Punderworld, Volume 1 (Punderworld, 1)

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Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.* Demeter and Persephone are having an argument about attending Artemis's ascension as a goddess, with Persephone wanting to attend her party. Demeter at multiple points in the argument refers to it as "pointless frivolities", promoting such unspoken sarcasms from her daughter as, "Well, when she puts it like that...", And, "'Pointless frivolity'." And also how it is easy when you start something new because there is so much left unexplored and you can basically just draw anything that drops on your mind with no regard of it being attached to previous strips. its like a one-night stand of stories XD you do it for a day, get your creativity recharged, and move on XD Hades is wandering around invisible, trying to find a trap he knows Zeus left for Persephone as part of his ill-advised but "well-meaning " attempt to play wingman to his brother. He finds Persephone looking over a chariot with a Pegasus harnessed to it. He wants to warn Persephone, but doesn't want her to know he's there, so he keeps mentally responding to her assessments of the chariot with such unspoken retorts as, "Because it's obviously a trap!" Punderworld is a webcomic by Croatian comics artist Linda Luksic Sejic of Blood Stain fame. Set in the era of Antiquity, it tells the tale of how Hades met Persephone and they fell in love.

Annoying Younger Sibling: Zeus is portrayed as a wannabe wingman who is a little too interested that his brother Hades is finally pursuing a relationship. This is a take on the Hades and Persephone story with a good guy Hades, a spirited Persephone, an overbearing Demeter, and a sweet, consensual romance. Dramatic Irony: Demeter says if the god Persephone has a crush on was worthy of her he'd propose to her officially. Right at the same time Hades is walking towards their house with the intention to do exactly that. Sacred Hospitality: Zeus invokes the Rules of Xenia - the idea that a host will offer food and care to a guest if the guest does not act like a burden - to get Hades to stop bothering him with work in the middle of the party. Bait-and-Switch: When Persephone notes that Hades doesn’t have a beard (unlike his brothers and statues of himself), she cheekily asks if anywhere else on him is shaved. He then offers to show her… his armpits.Nightmare Fetishist: Implied in Persephone's case in " first date ". Since lush meadows and waterfalls are already her domain, she is less than impressed when Hades tries to show her Elysium, instead finding interest in the more lava-cave areas of the underworld. I love how in detail this author is going with the story, really focusing on the characters. It made things slow-paced and meant we only got the start of a romance forming, but I enjoyed that. This is really the author’s own take on the characters and their relationship, giving them their own unique personalities and feelings. The bit of awkwardness mentioned in the description is fun without being overdone. I also enjoyed getting to see their relationships with other characters, like when Hades and Zeus were chatting. Cool Crown: Those aren't horns on Hades' head. That's his crown that grants him the power of Invisibility. Ambiguously Gay: Persephone seems to think the vow of chastity that Artemis took and which her mortal priestesses follow is because she's only interested in girls. Artemis strongly hints this is the case, and she's shown acting suggestively around her female followers.

The title is very misleading, btw. It was originally the title she used for a series of punny jokes based around Greek mythology that eventually grew into this comic. I have to admit I'm not sure why she kept the title, instead of maybe just adding it as a small subtitle. It doesn't really say anything about the story. Daddy's Girl: When Artemis is officially inducted into the pantheon with her first temple, the party Zeus throws was done with the idea that she would be treated like a queen for a day. Mythology Gag: Vlad and Elly of Linda's other work, Blood Stain, get a cameo appearance as one of the many souls in the underworld in this panel . Not So Similar: When Oedipus asks why humans are socially and divinely penalized for incest when the Gods do it all the time, Charon rather angrily points out that humans are nothing more than meager flesh-creatures while the gods are "pure energy given form" that are "beyond [his] narrow-minded comprehension." Pinocchio Nose: Persephone has difficulty controlling the flowers which grow in her hair because they're tied to her emotional state and she's been kept so sheltered. The flowers fully blooming is a sign of romantic interest, and when Demeter sees this, she instantly recognizes it.

This webcomic provides examples of the following tropes:

Accidental Misnaming: One of Persephone's gripes about how she and her mother are worshipped is that her name is virtually unknown in contrast to Demeter's; she brings up that mortals consistently refer to her as "Lady Kore" and complains it's equivalent to being called "Lady Girl". The story of Hades and Persephone that we all know, but with a cute twist. I actually like the idea here, because I read somewhere that during Greek times, the saying ''was abducted'' was sometimes used by families to excuse a girl marrying down for love - at least what they considered down. Of course, it's a very problematic saying, as it states that you could just abduct and rape a girl, and she'd marry you. On the other hand, it does cast a whole new light on the legend of Hades and Persephone. Good Stepmother: While Hera was obviously pissed when she found out about Artemis, it is implied that the two eventually reconciled in some manner, even allowing Artemis to join the Olympians without complaint. Then again, it was Zeus who explained it, so it probably isn't so simple. The pacing was quite slow, but the lovely art made up for it as well as the sweet characters. This was possibly the softest and tamest Hades I've seen depicted before and it made for a nice change. Zeus was also much more tolerable than other depictions of him usually are which also helped make this an enjoyable read.