When it comes down to it, Lord of the Rings enthusiasts were the first true superfans. Decades before the movies were ever released, there were legions of hardcore Tolkien aficionados that were poring through the books, looking for every tiny little detail. Even Tolkien's unfinished works have been dissected by fans - of course, when the movies were finally released, a whole new wave of superfans took over.
Devotion comes in all shapes and sizes: while there are hundreds of works both in literature and film, Lord of the Rings fans seem to find a way to display their dedication to Middle-earth in entirely unique ways. Sure, there are hundreds of cosplayers and fan films, but what other fanbase can spend five hours creating an intricately-detailed map of a fictional world...on the side of a coffee cup?
A video posted by pirate (@topthat138) on Oct 27, 2014 at 10:50am PDT
That's right: a regular customer at a Starbucks in Liverpool reportedly spent five hours working on that map of Middle-earth. While it's strange that such a detailed piece wasn't done on a more standard material - for instance, paper - it's still an incredibly impressive piece. The detail alone rivals that of the official works, and it was all done of the side of a coffee cup - it doesn't even seem possible!
Then again, it would be a waste if the map was the only piece of Lord of the Rings Starbucks art out there. Thankfully, Liam Kenny (the artist behind the map) has plenty of other works, including another insanely detailed Lord of the Rings/Starbucks crossover cup:
A video posted by pirate (@topthat138) on Jan 14, 2015 at 12:20pm PST
It's hard enough for most people to draw on a flat surface with regular tools, much less on the side of a Starbucks cup with a single black pen.
For all of Kenny's works - including some amazing Star Wars pieces - check out his Instagram.
