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Damian Duffy and John Jennings are doing amazing work with these adaptations of Octavia Butler’s novels. This graphic novel adaptation of Parable of the Sower stays close to the source material and brings the world of the novel to life with vivid colours that add to the intense emotions in the story. 

 

The book begins in 2024 and is set in a dystopian world affected by constant climate disasters, economic crises, and social chaos. The main character is Lauren Olamina, an extremely smart and sensible 15 year old, and she narrates the story through entries in her diary. She knows that her gated community won’t keep her safe forever, and is trying to prepare for the worst. She’s coming to terms with how she sees the world and figuring out her beliefs. In doing so, she begins to develop her own ideas about religion that lead to the development of a new religion called Earthseed. Lauren’s beliefs ground her throughout the story and help her survive. 

 

I first read the novel in 2020, and Butler’s insight and predictions about the future blew my mind. Revisiting this story now in this form allowed me to better appreciate Butler’s observations about society. And this time around I was able to focus more on how Lauren is perceived by others. I think it was easier to understand this because of the illustrations, and it’s interesting to visualize just how odd she seems to everyone else around her. But the graphic novel also works well in showing how determined and unwavering she is in herself and her beliefs. She knows who she is and what she must do, and she doesn’t care if other people don’t believe her, she’s doing it anyway. These qualities draw people to her as they realize that ultimately, Lauren is just trying to create a better future. In my review of the novels I said that Lauren is the smartest character I’ve ever encountered in a book, and I still think that’s true. I admire her drive and ability to understand the power dynamics at play around her that have shaped the world she lives in. 

 

This graphic novel is excellent but much like the adaptation of Kindred, I think it’s still important to read the story through the novel first, and let this comic complement your reading experience. I’m looking forward to picking up the adaptation of Parable of the Talents which is currently in the works! 

In 1991, journalist Joe Sacco spent a few months traveling through Gaza and the West Bank conducting interviews and recording the testimonies of Palestinians living under occupation. This graphic novel, PALESTINE, collects the nine single issues originally published between 1993 and 1995 that document his travels.

 

Each single issue explores something different, and it was great to see a chapter that focuses on women’s rights, and a chapter about disabilities. This book, published 30 years ago, describes situations that we’ve been hearing about over the past four months: displacement, brutality, interrogations, arrests, murder, and destruction of property and the environment. There are also several testimonies that explain what it’s like to have every aspect of your life controlled. This book clearly illustrates the injustice of settler colonialism, and Sacco presents a truthful account of the occupation and isn’t afraid to document the conditions around him. He listens to Palestinians and records their stories without imposing his western ideals or privilege. 

 

This book is informative but it isn’t perfect. The author is misogynistic and makes several lewd comments about women and teenagers that are out of place and unrelated to the book. There are also moments that are insensitive where he comments on how what he is witnessing will make a good addition to his comic, or how he’s looking for an exciting story to include in his book that he hasn’t already heard many times before. Ultimately, comments like this become fewer as the book progresses and we see a shift in Sacco’s mindset as he experiences life under occupation. This was his debut book and I’m curious about how his work has changed since the 90s and if comments like these are present in all of his books. 

 

I read this with a friend and we had a great discussion about ethics. The author is a Maltese-American journalist, and we wondered about his intentions with making this book. This graphic novel is selling out and recently went back into print, so what are the ethics of telling these stories? Are any of the profits being donated to relief efforts? 

 

Overall, this graphic novel is a great introduction to learning about Palestine. It’s also worth reading to bear witness to the testimonies Sacco recorded, and to drive home the point that this is how life has always been under occupation. 

Amazons, Abolitionists, & Activists is a graphic novel by Mikki Kendall and A. D’Amico that illustrates the history of women’s fight for their rights. It discusses suffrage, reproductive rights and feminism, but it also has chapters dedicated to discussing colonialism, abolition, civil rights, and labour rights. It tells a linear narrative starting with women in antiquity, and explores the different challenges faced by women across the world and the movements that created change. 

 

The best aspect of this book is how inclusive it is. It focuses on women of colour, spotlights trans women and discusses the disability rights movement. It excels at showing the interconnectedness of our struggles and takes an intersectional approach to discussing women’s rights. This book celebrates women, but it also doesn’t shy away from criticizing white feminism and pointing out that some historical women leaders contributed to the suffering of other women. That said, I noticed two things: 

 
My only other criticism of the book is that it would have been helpful to include more discussions about the facts it presents—including more details or expanding on ideas in some areas of the book would clarify the facts, and I think this is especially important for any young readers who pick this up. Otherwise, this book is well-researched and leaves no room to deny the information it presents.
 
This book is a great reminder of how far we’ve come, but it’s also a reminder of how far we have to go. It emphasizes that we all need to work together to create change because the fight for human rights, not just women's rights, isn’t over, and this is evident by current global humanitarian crises: Roe v Wade has been overturned, rates of sexual violence are escalating in Sudan, Palestinians don’t have access to sanitary products and are using tent scraps as pads, and Congolese people are being exploited for labour in cobalt mines. These are just a few of the crises happening and they impact us all. The book ends with a call to action, and I’m sure readers of this book will be inspired to take action and learn more about the movements that got us to where we are today, as well as the liberation movement happening now. 🍉