Review of "Kindred," graphic novel adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings of the novel by Octavia E. Butler

Review of

Kindred, graphic novel adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings of the novel by Octavia E. Butler ISBN 9781419709470

Five out of five stars

 The book that this graphic novel is based on has one of the most original plots ever devised. A modern interracial couple, the white Kevin and the black Dana, are both writers struggling to come up with ideas. Suddenly, Dana is transported back in time where a white child named Rufus is in the process of drowning. Without hesitation, she dives in, pulls Rufus out and applies mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR. After a short time, Rufus sputters back to consciousness.

 However, Dana suddenly finds herself at gunpoint, with Rufus’ father on the other end. After a few passes back in time, Dana concludes that she has somehow established a temporal link to Rufus and that he is the son of a slaveowner in Maryland in the early 1800s. Rufus lives with his parents on their farm and he is a boy that is prone to getting into danger and Dana appears when the danger is real and present.

 After her second trip where she witnesses a female slave being stripped, a male slave whipped, and she fights with a slave patroller before returning to her own time, Dana knows to keep a bag with her. The bag contains some extra clothing, basic medical supplies and toiletries. The next time when Dana is transported back, Kevin grabs her and is transported with her.

 It is at this point where the story gets interesting, for the very strength of the institution of slavery inside society begins to affect both Kevin and Dana. Since she is educated and has medical knowledge beyond the doctors of the time, Dana is considered uppity by both the slaves and the whites. She also does not have free papers, so she is subject to being captured and sold into slavery at any time. Since only hours pass in her time while years elapse in the past between her passings, Dana experiences the growth of Rufus into a man and some slight changes in the society.

 The artwork captures the story very well, including the impact of the whip on the back of the slave. Much of the inherent absurdities of the slavery system are also explored, including the master fathering a child with a slave only to sell that child off the farm. The potential for a male master to fall in love with a female slave is also explored. I was so impressed with the graphic novel that reading the original novel is now on my list of things to do.

 The problems of being dumped in a society with inherent inequalities and trying to change it while you are being fundamentally altered by the social mores are foremost in this great story told largely in pictures.