The Lord of the Ring Comics by Luis Bermejo
Long before modern graphic adaptations brought Tolkien’s world to new audiences, an intriguing and often overlooked series of comics offered a very different visual take on The Lord of the Rings. Illustrated by Spanish artist Luis Bermejo and inspired by the Ralph Bakshi film, these European comic albums remain a fascinating chapter in Tolkien publishing history. Rarely seen and never officially released in English, they continue to capture the imagination of collectors and fans curious to explore Middle-earth through an unexpected medium.
When thinking about Tolkien Comics everyone who collects Tolkien books immediatly thinks about the very common and very known The Hobbit Series (first released as a three issue comic book series by eclipse books, but now mostly available as one volume). The story was adapted from the original by Chuck Dixon, and illustrated by David T. Wenzel. This series was so succesful that there was even released a second edition that introduced us to about 30 new pages of art by Wenzel. This comic The Hobbit book must have been translated in every possible language by now.
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 The Lord of the Rings 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, Sweden and Iceland, 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. I received news that there also should exist a translation into Bulgarian, but probably only the first volume was published.
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. At the moment I have several copies of the Dutch version available. I would like to see if anyone has comics available from the other countries.
Taru Sormusten Herrasta - Finland
Der Herr der Ringe - Germany
In de Ban van de Ring - The Netherlands
Il Signore degli Anelli - Italy
El Senor de Los Anillos - Spain
Hringadrottins saga - Iceland
Ringenes Herre - Denmark
Sagan om Ringen - Sweden
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