Lord of the Rings Fans Need the Hobbit Graphic Novel in Their Lives
The iconic classic The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, later treated as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, has had such an indelible impact on modern society and the telling of fantasy stories that it will never be forgotten. However, lost among the myriad media adaptations of Bilbo Baggins' heroic story is a little known comic book series published by Eclipse and released in 1989 titled The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic that explores Bilbo's world in gorgeous, painstaking detail, and is a must-have for any devoted Tolkien fan.
The Hobbit, first published in 1937, follows the hobbit Bilbo Baggins from the Shire as he adventures with a group of dwarves, stepping out of the everyday complacency of his life that he had grown accustomed to. The story is the first introduction that readers have to iconic characters such as Gandalf the Wizard and Gollum, who would become cultural icons following the The Lord of the Rings books and Peter Jackson's cinematic adaptations. The Hobbit has always been ripe for a comic book adaptation because of Tolkien's stunning writing that explores the world of Middle-earth in (at times excruciating) detail, and the art in the comic books bring the story to life in a way that even the movies never could.
Related: Lord of the Rings Movies Never Showed How Powerful Gandalf Really Is
The Hobbit: An Illustrated Edition of the Fantasy Classic — adapted and abridged by Chuck Dixon (Nightwing, Birds of Prey) with art by David Wenzel (Savage Sword of Conan, The Wizard's Tale) — was first released as three separate comics throughout 1989, before being collected in a trade paperback and republished in 1990. While the illustrated edition is lesser known now, it is still considered to be
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