I first heard about John Hendrix when he was one of the speakers for Housemoot 2026. Because I really enjoyed his talk, I decided to check out his works and was thrilled to see he had written a graphic novel on the friendship between J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S Lewis! Obviously, I had to read this.

The last time I read about the Inklings was three years ago, when I read The Fellowship, and that book was a much broader look at the career and works of four of the Inklings. The Mythmakers is much narrower in scope and focuses specifically on Tokien and Lewis.

In The Mythmakers, a wizard and a lion lead us through the story of Tolkien and Lewis’s early lives, how they met, and how they influenced each other’s works. There is Lewis’s famous conversion story, the inspiration for Narnia, and also how the lore of LOTR was really Tolkien’s life work. In a way, much of the story wouldn’t be new to established fans of both authors, and even the detours to introduce what myths are, what fairy tales are, Tolkien’s impact on fan culture, etc, will be familiar if you have been reading up about myths and fairy tales.

What the book provides, however, is an incisive way of tying all these threads together and giving new insight. I never thought, for example, that Leaf by Niggle was an expression of how Tolkien’s perfectionism sometimes hampered his ability to write out all that was in his mind, nor had I fully considered the impact that the vastly different writing styles of the two men might have on their friendship.

Additionally, I really enjoyed all the illustrations here. They helped to bring the tale to life and I even teared up at the end, as Hendrix gave us his opinion on their friendship. Speaking of which, I found it helpful that Hendrix had an afterword where he explained where he did some assumptions on what happened. That’s all very typical of a biography, because no one is going around with cameras on their heads to record every word, but it’s always nice when authors note where they had to assume and where they had sources to back things up.

In the end, I think this would be a book that appeals to old and new fans of Tolkien and Lewis. New fans will probably find that the illustrations help to lighten the book, which gives quite a lot of information without being overwhelming. Old fans (like me!) will probably enjoy revisiting their favourite authors and yes, also enjoying the illustrations here. I borrowed this book, but quite honestly I can see myself buying a copy just so I can reread it in the future.