Old-fashioned Comics: Dr. No (Various issues)

Wednesday 1 May 2024

Dr. No (Various issues) - Contributed by Jens Terje

Dr. No (or Doctor No) is a comic book by Norman Nodel. It is a loose adaptation of the eponymous James Bond film released in 1962, which in turn is inspired by the novel by Ian Fleming. It was first published in the United Kingdom in Classics Illustrated#158A.

The comic strip was published daily from 23 May to 1 October, 1960 in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation was written by Peter O'Donnell and illustrated by John McLusky. The James Bond 007 Fan Club published a reprint of the strip in 1981 and the adaptation was published again in 2005 as part of a Dr. No anthology by Titan Books that also included Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia with Love.

Comic book

Cover of Dr. No (British Edition)

Dr. No was also adapted in the British Classics Illustrated in 1962, written and illustrated by Norman J. Nodel. The 32-page comic follows the movie script and most of the characters are drawn to resemble their screen counterparts. Some deviations are found, such as having Professor Dent trying to shoot James Bond before getting killed, and Dr. No being electrocuted instead of drowned. The original British cover depicted Dr. No, as well as the scene Bond and Honey Ryder meet the tank disguised as a dragon.

It was first published in the United Kingdom in Classics Illustrated #158A, being later reprinted in Detective Stories by Dell Publishing through Europe. For the US publishing by DC Comics, the comic was censored, deleting all racial skin color and dialogue thought to be demeaning. It also received a different cover, by Bob Brown, depicting a scene from the climax where Bond confronts Dr. No in the control room. The inside front cover included photos from the film, and the inside back cover had brief biographies of Bond and Fleming. The release in Showcase #43 (March 1963) - a comic series that usually focused on superhero stories - went mostly ignored. The next attempt at an American-published James Bond comic would not be made until the adaptation of For Your Eyes Only by Marvel Comics in 1981.

Publication history

Cover & page 03 of Showcase #43

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, who published the comic as issue 43 of the Showcase 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 and writer Alex Toth 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.

https://jamesbond.fandom.com/wiki/Dr._No_(comic)