Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. ButlerMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I got this off Netgalley. I was intrigued to see how this classic sci-fi novel had been adapted as a graphic novel. 'Kindred', which I had read earlier this year, does lend itself well to visual media because of the nature of the two eras it is set in. Yet, this adaptation was quite a let down.
First up, the art was awful. Truly hideous. I was hoping to see the book come alive in front of me, but that's not what I got. It looked like the work of a caricaturist and felt completely out of touch with the novel's seriousness. This needed precise work, vivid colours and unique framing. It also needed a thorough editor who picked out only the most poignant parts of Butler's text. Here, the text felt so mediocre at times, it was surprising to think it belonged to the same story. Additionally, the placement of the speech balloons and narrated text often confused the reader.
The gravity of our protagonist Dana's situation is never captured in the panels. We don't get to see her point of view, only the situations she's in. It feels quite rushed as well, often throwing the reader off-kilter with its bizarre jumps. All the essential plot points are there, but none of the emotion or feeling. The graphic novel condenses the entire book into episodes of time travel, but doesn't let us explore the two worlds, or the changing nature of the same. If I hadn't read the book, I would not be able to enjoy this adaptation at all, it's far too frenetic to allow that.
Also, because the art is so haphazard (I'm sure there's a technical term for this style of drawing and colouring, but I don't know it) you can get confused between some of the characters. A lot of the time I'd confuse the two Weylin men because they looked identical.
The novel needed to dwell more on the significance of what was happening to Dana, not just the incidents that occurred. I liked that the artist made the effort to not sensationalise Dana's traumas, but for some reason he did not extend that courtesy to the Greenwood matriarch. That really frustrated me.
This was an underwhelming, and in the end, pointless exercise. How many people will truly understand the point of this book when it itself doesn't emphasise it. We get to watch the dichotomy of modern characters of colour coming to terms with how past generations were treated on television with 'Legends of Tomorrow' and 'Timeless', so this book, despite being based on a much more superior and poignant novel, simply falls by the way side.
In the hands of far more accomplished graphic novel artists and writers, I'm sure this adaptation would have been the mesmeric commentary that Butler's original text deserved.
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