'Lore Olympus' named best webcomic at Eisner Awards

“Lore Olympus,” a webcomic created by Rachel Smythe and released by Webtoon, has become the winner in the Best Webcomic category at Eisner Awards. Screenshot from Webtoon Twitter

By Kim Rahn

“Lore Olympus,” a webcomic released by Webtoon, the American unit of Naver Webtoon, has won an award at the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

According to the San Diego Comic-Con International website, the organizer of the prestigious annual awards, “Lore Olympus” by Rachel Smythe was named the winner in the Best Webcomic category.

The webcomic revolves around romance and other stories of the gods of Greek mythology, which are presented in a modern setting. It was first uploaded on the platform's “Canvas” section, where amateur webtoonists can showcase their works and get the chance to debut them on the platform as professional webtoonists if the works receive good responses from viewers.

“(Smythe) started out as Webtoon Canvas and saw the creation of 'Lore Olympus' as a creative challenge, spending countless nights turning her visions into reality. From Canvas creator to Eisner Award winner, Rachel continues sharing her passion for storytelling with the world,” Webtoon wrote on its website, Saturday.

Named after American cartoonist Will Eisner, the Eisner Awards, often dubbed the “Oscars” of the comic book industry, honors the best publications and creators of comics and graphic novels since its establishment in 1988. It made the webcomic section in 2017.

“Lore Olympus” has gained global attention since its first release in March 2018 on Webtoon, recording more than 1.1 billion views so far. Its graphic novel version ranked first on the New York Times' best seller list for graphic books last December.

It also won the Digital Book of the Year at Harvey Awards last year, another acclaimed award for comic books established to honor American writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman in 1988.

“Navillera: Like a Butterfly,” a Korean webtoon about a 70-year-old man's pursuit of his dream to become a ballerino, was also nominated for Eisner Awards' Best Webcomic category, but did not make it. Written by Hun and illustrated by Jimmy, it was the only work by Korean creators among the five nominees in the category.