Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hole | 2008 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 2 | Kindred | 2017 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 3 | Parable of the Sower | 2020 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 4 | Comic Arts Against Erasure | 2022 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 5 | Parable of the Talents | 2025 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 6 | Chrysalis 4 | 1979 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 7 | The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection | 1985 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 8 | Invaders! | 1993 | Octavia E. Butler | N/A |
| 9 | The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women | 1995 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 10 | A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora | 2000 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 11 | Nebula Awards 35 (2001) | 2001 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 12 | The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction | 2010 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 13 | Crucified Dreams | 2011 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
| 14 | Sisters of the Revolution | 2015 | Octavia E. Butler | Buy |
Damian Duffy is a writer, scholar, and comics artist who has become most widely known for his graphic novel adaptations of Octavia E. Butler’s fiction. Working with illustrator John Jennings, he adapted three of Butler’s novels over eight years: Kindred (2017), Parable of the Sower (2020), and Parable of the Talents (2025).
The Kindred adaptation was the first and has sold widely, introducing Butler’s time-travel novel about slavery and complicity to a new generation of readers through a visual medium that makes the violence and intimacy of the plantation world feel immediate. Parable of the Sower followed, translating Lauren Olamina’s journal-style narration into a road story that works well as a sequential art form. The Parable of the Talents adaptation completed the trilogy of adaptations in 2025.
Duffy also appears in this collection as a contributor to and editor of various anthologies. His academic work focuses on Afrofuturism and the history of Black comics, and he and Jennings have written about that history in their critical work alongside their creative collaborations. Both the Kindred and Parable adaptations won awards and are often used in classrooms alongside the original novels.