Ginseng Roots comic books issue 1

Add to cart NM 9.4 $10.00

Story, Art and Cover by Craig Thompson. From ages 10 to 20, Craig Thompson (the author of Blankets) and his little brother Phil, toiled in Wisconsin farms. Weeding and harvesting ginseng-a medicinal herb that fetched huge profits in China-funded Craig's youthful obsession with comic books. Now, for the first time in his career, Thompson is working in serial form, in a bimonthly comic book series. Part memoir, part travelogue, part essay, all comic book, Ginseng Roots explores class divide, agriculture, holistic healing, the 300 year long trade relationship between China and North America, childhood labor, and the bond between two brothers. 6 inch x 9 inch, 32 pages, full color. Cover price $5.00.

1st printing. Story and art by Craig Thompson. From the celebrated author of Blankets and Habibi comes a new graphic memoir exploring the class divide, childhood labor, family, and our globalized world-all centered on Wisconsin's ginseng farming industry. "A sweeping story, gorgeously drawn and beautifully told - this is Craig Thompson's masterpiece." -Joe Sacco, author of Palestine and Paying the LandWhen Blankets first published in 2003, Craig Thompson's seminal memoir about first love and faith lost in rural Wisconsin debuted to rapturous acclaim. The winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, it is to this day considered one of the all-time great works of graphic storytelling. Now, in Craig's long-awaited return to the autobiographical form, comes the story that Blankets left out. Ginseng Roots follows Craig and his siblings, who spent the summers of their youth weeding and harvesting rows of coveted American ginseng on rural Wisconsin farms for one dollar an hour. In his trademark breathtaking pen-and-ink work, Craig interweaves this lost youth with the 300-year-old history of the global ginseng trade and the many lives it has tied together-from ginseng hunters in ancient China, to industrial farmers and migrant harvesters in the American Midwest, to his own family still grappling with the aftershocks of the bitter past. Stretching from Marathon, Wisconsin, to Northeast China, Ginseng Roots charts the rise of industrial agriculture, the decline of American labor, and the search for a sense of home in a rapidly changing world. Hardcover, 6-in. x 9-in., 448 pages, PC. Cover price $35.00.

Box Set contains Issues #1-12 of Ginseng Roots (2019 Uncivilized Comics). Also included are two mini comics of Craig Thompson's earlier work "Hello Chunky Root" and "Tradition Duachaka Her". Plus a bonus sticker, all included in an illustrated Drawer box! From ages 10 to 20, Craig Thompson (author of Blankets) and his little brother Phil, toiled in Wisconsin farms weeding and harvesting ginseng. The medicinal herb fetched huge profits in China and funded Craigs youthful obsession with comic books. Comics in turn, allowed him to escape his rural, working class trappings. For the first time in his career, Thompson is serializing his story. Part memoir, part travelogue, part essay—all comic book—Ginseng Roots is a sweeping narrative that unearths surprising connections between class divide, agriculture, holistic healing, the 300-year-long trade relationship between China and North America, childhood labor, and the bond between two brothers. Hardcover Box Set, 6.38 x 2 x 9.25, 406+ pages, Partial Color (Shades of red/yellow and Black). Cover price $69.99.