Dr. No is a comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 by Norman J. Nodel. It is a loose adaptation of the eponymous James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 movie

Dr. No (film)

Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...

 released in 1962

1962 in film

The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....

, which in turn is inspired by a novel by Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...

. It was first published in the United Kingdom in Classics Illustrated

Classics Illustrated

Classics Illustrated is a comic book series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Iliad. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1941 and finished its first run in 1971, producing 169 issues. Following the series' demise, various companies...

#158A.

Description

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

James Bond (character)

Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...

 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 Rider meet the tank disguised as a dragon.

For the US publishing, the comic was censored, deleting all racial skin color and dialogue thought to be demeaning. It also received a different cover, by Bob Brown

Bob Brown (comics)

William Robert "Bob" Brown was an American comic book artist with an extensive career from the early 1940s through the 1970s. With writers Edmond Hamilton and Gardner Fox, Brown created the DC Comics hero Space Ranger, drawing the character's complete run from his debut in the try-out comic...

, 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, being later reprinted in Detective Stories by Dell Publishing

Dell Publishing

Dell Publishing, an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr.During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Dell was one of the largest publishers of magazines, including pulp magazines. Their line of humor magazines included 1000 Jokes, launched in...

 through Europe.

The United States publisher of Classics Illustated, Gilberton, marketed their CI series as educational in nature and felt that releasing Dr. No would be a poor marking fit. So the rights were sold to Independent News, then-owners of DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

, 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 films 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

Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....

 and writer Alex Toth

Alex Toth

Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...

 were contacted, but DC ultimately was decided against it, feeling unsure about the future of the characters as Sean Connery

Sean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...

 made what he swore would be his last appearance as 007, Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds Are Forever may refer to:In literature;* Diamonds Are Forever , the fourth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series* Diamonds Are Forever, a 2004 short novel by Ryk E...

.