Slavic nations certainly had some unusual Hobbits, but what of the rest of Europe? Let’s see.
This underground comix- inspired Bilbo is tied with this one as the most horrible Hobbit depiction of all time. It’s a J’ai Lu publication, which is par for the course. Is he fighting a troll? An aardvark? Who knows.
A German Hobbit in that very annoying late 1960s semi-abstract children’s book style which could be cranked out very quickly by the artist. I didn’t like it as a child, and I still don’t like it now. Not least because Gollum is just an amorphous mass and not a real being. C’mon, the artist wasn’t even trying.
Up, up, and away with a Gorilla-footed Bilbo who is wearing a t-shirt with his own name on it, plus suspenders! He looks like Jeremy Boob from the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine cartoon. To add to the 1960s feel the art director used a crazy daisy font for “Hobbit.” The Smaug isn’t bad, but he’s in a completely different style, and he’s crying! That’s not the Smaug from the book!
Then there’s this very weird Fred Flintstone Hobbit from Russia who has only three toes and four fingers, and a single tooth front and center. He looks more like an ogre like than a diminuitive Hobbit, towering over the dwarves to his rear. And I know Tolkien mentioned Hobbits had red, rosy cheeks, but Bilbo’s is all over red, like a devil’s.
