Lore Olympus: Volume One
by Rachel Smythe
published by Del Ray / Penguin Random House
2021
I’m big into Webtoon (my credit card company can confirm this!), and was curious about this first book in a series when I spotted it at Silver Sprocket. There is something about the use of color in the art that I found novel, so I picked it up. And I enjoyed it!
This is a retelling of the story of Persephone and Hades, with cell phones, parties, credit cards, shopping gossip, and saturated color.
My taste in Webtoon comics leans toward overly rendered buildings drawn in perspective with excessive arched arcades, plus costumes with entirely too many fasteners (many of which cannot fasten things based on their position). But this softer approach of running-mascara facial expressions and six-line faces in glowing rooms charmed me.
I have mixed feelings that the gods of Olympus have cell phones, cars, and modernist houses to bring the story into our age, but those details do nothing to diminish the drama of jealous gods, personal insecurity, crushes, sibling rivalries, love, beauty, endless night, and apology donuts.
I fear I may fall for the next six massive volumes of this series, but I’m trying to get to the bottom of this particular reading pile before I consider the temptation.