In our review of Red Roots #1, we’re introduced to professional killer Sand, kind-hearted teacher Kate, and a strange situation involving decapitations.
Red Roots #1
Writer: Lorenzo De Felici
Art and Main Cover: Lorenzo De Felici
Variant Covers: Luana Vecchio, Riley Rossmo, Jason Howard, Mike Mignola, Ryan Ottley, Lorenzo De Felici
Page Count: 48 pages
Release Date: April 29, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Red Roots #1 starts with a figure breaking into a place, cutting the power, and proceeding to kill those inside.
We then shift to a classroom, where Kate’s just finishing her day. In the teacher’s lounge, she and a coworker discuss life a bit before she goes home to her cats Rita and Jane, going to feed them.
The killer’s spree continues, and we see a photo of his target as he takes out those with any connection to the guy. This time, he releases a gas into the air.
Back with Kate, she’s watching the news with dismay, and then realizes that the cats have barely touched their food. She goes looking for them, and sees that something in the closet’s gained their attention…
The killer gets into a fight, eventually takes out his current target…but he’s not done yet.
Kate finds a severed head in her closet and quite understandably freaks the hell out, calls 911, and faints. When she’s questioned later, she says she has absolutely no idea how it could have gotten there.
As the killer’s murder tour continues, Kate’s been staying with someone until she gets the okay to go home. The cops had found no answers to who the head belonged to or how it got there. She gets back home, goes to feed the cats, and the cats find another head on her couch.
The killer, whose name is revealed at this point to be “Sand”, is looking for the boss of the syndicate he’s been a-murderin’ for this whole thing. The leader, for his part, wants to know why he’s being hunted.
Kate has a bit of a breakdown, wondering if she—like her mother—is losing her mind. Maybe all of the subsequent heads she’s seeing are real, maybe hallucinations.
Sand confronts the leader, and we find that his attack’s motivated by the loss of an Agent Hourglass. He kills the boss, but is apparently killed right after, when the titular red roots pull him through the floor.
As Kate calls her mother for solace, she’s disrupted by a pounding at the door. The door opens to reveal an axe-wielding behemoth, demanding something that belongs to him.
Oh, where to begin with Red Roots #1, because this title’s already looking to be a crazy ride. I do love the way the story bounces between Sand’s revenge mission and just how freaky Kate’s situation is. I mean, one of them’s very much accustomed to death and is shown to be quite effective at dishing it out. But Kate is the type of person to watch the news and wonder what in the hell possesses someone to do horrible things. If Sand were to find a head in his closet, his reaction would probably be much different.
I do wonder just how many of the heads in Kate’s place are actually real, as well. The first one in the closet, definitely, since the police were able to see and test it. But the subsequent ones, especially when some kind of mental illness runs in Kate’s family and she keeps hearing the rest of the heads say that she’s just like her mother, definitely raise some questions. Plus, the amount of stress she’d have been dealing with after that first head could easily trigger a few things.
The contrast between both of their lives is shown really well. The scene in the school that introduces Kate has a brightness to the color palette, thus showing how normal her life is, as opposed to Sand’s scenes, which feature quite a bit of red. I wonder about the time frame his scenes are set in, because if those kills aren’t spaced out…someone’s certainly had a busy night.
Also, I can always appreciate a well-done naming theme, and a dude going by “Sand” avenging someone named ”Hourglass”? Well-played.
The artwork in Red Roots #1 overall works well for the story. For Sand’s scenes, along with all the blood, things are dark and gritty. For Kate’s scenes, even when things get darker, we see some excellent facial expressions. Her fear and panic over that first severed head come through very clearly, palpable through the page.
Now, I’m also extremely curious as to the nature of the red roots themselves. They’re seen pulling Sand’s body through the floor, but are they also what’s leaving the heads (assuming 99% of them are real) into Kate’s place? And for that matter, I’m wondering why they’d choose her place in the first place. Was it a random thing, or was the place built atop some kind of burial ground? And for that matter, is the guy with the axe at the end real, a hallucination, or something connected to the roots as well? I have to say, very curious on all of that.
Final Thoughts
Red Roots #1 is a strong start to a story that’s sure to play with your head. It combines a tale of revenge with the story of a normal lady questioning her sanity to provide a number of questions that I look forward to seeing answered.
