George O'Connor often says that the Greek gods that give his series--Olympians--its name were the first true superheroes. In his graphic novel retellings, he goes back to the original sources and adds his own twist--often with a dollop of humor. Here he puts a spin on the Persephone myth as part of Hades's larger story.
The author-artist starts with a jet-black page and one sentence in tiny white type: "This is what happens to you when you die." Charon the ferryman guides you across the River Styx to where Cerberus guards the underworld's entrance. O'Connor paints the Underworld in deep browns, burgundy and black. Hades discovers Kore, as she is called, after a fight with her mother, Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Now alone, Kore spies a beautiful flower, planted in her path by Hades. When she plucks it, Hades rides up and kidnaps her.
Pages of panel illustrations chronicle their ride into the depths of the Underworld. Meanwhile, on the earth's surface, against a backdrop of sky blue and spring greens, Demeter becomes anxious about her daughter's disappearance and withdraws the sun and heat, causing snow to fall. But despite her abduction, Kore finds Hades to be kind. He gives her a tour of the Underworld and invites her to be his queen. In O'Connor's feminist spin, Kore, who takes the name Persephone, makes a choice to eat from a pomegranate grown in the Underworld so that she may return for six months of the year to join Hades. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness