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 of Doctor Who and Stephen King."
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
Showing posts with label jrr tolkien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jrr tolkien. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Monday, May 31, 2010
Guillermo del Toro Backs-Out of Hobbit
Peter Jackson hand-picked director, Guillermo del Toro, to direct the two-part Hobbit prequel to the three-part Lord of the Rings series (helmed by Jackson himself) but del Toro has now pulled-out, due to issues at the studios behind the film. The Hobbit was pushed-back to the last quarter of 2012 in January of this year and fans were told that was only tentative.
Problems plaguing the new JRR Tolkien adaptation include everything from rights and profit shares to changes at the studios but, after two years of dealing with it all, del Toro finally had enough. He had even moved his family to New Zealand to prep the films with Peter Jackson. Guillermo del Toro will remain credited as a co-writer.
The production team is now looking for his replacement.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Problems plaguing the new JRR Tolkien adaptation include everything from rights and profit shares to changes at the studios but, after two years of dealing with it all, del Toro finally had enough. He had even moved his family to New Zealand to prep the films with Peter Jackson. Guillermo del Toro will remain credited as a co-writer.
The production team is now looking for his replacement.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Monday, February 11, 2008
Tolkien Estate Suing New Line Cinema
JRR Tolkien's estate, The Tolkien Trust, in conjunction with HarperCollins, is suing movie company, New Line Cinema, for non-payment.
According to the lawsuit filed earlier today in Los Angeles Superior Court, New Line Cinema failed to cough-up the 7.5% interest on gross profits from the blockbuster Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The three films, released between 2001 and 2003, brought in almost $6 billion worldwide! The plaintiffs seek $150 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount for punitive damages.
The real deathblow is that they are also seeking permission to terminate the rights New Line Cinema holds on all other Tolkien properties, including the forthcoming The Hobbit films.
A spokesperson for the Tolkien Trust said they "do not file lawsuits lightly," and that New Line Cinema "has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual share of gross receipts."
Lastly, he also said the movie company has blocked the plaintiffs from auditing the receipts from the last two films.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
According to the lawsuit filed earlier today in Los Angeles Superior Court, New Line Cinema failed to cough-up the 7.5% interest on gross profits from the blockbuster Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. The three films, released between 2001 and 2003, brought in almost $6 billion worldwide! The plaintiffs seek $150 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount for punitive damages.
The real deathblow is that they are also seeking permission to terminate the rights New Line Cinema holds on all other Tolkien properties, including the forthcoming The Hobbit films.
A spokesperson for the Tolkien Trust said they "do not file lawsuits lightly," and that New Line Cinema "has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual share of gross receipts."
Lastly, he also said the movie company has blocked the plaintiffs from auditing the receipts from the last two films.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Jackson to Produce Hobbit Films
Peter Jackson will produce two films based on the Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit, contrary to previous reports. Jackson, Oscar-winning director of the famous Lord of the Rings film trilogy, has been in contention with New Line Cinema over profits generated by the first film in the series and the head of the studio had said Jackson would have nothing to do with the Hobbit films "on [his] watch." But, new reports say Jackson will produce two films based on the fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien for the company.
The Hobbit movies will be filmed simultaneously and are scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011.
The Hobbit movies will be filmed simultaneously and are scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
New Tolkien Book Release, Harry Potter
As we reported a while back, Christopher Tolkien, son of late author, JRR Tolkien, of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fame, has completed work on one of his father's manuscripts which will see print next month.
The new novel, entitled Children of Hurin, will hit shelves April 17th, 2007. Started by JRR Tolkien in 1918 but never finished, his son has spent the last 30 years working from his father's various drafts. This will be the second posthumous book of Tolkien's to be published; the first was The Silmarillion. That book was also guided into print by Christopher Tolkien.
Artist, Alan Lee, is illustrating the book, but details are being kept quiet by publisher, HarperCollins. I do not know if it will be set in Middle Earth, but Tolkien's "brilliance" ran the whole gamut from A to B, so my money is on, "Yes."
The latest, and last, installment in the Harry Potter series is set to hit bookstores May 4th and the latest (and probably last) installment of the film series is also underway. At least two of the major stars have already signed-on to reprise their roles, including titular manboy, Harry Potter, himself. The big question everyone wants answered is: Who is going to die?
Author, JK Rowling, has already said that one of the major characters will definitely perish in this final installment.
The new novel, entitled Children of Hurin, will hit shelves April 17th, 2007. Started by JRR Tolkien in 1918 but never finished, his son has spent the last 30 years working from his father's various drafts. This will be the second posthumous book of Tolkien's to be published; the first was The Silmarillion. That book was also guided into print by Christopher Tolkien.
Artist, Alan Lee, is illustrating the book, but details are being kept quiet by publisher, HarperCollins. I do not know if it will be set in Middle Earth, but Tolkien's "brilliance" ran the whole gamut from A to B, so my money is on, "Yes."
The latest, and last, installment in the Harry Potter series is set to hit bookstores May 4th and the latest (and probably last) installment of the film series is also underway. At least two of the major stars have already signed-on to reprise their roles, including titular manboy, Harry Potter, himself. The big question everyone wants answered is: Who is going to die?
Author, JK Rowling, has already said that one of the major characters will definitely perish in this final installment.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Quick Entertainment Bits
Michael Rosenbaum has said that next season's Smallville may be his last as Lex Luthor. Rosenbaum is a very gifted actor and his portrayal of Luthor is one of the show's strengths. Of course, it doesn't hinge on that alone and the show will definitely be good with or without him, but it's great with him. Smallville is a kick-ass show all the way around and you can check out the new episodes Thursdays (tonight) at 7:00 CST on CW and reruns from all the past seasons on ABC Family weekdays at 6:00 PM CST.
They are saying there will be a 2009 release for The Hobbit, even though there is no script and no director. I tried to read The Hobbit three different times and could never get through it. I also tried reading LotR and had the same experience. Sorry, but it's just not that good.
The writing is beautiful but tiresome, and the story is cliché. I realize that it's clichéd because it was among the first and so many others have used it since -- meaning to say that it wasn't clichéd at the time -- but by the time I was born, it just was. I've never watched any of the films because they're too long and I just never got into the story, anyway. Hobbits and halflings are dorky.
If you want a good fantasy trilogy, pick up Magic Kingdom for Sale... Sold and go from there.
They are saying there will be a 2009 release for The Hobbit, even though there is no script and no director. I tried to read The Hobbit three different times and could never get through it. I also tried reading LotR and had the same experience. Sorry, but it's just not that good.
The writing is beautiful but tiresome, and the story is cliché. I realize that it's clichéd because it was among the first and so many others have used it since -- meaning to say that it wasn't clichéd at the time -- but by the time I was born, it just was. I've never watched any of the films because they're too long and I just never got into the story, anyway. Hobbits and halflings are dorky.
If you want a good fantasy trilogy, pick up Magic Kingdom for Sale... Sold and go from there.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
New Tolkien Scheduled for 2007
JRR Tolkien's son, Christopher, has completed Tolkien's unfinished manuscript, The Children of Hurin. The book is scheduled for release next year. Tolkien started the book in 1918, but eventually abandoned it. His son has spent 30 years working on it to form a complete book. Portions have been published previously.
The book deals with the elves and dwarves featured in many of Tolkien's works.
The book deals with the elves and dwarves featured in many of Tolkien's works.
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