Could DC publish 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' the official comics adaptation?

[Otaku-sempai]

It struck me that DC Comics could be in a unique position to be able to publish an official comics adaptation of the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim animated movie being produced by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation. There's even potential for a prequel miniseries or graphic novel (as upsetting as that might be to some Tolkien purists). I'm not sure who I would like to see on such an adaptation but I will note that Chuck Dixon (writing as Charles Dixon) scripted Eclipse Comics' adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

For that matter, The Lord of the Rings has never received a proper comics adaptation at all, though I would not want one that was derived directly from the Peter Jackson films rather than Tolkien's own book, so that might not be viable for a while yet.

Thoughts?

 

[Spider-Man]

No Chuck Dixon, please.

I assume the Tolkien estate would decide if there would be any comics made and who would publish them. Given how protective they are of their IP I don't see it but I would love to see a lavish comic adaptation!

 

[Otaku-sempai]

No Chuck Dixon, please.

I assume the Tolkien estate would decide if there would be any comics made and who would publish them. Given how protective they are of their IP I don't see it but I would love to see a lavish comic adaptation!

Chuck did a pretty decent job with the Eclipse/Ballantine graphic novel adaptation of The Hobbit, though (arguably) it could have been made more concise; it was pretty wordy. In any case, The War of the Rohirrim is a Mannish story of war, with the Eorlingas defending against both Easterlings and Dunlendings even as Gondor is under attack from the Corsairs of Umbar. I could easily see Chuck Dixon writing this, though my ideal choice for scripter would be Neil Gaiman.

As to art, maybe John Bolton if we want a gritty, realistic style fitting the events of the movie. For more impressionistic visuals, more befitting the anime style of the film, I would suggest Mike Mignola or possibly Charles Vess.

 

[Spider-Man]

Gaiman would be such an incredible choice for this and I completely see why you'd want him to do it. I think he could fly with this material and make it something really special. Get J.H. Williams on art and I think we'd have a pretty perfect book but I like your choices of Bolton, Mignola and especially Vess. Could you imagine how gorgeous the book would look with Vess on it? And with how DC is expanding what and how they publish their books this could make a great prestige format series.

I believe there was an LOTR comic sometime after the Bass animated movie came out but I could be wrong there as I don't know too much about LOTR outside of the books and movies.

 

[Otaku-sempai]

Gaiman would be such an incredible choice for this and I completely see why you'd want him to do it. I think he could fly with this material and make it something really special. Get J.H. Williams on art and I think we'd have a pretty perfect book but I like your choices of Bolton, Mignola and especially Vess. Could you imagine how gorgeous the book would look with Vess on it? And with how DC is expanding what and how they publish their books this could make a great prestige format series.

I believe there was an LOTR comic sometime after the Bass animated movie came out but I could be wrong there as I don't know too much about LOTR outside of the books and movies.

For a long time, I thought that I recalled an adaptation of The Hobbit running in comic strip form in some U.S. children's magazine in the early 1970s, but the nearest to that I could find was the condensed version of the book that appeared in a couple of issues of Children's Digest. Prior to that, there was similarly another condensed retelling of The Hobbit in the 1960s in the U.K. magazine Princess. Of course there is the graphic novel that was originally serialized by Eclipse Comics and is still in print from Ballantine Books. There was also a heavily illustrated printing of The Hobbit that used art from the Rankin/Bass animated television special.

I'm certain that there has never been an authorized graphic novel adaptation of The Lord of the Rings; at least not in the U.S. or U.K. in English.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I can definitely see either Neil Gaiman or Grant Morrison doing a graphic novel adaptation of LOTR.