In this week's edition of Endnotes, we take a look at Saul Williams' Martyr Loser King, an incantatory fable full of political critique, spirituality, and Afro-mythology with cyberpunk imagery. In its review PW calls it, "a graphic poem of resistance wonderfully told through Afrofuturistic flare."
Here's how the book came together:
Saul Williams
“The original idea for this book began in 2010, the year I began learning of e-waste camps and about coltan, cobalt, and the precious minerals needed for tech devices that are primarily mined on the African continent. I signed this deal in 2014 and never imagined that the release would be 12 years later or that the corresponding musical, Neptune Frost, would beat it into production.”
Charlotte Gusay
“I saw Saul’s film Slam and went out looking for him. One of my interns at the time is a friend of his. Such a happy and propitious coincidence. I would represent anything by Saul. Mark Siegel took one look and said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
Mark Siegel
“Meeting Saul Williams was a revelation. At the time one of the most widely read Black poets after Maya Angelou, here was this protean creator turning his creative fire to the graphic novel medium, and I hoped he’d make his editorial home in comics with us. So much of the editorial journey was about treading lightly to keep Saul’s cadence and voice and yet make for a clear
comics read.”
Morgan Sorne
“When I began this project with Saul, I knew I wanted the drawing style and any color choices to convey the emotional arcs for the main characters as they expand and attain their enlightenment. In this case, I had a vision of going from black-and-white to full color by the conclusion of this story. Saul would give me prompts conceptuallysometimes drawing inspiration from visual characteristics found in other artworks I have created.”
Read more from our spring 2026 comics & graphic novels preview feature.
