Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Lore Olympus: Volume One

Beautiful art, wonderful story telling, lovable characters and a Greek mythology. What more could you ask for?

I adore how each character has such a unique design. Something I see graphic novelists often struggling to do is to create visually and characteristically distinct characters. Lore Olympus does not suffer from that issue at all. Every character is visually stunning in their own way and their voices all lift distinctly from the page. I cannot wait to read the next volumes to see how Persephone and Hades’ relationship develops.

Also, fuck Apollo.

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wardenred's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Let me be clear, I don't have a crush on him. I just enjoy looking at his dorky face.

Well, I have one question after reading this comic, and it's aimed at myself: why the hell did I keep delaying reading it? Seriously, I should have believed the hype. It's so good.

The art style completely hooked me from the first few pages. I loved the dark neon colors and the overall noir-ish style. But it's the characterization that made me fall in love with the story. Hades and Persephone in particular are absolutely adorable, and the overall portrayal of all the Greek gods is great. The author does an awesome job of putting her own spin on these mythological personalities while retaining a distinct Olympian vibe.

There was a certain plot point closer to the end, the one with Apollo, that did make me wish I took better care to check the trigger warning. It didn't exactly come out of the left field, far from it; there was sufficient build-up that allowed me to mentally prepare, but I just kept wishing that wouldn't happen. The way it was handled made sense in fiction, for the setting and the character arc alike, it's just... well. On me for not checking the warnings. I don't want to share explicit spoilers, but if you're sensitive to sexual assault and coercion stuff, don't repeat my mistakes.

Anyway, back to the positive stuff: I absolutely loved the portrayal of Hera here. In the last few Greek mythology retelling I remember reading, she kept ending up as the shrieking scorned woman who seems to hate her entire gender. While it is easy to see how it's rooted in the mythological canon, this interpretation is getting tired and ignores plenty of other aspects of her divine identity which were fully utilized here.

Three other random thing I loved:

- The relationship between Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades

- Hades's dogs! All of them, but especially that little floofy ball of rage!

- The portrayal of the Underworld. The art throughout the comic is awesome, but in those parts it just reached new heights.

Can't wait to get to the rest of the story!

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