At last night’s Eisner awards, Rachel Smythe and LORE OLYMPUS won their third consecutive best webcomic win, the first time a series has won three years in a row for that category in comics history. The series is a global phenomenon accumulating over 1.7 billion cumulative views after being translated into seven different languages, and has amassed 6.5 million subscribers on the WEBTOON app, while somehow, also being a multiple No. 1 New York Times bestseller adapted from Penguin Random House (Inklore). Wow.
“Creating this series has been an exciting, emotional whirlwind of a journey over the past seven years, and I am beyond honored to receive this Eisner Award,” said author Rachel Smythe. “This series is so close to my heart, and I can’t thank Lore Olympus’ community of readers enough for continuing to support it right through to the end, and am so grateful to my industry peers for this amazing honor.”
“Lore Olympus is a pop culture phenomenon, and Rachel’s success is an inspiration for everyone who has a story to tell,” said Junkoo Kim, Founder & CEO of WEBTOON Entertainment. “We’ve had the privilege of working with Rachel since she posted the earliest version of Lore Olympus on the WEBTOON CANVAS platform. Since that time, she’s become one of the most accomplished comic creators of our era. Rachel is an immense talent, and the impact that this series has had on readers globally has been incredible to witness. We can’t think of a more appropriate way to celebrate its grand finale this year than with this Eisner Award honor.”
Though that’s not all in terms of prestige. The series’ 2024 Eisner Award winner follows back-to-back sweeps, having won three consecutive Harvey Awards for Digital Book of the Year from 2021-2023, and also, earned back-to-back Ringo Awards for Best Webcomic in 2022 and 2023. If that wasn’t enough, the series has also been recognized with France’s Prix Babelio – Bande Dessinée in 2022, the 2021 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Graphic Novel, and was noted as one of NPR’s critics’ recommendations for 2021.
Currently LORE OLYMPUS has an animated series in development from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios and the Jim Henson Company. So yeah, everyone should probably read this historically impressive and amazing comic series.
Stay tuned for more SDCC ’24 coverage from The Beat.
