Pornokitsch

Kevin Munroe's Olympus Heights is a self-contained graphic novel with a pretty straight-forward assumption: the Greek gods are alive, well, and pretty much just hanging around town. Although most of the gods have integrated with society, Zeus has turned into a supernatural vigilante - hunting down rogue mythical creatures, turning them to statues and then donating them to the local museum.

The story is told through the eyes of Oliver Dobbs, an assistant at the museum and a big geek in need of a father figure and a love interest (Zeus provides the former, the latter arrives via plot necessity). He gets tangled up in the adventures of Zeus, and serves as a sidekick, plot foil and excuse for explanation.

The art, also by Munroe, is very stylized. Exceptionally cartoony, it gives the series a feel of a collected webcomic. Munroe uses this to his advantage - mortals and mortal 'things' are universally pictured as weedy and nondescript. The immortals, however, are constructed like traditional superheroes. Side by side, this helps bring the story to life.

The graphic novel includes a series of short story (1-2 pages) filler content between each chapter. These have been added for the graphic novel, and, as far as bonus material goes, were a mistake. Munroe has developed a very graphic, very visual world for Olympus Heights and, when reduced to text alone, it becomes a third-rate American Gods.

Overall: campy, fun and easy to read. The concept of Olympus Heights doesn't challenge the readers, but definitely shows them a pretty good time.