseng, and how it helped the different Ginseng farmers. The reader eventually finds out there are a plethora of different types of ginseng roots, and all of them are used differently, even inspiring some childhood friends to make Ginseng beer. By the issue’s end, Thompson tethers his childhood experiences to the concept that ginseng is more than root to him and the people he loves.

Overall, Ginseng Roots #4 is a fascinating issue that illuminates while it educates. The story by Craig Thompson is authentic. The art by Thompson is wonderful. Altogether, Thompson gives the reader an issue that focuses on something that matters.

Story: Craig Thompson Art: Craig Thompson
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

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Purchase: Uncivilized Books