Image Comics Goes Way Down to Hadestown with ‘Punderworld’ Graphic Novel

One of my favorite parts of the Tony-Award winning Broadway musical Hadestown is the story of Patrick Page’s Hades and Amber Gray’s Persephone. Also, I’m always down for interesting reinterpretations of Greek myths. Now, one of the biggest webcomics on the internet, Punderworld, is coming to comic shops from fan-favorite creator Linda Šejić. Think of it as a kind of prequel to Hadestown.

Offering readers a retelling of the romance of Hades and Persephone, Punderworld will follow the couple’s love-struck misadventures with contemporary sensibilities this August from Image/Top Cow.

Punderworld is the classic tale of Greek myth — but 100 percent more awkwardly relatable. Hades is the officious, antisocial ruler of the Underworld. Persephone, daughter of Demeter, is an earth goddess of growth and renewal — they’ve been crushing on each other for the past two centuries. But when a festival (and a little liquid courage) present an opportunity to put an end to their olympian will-they-won’t-they, a meddlesome pantheon and several titanic misassumptions threaten to give every god in the sky the wrong impression… and leave their romance dead before it can bloom.

Punderworld allowed me to incorporate all the things I loved the most since I was in high school: Mythological beings in their unlimited creativity, which always tickled my imagination set in a fantasy setting with lots of nature morphed into an awkward comedic romance,” said Šejić in an exclusive scoop on the announcement at Bleeding Cool. “I am beyond excited about getting it printed, and I can’t wait to hold it in my hands.”

Punderworld will be available on Wednesday, August 25 and in bookstores on Tuesday, August 31. It can be pre-ordered at your local comic book shop or independent bookstore via Bookshop or IndieBound, or it can be pre-ordered on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Indigo. Punderworld will also be available for purchase across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play.