''Dr. No'' (or ''Doctor No'') is a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

Norman Nodel Norman Nodel (1922 – 25 February 2000) was an American comics-illustrator, mostly known for his work in ''Classics Illustrated''. Biography Norman Nodel was born Nochem Yeshaya in 1922. The son of an Orthodox Rabbi, Nodel served as a field ...

. It is a loose adaptation of the eponymous

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

film released in 1962, which in turn is inspired by

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

by Ian Fleming. It was first published in the United Kingdom in ''

Classics Illustrated ''Classics Illustrated'' is an American comic book/magazine series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as ''Les Misérables'', '' Moby-Dick'', ''Hamlet'', and '' The Iliad''. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication ...

'' #158A.

Description

The 32-page comic follows the film script and most of the characters are drawn to resemble their screen counterparts. Some deviations are found, such as Dr. No being electrocuted instead of drowned. The original British cover depicted Dr. No, as well as the scene in which Bond and

Honey Ryder Honeychile Rider is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond novel '' Dr. No''. In the 1962 Bond film of the same name, her name was shortened and changed to Honey Ryder. In the film, she is played by Swiss actress Ursula Andress and ...

meet the tank disguised as a dragon. For the US publishing, the comic was censored, deleting all racial skin colour and dialogue thought to be demeaning. It also received a different cover, by

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...

, an inside front cover with photos from the film, and an inside back cover with brief biographies of Bond and Fleming.

Publication history

It was first published in the United Kingdom in ''Classics Illustrated'' #158A in December 1962, being later reprinted in ''Detective Stories'' by Dell Publishing through Europe. The United States publisher of ''Classics Illustrated'', Gilberton, marketed their CI series as educational in nature and felt that releasing ''Dr. No'' would be a poor marketing fit. So the rights were sold to Independent News, then-owners of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, who published the comic as issue 43 of the ''

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

'' anthology series, in January 1963. As the US issue hit the news stands four months before the film's US release, sales were disappointing. With interior art very different from most other work published by DC Comics, it may have had trouble finding an audience since James Bond was still relatively unknown in the US at the time. DC has not published another James Bond comic since, though they considered starting a title when their 10-year option for a Bond comic was about to expire in 1972. Artist

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

and writer

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

were contacted, but DC ultimately decided against it, feeling unsure about the future of the characters as Sean Connery made what he stated would be his last appearance as 007, '' Diamonds Are Forever''.

References

* * 1962 comics debuts James Bond comics Comics Comics based on films {{Comics-stub