‘Lore Olympus’ wins Eisner Awards for 2nd consecutive year

Naver Webtoon’s "Lore Olympus" notched its second win at the Eisner Awards on Sunday.

At the award's 35th edition held at San Diego Comic-Con International, “Lore Olympus” was selected as the winner of the Best Webcomic prize, according to Naver Webtoon, the tech giant’s digital comics platform.

Named after Will Eisner, a pioneer in the American comic book industry, the Eisner Awards are regarded as the Oscars for comic books in North America.

“Lore Olympus,” a modern retake on “The Abduction of Persephone” from the Greek and Roman mythology -- created by New Zealand artist Rachel Smythe, was first released in 2018, when Naver Webtoon began its English service and provided a platform called Canvas for amateur creators.

“As an artist and a storyteller, I feel happy to share the stories of ‘Lore Olympus’ with the readers across the globe,” Naver Webtoon quoted Smythe as saying.

The stories of Hades and Persephone were serialized in August 2020, attracting more than 1.3 billion accumulated reads from global fans.

“Lore Olympus” became a New York Times bestseller after being published in book form in 2021.

Smythe’s Greek romance-fantasy series was recognized as the digital book of the year at the 2021 Harvey Awards and won the best web comic prize at the Eisner Awards in July 2022.

“Lore Olympus” is available on Naver Webtoon's official website and app.