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| Ktoons/sandbox | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | LambCat |
| Website | [1] |
| Current status/schedule | Updates every Monday |
| Launch date | February 24, 2019 |
| Publisher(s) | WEBTOON |
| Genre(s) | Comedy |
| Rating(s) | 9.80 Stars on WEBTOON |
Cursed Princess Club is a comedy webcomic written and illustrated by LambCat.[1] The comic is a twist on the typical fairytale and centers on a young woman living a sheltered life in a castle with her family, not realizing she doesn't look quite like the rest of her siblings, until her fiance calls her "ugly" causing her to stumble upon the Cursed Princess Club. It began publishing weekly on the platform WEBTOON in February 2019.[2] Cursed Princess Club is a popular comic on the WEBTOON platform; as of January 2019 it had 58 million views,[3] and as of June 2021 WEBTOON reported that it had 1.9 million subscribers.[4][5]
Plot and themes
editCursed Princess Club is a play on the trope where the female protagonist is ridiculed or ignored for the way she looks, but then suddenly becomes loved by everyone when she does become conventionally attractive and follows Gwendolyn (Gwen) as she navigates the world outside her castle.[6] It features numerous characters that play a role in Gwen's growth and self-acceptance.[7] Episodes often deal with themes of friendship, self-care, love, personal growth, and mental health.[8]
The plot begins with Gwen who is not conventionally attractive, but remains well love by those around her, including her beautiful siblings being told that she is arranged to be married[9]. When her father, King Jack of the Pastel Kingdom, agrees to marry his daughters off to the princes of the Plaid Kingdom, Gwen soon faces her fiance who sees her as ugly.[10] Hearing this forces Gwen to consider her appearance for the first time causing her to run away to the forest. It is here that she stumbles upon the Cursed Princess Club; a club dedicated to helping cast away cursed princesses find community.[11] Here she finds the support she needs to strengthen her cracking self-esteem, confidence, and confusing love interest.[12]
Major characters
editThe following characters are central to plot lines in the comic and make regular appearances:
- Princess Gwendolyn is the protagonist in the story and the youngest princess of the Pastel Kingdom. She has lived a sheltered life in the castle, doted on by her protectived father, leaving her in the dark about societal standards of beauty and how she does not fit them. She is frequently shown as a great chef with a kind, selfless heart.[13]
- Prince Fredrick is the love interest of the story as the fiance to Gwen and acts as the catalyst for Gwen's spiraling insecurities after saying she is "really ugly". He is the youngest prince of the Plaid Kingdom who grapples with his own self-doubt and uncertainty with his path in life.
- Princess Maria is the oldest of the Pastel Kingdom siblings and is modeled after stereotypical princesses like Cinderella with her love of singing and ability to attract forest animals. She considers herself "fashion forward" and is portrayed as keen, observant, caring towards her family, and obsessive in her love of her fiance, Prince Blaine.
- Princess Lorena
- Prince James (Jamie)
- Prince Blaine
- Prince Lance
- Princes Calpernia (Prez)
- King Jack
Publication
editThe webcomic updates weekly on Webtoon,[3] and readers with the "Webtoon Fast Pass" can access pages earlier. By August 2020, 120 episodes had been published, and Smythe said that she had an ending in mind for the series.[14]
Smythe creates Lore Olympus using Photoshop and a Wacom Cintiq Pro drawing tablet.[1]
Reception
editIn 2019, WEBTOON announced that Lore Olympus had been viewed over 299 million times, making it the most viewed webcomic on the platform.[3][15][16] As of May 2020, Lore Olympus is the most popular webtoon on the platform, with over 3.9 million subscribers.[4]
In an article for The Daily Dot, columnist Nahila Bonfiglio recommended the webcomic, saying: "There are many reasons to read Lore Olympus, but the simplest is to see Smythe’s brilliant take on the myth. Her story is flawlessly enthralling, heartwarming, and painful. The characters confront timeless issues through a modern lens, breaking down the romanticization of rape and abduction with grace and intrigue. Smythe updates the series every Sunday, and new readers will find themselves awaiting that notification with bated breath." Bonfiglio also praised the art, saying: "[Smythe's] captivating way of telling her tale often involves carefully considered colors, panels completely without words and even—sometimes—music."[2]
The Beat declared Lore Olympus to be one of the 100 best comics of the 2010s, describing Smythe's art as "breathtaking" and making good use of the webtoon format, and saying that the modern setting made the story "feel as fresh and urgent as eavesdropping on your (very wealthy, very messy) neighbors."[17]
Critical Darlings reviewer Kaitlin Konecke said that "the drawings allow us to see how Persephone feels. It’s a visceral way to tell a story, with graphics allowing us to see inside the mind of Persephone and convey the complicated array of emotions that follow a trauma such as sexual assault and rape." Konecke also praised the depiction of assault from a female writer, saying that Smythe and others "are not just telling us, but showing us. And in doing so, they make women and survivors feel seen."[18]
References
edit- ^ a b Kaplan, Avery (2019-10-29). "A Year of Free Comics: CURSED PRINCESS CLUB". Comics Beat.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Cursed Princess Club (list of chapters, page 13)". Naver Webtoon. 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c Puc, Samantha (26 September 2020). "Weekend Webcomics: Magic Misfires In Castoff, Cursed Princess Club and Mage & Demon Queen". CBR: Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b "Cursed Princess Club". WEBTOON. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Interview with LambCat, creator of Cursed Princess Club". Cresnov (Exvulnerum Forums). Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ "Interview with LambCat the Creator of the "Cursed Princess Club"". NERDBOT. 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ "Interview with LambCat, creator of Cursed Princess Club". Cresnov (Exvulnerum Forums). Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ "Cursed Princess Club (Webcomic)". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ "Webtoon Review: The Cursed Princess Club". Sequential Planet. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ "Insta Made Me Read It: Cursed Princess Club & True Beauty". WWAC. 2019-07-23. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
- ^ Kaplan, Avery (2019-10-29). "Syndicated Comics". The Beat. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ Zhdanova, Masha (2021-03-02). "Webtoon's greatest weapon is comics where people are just nice". Polygon. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
- ^ "Webtoon Review: The Cursed Princess Club". Sequential Planet. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
- ^ "Greek Myth-Based Lore Olympus Webtoon Becoming YA Animated Series". ScreenRant. 2019-10-10. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (2020-01-17). "Sales Charts: The Top 30 comics on Webtoon in 2019". The Beat. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Tantimedh, Adi (2019-09-02). "WEBTOON is the World's Most Successful Comics Publisher – And You Hadn't Heard of it Till Now". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Beat Staff (2019-12-11). "The 100 Best Comics of the Decade". The Beat. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Konecke, Kaitlin (November 3, 2019). "Women Are Using Animation and Comics to Tell Stories of Assault". Critical Darlings. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Category:Webtoons Category:Greek and Roman deities in fiction Category:Works based on classical literature Category:Classical mythology in comics Category:New Zealand comics titles Category:2018 comics debuts Category:2018 webcomic debuts Category:Comics about women Category:Romance comics Category:Fantasy comics Category:Persephone Category:Underworld in popular culture