J.R.R.Tolkien comics
When thinking about Tolkien Comics everyone who collects
Tolkien books immediatly thinks about the very common and
very known hobbit sequal (first edited as three parts, now
mostly available as one book). But when it comes to comics there ate many more around then any one could guess.
The very first comic adaptation that I'm aware of is by Fleetway Publications, who published a fifteen-part adaptation of The Hobbit as a "visual serial" in Princess and Girl magazine in the United Kingdom. The story was published on a weekly basis between 10 October 1964 and 16 January 1965, accompanied by five or six illustrations by Ferguson Dewar.
The covers of the magazine can now be called vintage and the illustrations by Ferguson Dewar where very original and even funny. The text of the Hobbit was very successfully reduced to a minimum by cutting out a lot of parts. Princess Magazine is now hard to find and serious Tolkien collectors are willing to spend a lot of money on a complete collection of the Hobbit serialization.
The Lord of the Rings Comics
But long before the first appearance of the hobbit comics
there were the Lord of the rings comics. These "The Lord
of the Rings" comic albums were drawn based on the Ralph
Bakshi movie, as is mentioned inside the Dutch
version of the comic albums. It is though vey difficult
to find any information on the when and how these comics
got published.
The first comics were probably released in Italy in 1979,
1980 and 1981. They were also published at least in Spain,
Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, and most
probably in many more places (but never outside Europe).
Most of them, even when not in the Italian language, were
printed in Italy, and published by a local publisher.
In the United States these comics didn't get published,
due to a copyright problem. They actually never got published
into English at all.
But still are the only official comics based on The Lord
of the Rings that are licensed by Tolkien Enterprises, based
in California.
The artist, Luis Bermejo, who drew these comics was
of spanish origin.
He is also responsibale for the fantastic covers.
The Hobbit Comics
The Hobbit is a 1989 three issue comic book series, published by Eclipse Comics. In January 1990, they were bound as one in a trade paperback, and a revised edition was published in 2006. To coincide with the upcoming The Hobbit movies, a new edition, with six new pages of artwork, was be published on 12 September 2012. The story was adapted from the original by Chuck Dixon, and illustrated by David T. Wenzel.
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