Roots of Madness

When traditional remedies meet a new frontier of science -- can long kept family secrets help the world, or doom us all to cosmic oblivion?

In a terrifying body horror reimagining of Madam CJ Walker's life, Etta Knight must break a generational curse or succumb to the maw of madness!

At the turn of the 20th century, a young Black woman named Etta Knight picks up the tradition of her late mother for creating special medicines using natural ingredients and secrets passed 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 women of color are sold for straightening her 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 school, but what she finds there is a secret society and a campus 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 the supernatural for something truly modern and unique.

This volume collects issues 1-6 of Roots of Madness.

Author: Stephanie Williams
Publisher: Ignition Press
Published: 09/22/2026
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 10.11h x 6.61w x 0.41d
ISBN: 9781968063108

About the Author
Stephanie Williams is a research scientist turned prolific comic writer. She's best known for bringing Nubia back to relevancy for DC Comics with Nubia and the Amazons and Nubia: Queen of the Amazons. Stephanie has worked on titles like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Wreck and Roll, My Little Pony, Alien: Black, White, Blood, and many more. She has two recent releases, Street Sharks with IDW Publishing and the highly anticipated graphic novel adaptation of The Raven Boys.

Letizia Cadonici is an Italian comic book artist born in Rome, in 1991. She worked for many Italian comic book publishers, mostly as a horror/gothic artist. Today she works for the US industry, for BOOM! Studios (House of Slaughter, The Neighbors, Hello Darkness, Minor Arcana), Image Comics (The Department of Truth, Creepshow), and for several others.