Comic Book Review The Hobbit

9
Rating
Published On:2001-05-29
Published by: Del Rey Books
Author:Chuck Dixon
Artist:David Wenzel
Colorist:David Wenzel
Letterer:Bill Pearson

There and Back Again

Comic book review written on August 9, 2022

In This Issue of

What Else Happens in this Comic?

It’s a story told many times.  A dragon stole the gold from a group of dwarves.  A wily wizard assembles a group to steal it back.  Along the way the group runs into a bunch of trouble and only with a little luck manages to make it to the gold and the dragon.  All that plus our hero, Bilbo Baggins, finds one of the rings of power — Sauron’s master ring lost years ago when the great host of men and elves fought with the Lord of the Rings Sauron to free Middle Earth from his evil.

The Hobbit Page Smaug
The Hobbit P Smaug

How is the Writing in ??

The Dialogue

Fans of any version of the Hobbit have been fortunate in that each show runner has pulled heavily from the J.R.R. Tolkien source material.  Del Rey’s illustrated Hobbit follows the pattern. Writer Chuck Dixon does a marvelous job of pulling the best quotes out of the Hobbit novel and including them in the comics. There were even a few scenes that I thought were created just for the New Line Cinemas movies.  Clearly not, as they made it into the comics long before the movies were made.

Showing Versus Telling

Fans of any version of the Hobbit have been fortunate in that each show runner has pulled heavily from the J.R.R. Tolkien source material.  Del Rey’s illustrated Hobbit follows the pattern. Writer Chuck Dixon does a marvelous job of pulling the best quotes out of the Hobbit novel and including them in the comics. There were even a few scenes that I thought were created just for the New Line Cinemas movies.  Clearly not, as they made it into the comics long before the movies were made.

The Vibe

The illustrated Hobbit is the definitive version of a graphic novel.  It looks and reads like a novel created through pictures and words.  The creative team brings together the best elements of novels and comics to create a visually stunning, easy-but-heavy-reading comic book about the Hobbit.

Comic Art Review

David Wenzel’s art is a solid fit for the illustrated Hobbit.  The comics have a painterly, water-color style that looks good twenty-years after it was first produced.  The character designs remind me of Finnish Santa Claus or Renaissance Faire costumes.  Between wizards, dwarves and Beorn, there are plenty of big beards to go around.  Wenzel has a rounded edge to all his drawings, and it creates a consistency from monster to hero to dragon that unifies the entire graphic novel under one visual style.  Any Hobbit comic is going to be measured against how Gollum and Smaug are drawn.  David Wenzel’s Gollum is still mostly human in design except for the eyes.  Smaug has an old-world design as a dragon.  He’s mostly a serpent with a little hair. Gollum is a difficult character to get right, but Smaug is excellent.

On the Cover

It’s interesting to note that even later publications of the illustrated Hobbit had Wenzel covers on them.  Over the years, Wenzel created two more realistic covers.  They are an odd departure from the interiors, but fit better with the movie marketing of the period.  New Line Cinema’s Hobbit movies were in production at the time.

In addition to David Wenzel’s comic covers, we have two comic covers by Eric Herenguel.  I like that Eric kept the Wenzel character designs, but drew them in his style.

World Building

Locations

  • Shire
  • Rivendell
  • Goblin caves
  • Beorn’s home
  • Mirkwood
  • Elf dungeons
  • Lake Town
  • Lonely Mountain

Who's Who

- Bilbo Baggins
- Thorin Oakenshield
- Gandalf
- Smaug, the Dragon
- Fili
- Kili
- Balin
- Bombur
- King of the Eagles
- Beorn
- Goblin King
- Wargs
- Bard the Bowman
- Gollum

Big Question

Can you read it without hearing the voices from the Rankin-Bass cartoon or the Peter Jackson movies?

Curse the Baggins! It's gone! What has it got in its pocketses?

Gollum

Who Will Like

If you are a fan of the Hobbit from either Rankin-Bass or New Line Cinema, you will enjoy Del Rey’s illustrated The Hobbit.  As an uber-geek of all things Hobbit, I enjoyed the fresh take on the character designs and how closely it stayed to the source material.

I Need More Content like

If you need more David Wenzel Tolkien artwork, start with Middle Earth: The World of Tolkien Illustrated by Lin Carter.  You can also find many illustrations on David Wenzel’s website and Instagram account.

You can find more of Eric Herenguel’s artwork on his Instagram page. The French artist has created several works over the years including The Kong Crew.

Should You Buy This Comic Book?

If you are a fan of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings and you don't have the illustrated The Hobbit in your collection, you are missing a vital gem for your fandom. It's richly illustrated and stays very close to the source novel. In my collection, I now have one of the original Eclipse Comics graphic novels and the full collected edition by Del Rey from 2012.

Official Website
Adventure, Best Reviews, Independent, Lord of the Rings