Who knew? Roy Thomas and Gil Kane produced a faithful and polished comics adaptation of Wagner’s grand opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung (DC in four parts from 1989-1991, then a hardback collection in 2002), sans the music. Which may be a blessing, if your ears are averse to screeching Rhine-maidens.

If you want to know the story that Tolkien and Lovecraft knew, this is an accessible way to get it. 200 pages of fine brisk comics cram in 16 hours of opera, but since Roy Thomas is at the helm it’s done very deftly. His translation is fairly straight and not an attempt at “modern and slangy”. The art was by Gil Kane in his prime, doing full-on ‘costume-opera meets superhero’, and he was paired with a top colourist.

Not to be confused with the later 500-page adaptation of the operas by P. Craig Russell. Incidentally, P. Craig Russell’s very lacklustre Jewels of Gawahiar Conan adaptation (seemingly meant to entice dim-witted 10 years old boys into reading) had made me wary of such things, and in researching the worth of the Thomas/Kane Ring of the Nibelung I discovered that Archive.org has once again expanded the scope of the “Borrow” books. Researchers can now ‘nip in and out’ for an hour on a “Borrow” book…