The Hobbit

No. It is a single, complete volume adapting Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, which is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. The comic tells the whole story of Bilbo's journey and reads on its own.

No. The graphic novel tells the complete story from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain and back, using an abridged version of Tolkien's own text, so it works as a first encounter with Middle-earth. Readers who know the novel will recognise much of the original wording.

Yes. It adapts a novel Tolkien wrote for children, and David Wenzel's painted artwork suits younger readers. Some scenes are tense, including the trolls, the goblins, the spiders, Smaug and the Battle of Five Armies, so it may be a little intense for very young children.

The story runs to about 133 comic pages, first published by Eclipse Comics in three parts of roughly 44 pages each. Later editions run slightly longer with added artwork: the 2012 Del Rey edition added six new pages. Most readers finish it in one or two sittings.

The ring Bilbo finds in Gollum's cave appears to be a simple magic ring that makes its wearer invisible, and Bilbo uses it to escape danger throughout the journey. Its true nature as the One Ring is only revealed in The Lord of the Rings, which this adaptation does not cover.

No. It adapts Tolkien's novel and was first published in 1989, more than twenty years before the films. A new edition with six added pages was published in 2012 to coincide with the release of the first film, but the story and artwork follow the book, not the films.

Chuck Dixon and Sean Deming abridged Tolkien's text rather than rewriting it, so much of the original narration and dialogue survives in the captions and speech balloons. The plot follows the novel, condensed to fit about 133 painted pages by David Wenzel.

Yes. It was first published by Eclipse Comics in 1989 as three parts (Book One, Book Two and Book Three), then collected into a single volume in 1990. It covers the whole of the novel's story, from Bag End to the Lonely Mountain and back, in abridged form.