April 17, 2025 – Pioneering author Octavia Butler’s literary science fiction masterpieces helped define American speculative fiction and afrofuturism. Thanks to her prescient critiques of society, thrilling adventures, and charming characters, Butler’s bestselling novels are as beloved and relevant today as when they were first published. Now artists John Jenings and David Brame and writer Damian Duffy, who won the Eisner Award for Best Adaptation from Another Medium for their graphic novel adaptation of Butler’s beloved novel Kindred and the Hugo Award for their breathtaking take on Parable of the Sower, are reuniting with Abrams ComicArts to introduce a new generation of readers to Butler’s Parable of the Talents.

Being chosen to adapt the Parable duology by Octavia E. Butler into a graphic novel is both an honor and a very serious responsibility,” says artist John Jenings. “Those two books were so prescient and incredibly accurate with their forecasting that we are still amazed by the insightful creative acumen of Butler. It’s our hope that we did the story justice and that the underlying messages resonate through every word and every panel.”

Octavia Butler’s 1993 dystopian novel Parable of the Sower painted an alarmingly poignant picture of the year 2024, introducing readers to a world shaped by environmental disasters, economic instability and social unrest. Following Lauren Olamina, a preacher’s daughter who develops a new religion while travelling the dangerous and dystopian country. Jennings and Duffy brought the sci-fi classic to life with a beautifully drawn graphic novel adaptation. Now they are taking on the sequel to Butler’s stunning novel, The Parable of the Talents, which follows Lauren’s daughter, Asha Vere.

The Parable of the Talents continues Butler’s masterful story set against a background of a war-torn continent under the control of a Christian fundamentalist fascist state. Asha searches for answers about her own past while struggling to reconcile with her mother’s legacy—caught between her duty to her chosen family and her calling to lead humankind into a better future among the stars.

“Octavia E. Butler wrote Parable of the Talents as a warning for the future,” says Damian Duffy. “Adapting Parable of the Talents from within the future she warned of has been a surreal and humbling journey. Fortunately, David Brame and John Jennings brought their significant artistic talents to bear, drawing images to help us move past dystopia, and down the path to hard won hope.”

Praise for Parable of the Sower

“Alarmingly prescient and relevant…This accessible adaptation is poised to introduce Butler’s dystopian tale to a new generation of readers.”―Publishers Weekly

“Fresh.”―USA Today

“Jennings’ work in the book is beyond stunning…”― Comics Beat

“As faithful an adaptation as you can get. Not only does it hit all the plot points, it perfectly portrays Butler’s balancing act in regard to how far society has fallen apart.”―Kirkus Reviews

“Duffy and Jennings have done justice to Butler’s work, losing none of the story’s richness and adding an exciting visual element that makes the reading experience even more visceral and engrossing.”―Foreword Reviews, STARRED review

“John Jennings’s work succeeds as sequential storytelling and approaches the level of iconography regularly.”―The Believer

“Jennings and Duffy are some of the most skilled and hardest working comics creators doing the work to radically transform and diversify the comics scene.”―Comicosity

“Jennings has captured [Butler’s] words with visual imagery in such an afrofuturistic, horror-esque way that the images jump off the page with every turn.”―Flickering Myth

On Friday April 18 at 6:30 PM, Octavia’s Bookshelf will host a special evening featuring a signing and conversation with Parable of the Talents: A Graphic Novel Adaptation illustrator John Jennings at the Octavia E. Butler Magnet School. Guests will receive an exclusive bookplate showcasing an original portrait of Octavia Butler, illustrated by Jennings.

Parable of the Talents: A Graphic Novel Adaptation will be available on April 22, 2025 from Abrams ComicArts. For updates, follow Abrams ComicArts on X, Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.

About the Book

Parable of the Talents

By Octavia Butler, Adapted by Damian Duffy

Art by John Jennings

Abrams ComicArts | April 22, 2025

U.S. $25.99 | CAN $32.99 | U.K. £18.99

Hardcover | 304 Pages

6 ½  x 9 ½ Inches | Full-color illustrations throughout

ISBN: 978-1419749483

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) was a renowned African American author who was awarded a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Since her death, sales of her books, including Wildseed, Imago, and Kindred have increased enormously as the issues she addressed in her Afro-futuristic feminist novels and short fiction have only become more relevant.

Damian Duffy, author of Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation and Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, is a cartoonist, scholar, writer, and teacher. He holds a MS and PhD in library and information sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he is on faculty.

John Jennings is the curator of the Megascope list and illustrator of the graphic novel adaptations of Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred and Parable of the Sower. He is a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California, Riverside.

Founded in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the United States to specialize in publishing art and illustrated books. The company continues to publish critically acclaimed and bestselling works in the areas of art, photography, cooking, craft, comics, interior and garden design, entertainment, fashion, and popular culture as well as narrative non-fiction and new works of fiction for adults; children’s books ranging from middle grade to young adult fiction to picture books to board books. ABRAMS creates and distributes brilliantly designed books with the highest production values under the following imprints: Abrams; Abrams ComicArts; Megascope; Surely Books; Abrams Image; Abrams Press; The Overlook Press; Cernunnos; Cameron + Company; Abrams Books for Young Readers; Amulet Books; Abrams Appleseed; and Magic Cat. ABRAMS also distributes books for Booth-Clibborn Editions, Alain Ducasse Édition, Èditions de La Martiniére, Editions BPI, Global Golf Group, Lucky Spool, Milky Way Picture Books, The Museum of Modern Art, SelfMadeHero, Tate Publishing, V&A Publishing, and The Vendome Press.