A New Persephone

Up until the fourth grade I hated to read. Despite pressure from my parents and teachers I refused to take any pleasure in being forced to look at a page and decipher its meaning. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Percy Jackson that my disinterest in books changed. Like every other kid who read the series, I devoured the journeys of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover like an addict. I could not get enough of the fantastical elements and the relatable characters. My deep obsession with Percy Jackson and the Olympians casually shifted into an interest and adoration for Greek mythology. It’s safe to say that I was more than smug when one of my sixth-grade teachers mentioned we would be studying mythology as I was under the impression that I had already earned a child's equivalent to a Ph.D. in the subject.

While I have now sadly accepted that I don’t know everything about the topic my interest to learn more about the stories behind the Greek civilization is something I’ve carried with me to adulthood. I may not get to spend as much time as I did as a kid researching and studying the topic but happily, I sometimes stumble across works like Persephone by Allison Shaw. Within recent years the myth of Persephone has received a lot of attention as some writers have taken it upon themselves to view her story through a different lens. Instead of the original myth, the narrative now tends to depict Demeter as somewhat of a helicopter mom and Persphone as a woman who is not tricked by pomegranate seeds but as someone who chooses to be a queen. Personally, I enjoy this retelling as it acknowledges the fact the Persphone isn’t some naive goddess and she’s perfectly capable of making her own decisions. One of these famous retellings is Lore of Olympus by Rachel Smythe which is currently the most popular webcomic on Webtoons (in my opinion rightfully so). I have been a long-time reader of the comic and due to its slow form of weekly updates when I saw an advertisement for Persephone by Allison Shaw I decided I would give it a try. Shaw’s work is also a comic but instead of being on Webtoons it was crowdfunded on Kickstarter and is currently being sold as a soft and pdf copy on Hivemill. Hivemill is a company that helps sell and market around 120 comics by independent artists. After buying my $5 pdf copy I finished Persephone in around 30 minutes and while I did enjoy this work I couldn’t help continuously comparing it to Lore of Olympus as the two focus this new age Persephone story. 

Upon reflection, it’s interesting to wonder why I like Lore of Olympus more than Shaw’s piece. Is it because the content is actually better? Is the art style more appealing to me? Is it because a weekly chapter release allows for a longer time digesting the story and therefore keeps me hooked and unable to avoid coming back for more? Is updating regularly over a longer period of time somehow more compelling than reading a story all at once, especially when it comes to comics that can be consumed at a faster rate? Comparing these two very similar stories opens up many questions as to what method of distribution is the most successful, especially in the case of comics. What do you think?