Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Throughout November and December for one of our final graphic reads NTLTRC invites you to journey "there and back again" with Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves by reading the beautifully illustrated graphic novel edition of Tolkien's famous story The Hobbit as adapted by Chuck Dixon. Any adventurers among us? Feel free to comment on the original story, the graphic novel, and/or how they compare.

Find our previous discussion of the original novel here.

I’ve started reading this one. My early impressions: Fans of Tolkien’s book are likely to not be disappointed. Charles Dixon’s text hews pretty closely to Tolkien’s original. And the artwork by David Wenzel, while I have a few specific complaints, is more than serviceable.

I'm almost finished with it. There's a lot of text.
I think I notice some differences from the book but it's quite a while since I read it.

I’ve just put this on hold at my library.

It should be noted that there are a number of editions of the graphic novel. I have the early 1990 bound edition published by Eclipse Books (which brings together the original three Eclipse comics published in 1989 through 1990). There have over the years been a number of “revised” editions, although the exact dates of these newer editions seem to be in dispute depending on who you listen to. (Goodreads itself can sometime screw up publication dates.) In any case, the most recent editions boast six additional pages. According to one source, the added material was related to the impending release of the first in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.

Great information, Canavan. Thanks for adding it.

Finished. Here are a few quicks thoughts.

Chuck Dixon does a fine job of adapting J. R. R. Tolkien’s original book. I was able to recognize quite a bit of the text as having been more or less lifted directly from The Hobbit . One aspect of the adaptation that was noticeable was the sheer amount of text. The balloons tend to dominate many of the panels.

I thought the illustrations by David Wenzel were well done and suited to the material. I especially like Wenzel’s pastoral backgrounds. I did have a couple of quibbles about the way in which characters were depicted. The dwarves are to some extent indistinguishable from one another, one exception being Thorin, who unfortunately looks too much like Gandalf. And I’m not a huge fan of Wenzel’s depiction of Bilbo. He looks like a diminutive Jackie Mason. I would have preferred something that more closely approximated Tolkien’s original sketch.

I’m looking forward to hearing what others may think.

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The dwarves aren't that distinct in the book either.
They look pretty Christmasy but on the cover of my copy they look like warrior dwarves from d&d or something.


My biggest problem was the elves. They were indistinguishable from humans except in a couple of pictures were you could see their ears.

I'm working on reading books for work right now but hope to read the graphic of The Hobbit by sometime in December. Canavan and Book Nerd, hearing how the illustrations are lacking for y'all sounds disappointing and I hope I still enjoy the experience.

Samantha said: Canavan and Book Nerd, hearing how the illustrations are lacking for y'all sounds disappointing and I hope I still enjoy the experience.

I sometimes have the bad habit when reviewing something to emphasize the negative rather than positive. I want to say to anyone considering reading this graphic novel that, while I had some issues with the illustrations, I by and large liked them.

Canavan, I doubt that's just your problem. Sometimes picking out and critiquing the specific things we don't like about a book is easier and faster than emphasizes the various things we DO like about it.

Is anyone else feeling like wandering through Middle Earth during the holiday season? This graphic novel edition will surely take you less time than the full length story. (I do highly recommend the original, of course.)

Less than 2 weeks left of the year. I expect to make time to pull out this GN myself before the year is out. A little high fantasy seems like a great way to end an eventful year. Anyone with me?

I finished this a little while ago and it was great. It must be 20+ years since I read The Hobbit so it was a great way to sit down and refresh the story. I enjoyed the illustrations and for me they fitted how I had imagined the story mostly. I’ve handed this one onto my son now in the hope I can spark his interest in Tolkien.

Georgina wrote: "I finished this a little while ago and it was great. It must be 20+ years since I read The Hobbit so it was a great way to sit down and refresh the story. I enjoyed the illustrations and for me the..."

Georgina, I only read The Hobbit and LOTR not even 5 years ago, and I smile at the idea of reading the GN for more Hobbit adventure. I can only imagine how nice the experience must've been for someone that hasn't read it in a very long time.

Introducing classics to younger readers via graphic novels is a great idea and has been gaining traction over the last decade or two. Hopefully, your son jumps aboard the Tolkien train with you.