This is such an incredible, powerful story in it's original novel form, so this adaptation was a must read for me. The artwork is pretty good and I thought the style worked for the settings.

Kindred is the tale of a black woman who is repeatedly transported from her 1970s apartment to antebellum Maryland. The main reason I requested the adaptation was so that I would finally force myself to read the full-length novel. I'm so glad I did because it ended up being one of my favorites last year! Kindred makes such a great candidate for a graphic novel because there's much dialogue and historical fiction seems to work especially well in the format. John Jennings and Damian Duffy they did a fantastic job of adapting Octavia Butler's story. The review below is for the graphic novel adaptation only. My review for the full-length novel is available at this link.

THE INTRODUCTION

The introduction is written by speculative fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor. She writes about how Octavia Butler inspired her when she needed it the most. Learning about Butler's kindness and how she made time to mentor a gifted new writer gave me a whole new level of admiration for her!

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural is one of the most memorable books from my childhood book collection. The scratchboard illustrations by Brian Pinkney shaped how I visualize the antebellum South (one of the illustrations). While the artwork of Kindred is unique to artist John Jennings, the earthiness of the illustrations made me immediately recall that book. Jennings's style somehow made me feel settled in both the 1970s and 1800s. There's a frenetic energy to the illustrations that convey the extreme stress that Dana's body is being subjected to. His choice of presenting the 1970s in sepia tones and the 1800s in full-color was brilliant and reminded of how differently Dana processed the two different worlds:

Rufus’s time was a sharper, stronger reality. The work was harder, the smells and tastes were stronger, the danger was greater, the pain was worse … Rufus’s time demanded things of me that had never been demanded before, and it could easily kill me if I did not meet its demands. That was a stark, powerful reality that the gentle conveniences and luxuries of this house, of now, could not touch.

I appreciated the art even more after viewing Jenning's Tumblr and seeing how the art for Kindred differs from his usual style. Here is a link to one of the Kindred spreads, but you can see some more of his process for his various projects if you scroll through his blog.

THE STORY

An adapted version won't include everything. The omissions are going to be harder for me to pinpoint because I read the two books so close together. However, I missed the part where one of the plantation slaves explains the reasoning behind her children's names. That part was probably easy to cut because many could probably make that connection on their own!

While there are necessary omissions, there are also parts where the illustrations add so much emotional power to the text. Being able to see Dana's facial expressions tempered my only complaint of the full-length novel—that Dana seemed so detached, unusually accepting of her situation. At one point in the original novel, Dana has to put her copy of Gone With the Wind aside because she's unable to stomach its representation of slavery after what she has experienced. I mentally pictured her throwing it across the room. The illustration shows her tossing it in the garbage can, which I thought was an appropriate visual.

Some of the most powerful spreads were the ones with the fewest words. One of the pages that impacted me most was after Dana convinces one of the slaves to submit to her owner's desires. "She didn't kill him . . . but she seemed to die little. Rufus mailed another letter for me. Payment . . . . for services rendered." (pg. 158, The Fight) Minimal words, but the illustrations pack such a punch. Another page that I found memorable is at the end of The Fall (pg. 99), when Dana is reaching for Kevin as the whip comes down and she disappears.

The graphic novel is such an awesome format for Octavia Butler's classic book and would make a great gift for her fans. It would also be a great way to introduce yourself to the story if you're not ready to commit to the whole novel or you don't think you'll be able to make time for it anytime soon. I do recommend reading the novel first because it's a very fast-paced and action-packed experience!

If you are interested in John Jennings's artwork, his Hoodoo Noir graphic novella Blue Hand Mojo: Hard Times Road (pub. date 3/1/17) is currently available in the 'Read Now' section Netgalley.

For my first graphic novel read ever, this was a heavy but excellent representation of a dark time in history. While it's hard to call this "great reading experience" as sometimes that experience was painful, I could enjoy the story for what is was meant to be. I read the original book "Kindred" by Octavia Butler a couple of years ago and I just remember being so moved by this book that I was sobbing. I truly felt connected to the characters and the time travel aspect, etc. I apologize in advance if a majority of this review might be to compare the novel to the adaptation, that's just how my brain things.

Even with my high expectations, this graphic novel really brought it to life. I enjoyed flipping through all of the images on the pages, although I do have to admit that it was an intense graphic experience. Would not recommend this for the younger readers, but you know that going into this.
The characters were always the ones who made it for me in this graphic novel retelling, and in the original as well. They come alive, their motivations and struggles and victories become crystal clear when shown on the page. I could root for them, admire them, despise them. Surprisingly, I had more feelings this time because of how blatant the racism was and how graphic the violence was portrayed.

I didn't really mind this, but I have noticed that there is bigger emphasis on dialogue, meaning that there is a lot of it in every single comic strip. It would probably take your longer to dissect than the average graphic novel that is more fixed on the images, but what do I know?
One thing that was a slight bit negative, was that it was hard to keep track of the side characters. Visually, I had a hard time of placing names with faces and kept losing track of who's who. But again, that's a "me" thing, not a fault of the author or artist.

Another thing that I would have liked to be a bit more concise what the time lines were portrayed as. Looking back, there wasn't that much of a difference between the mid 1900s and 1700s? in the images.

Overall, if you're on the fence of seeing your favorite classic turn into a graphic novel adaptation, this one is worth taking a shot, even though we all know it will never be as good as the beloved novel, nevertheless is was a worthy representation.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange of my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

Octavia Butler is a natural storyteller well known for writing science fiction that is poignant and has an important message. Kindred is a sharply drawn graphic adaptation of Octavia Butler's classic novel of time travel and slavery - still considered one of the best novels accurately depicting the horrors of slavery and the degradation involved. It also depicts the continuing struggles of mixed racial couples for acceptance both by family and the public - still an issue today.

The stark but beautiful artistry and the limited color palette fit the seriousness of the story well. The facial expressions are particularly vivid, emphasizing the emotional content. One good thing about a graphic rerelease of Kindred, is that it makes the novel available to a new audience, while reminding readers of the power of Olivia Butler's works. In a time when we are seeing a resurgence of racism and hate, her message is all the more necessary.

5/5

I received a copy of Kindred from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

It took me a while to get through this due to it being an ebook and lagging a bit, but it was beautifully done. I enjoyed taking my time while appreciating the artwork, which would be beautiful in the physical copy, and reading the story.

As always another stunning graphic novel Kindred by ABRAMS Books that it will be published this January 10th.

Inspired by the masterpiece created by Octavia E.Butler, Kindred,
firstly published in 1979 a sci-fiction classic. The book is also taken in consideration in school for trying to understand the racial problem and what it meant to live in the USA in the 1800.

It is a science-fiction because the story the one of a girl, Dana transported from the present, the 1970s, in the rural USA of 1800. After 35 years from the publication, the wonderful adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings.

Dana is a young woman, black, that for some strange reason ends up is transported by Time in the pre-years of the Secession War, so in a world where communication between black ad white people pretty impossible.
In the reality of the 1970s this woman is free. Free to be who she wants to be and free to express herself. This condition will change abruptly although it will become intriguing because she will also discover her ancestors, her personal family tree and not only...

The book has been thought from ABRAMS for reaching a new generation of readers.

Highly recommended!