He imagined realms of wizards, orcs and hobbits and elevated fantasy from pulp to respected literature. J.R.R. Tolkien, the iconic author who captivated generations with his rich and complex mythology of Middle Earth, is the subject of his own tale in a special edition of Bluewater Productions’ latest biography comic title “Orbit.”

Orbit: JRR Tolkien: True Lord of the Rings, releasing this May, will be sold exclusively through comic book shops.

“Like Gondor, in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the comic book shop is slowly dying like many brick and mortar retailers”, said Bluewater president Darren G. Davis. “I love my comic book shop and by making this special issue exclusive to those retailers, it will hopefully get fans back in the store.”

 

The comic book biography about Tolkien, a favored and esteemed author by a legion of genre fans, delves into the writer’s background and looks to highlight the influences and how such classic books as “The Hobbit,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Silmarillion” came to be.

 

Authors Michael Lent and Brian McCarthy researched Tolkien’s life in great detail in much the same way they did for their earlier collaborations Orbit: Stephen King and Orbit: Keith Richards.

”We’re definitely fans,” artist Luis Chichón said “But we wanted to make sure readers get full measure of the man. That beyond his work in fantasy he was a fragile World War I veteran, well-respected philologist and university professor…all of which played a part in his creation of Middle Earth.”

The issue, penciled by Luis Chichón with a cover by Hyunsang Michael Cho, will retail for $3.99. The issue will be in stores well before the highly anticipated Peter Jackson film adaptation of Tolkien’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

Davis said ” You should pre-order this book to make sure you get a copy.  We are not doing a huge overprinting on this book.   Most of these genre comic book biographies sell out quick like “The Cast of Doctor Who” and “Stephen King”.