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SEEING DOUBLE! Doctor No comic book comparisons
US SHOWCASE Issue #43 March-April 1963

The SHOWCASE version of Norman Nodel's Doctor No comic book was released a few months before the first James Bond film hit cinema screens in the USA. Although the film was a hit, the comic book adaptation did not prove to be a big seller (it was not even marketed in the Dr. No US Pressbook), and it would be another two decades before a James Bond film was adapted into a comic book. The Marvel adaptation of For You Eyes Only (1981) was illustrated by Howard Chaykin, and more in the style of traditional comic books. The Doctor No adaptation does not resemble the now familiar comic book style, with no dynamic sound effects or hand-drawn dialogue, and nothing breaking free from its frame. The typeset speech bubbles and linear layout resemble one of the crudely colourized versions of the Daily Express James Bond comic strip that would later become a way to market the black & white newspaper style to a different audience.

Dr. No (1962) Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison
Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr, No (1962)

ABOVE: (top) The opening scene of the film in the Queen's Club served as the reference for the first panel of the Doctor No comic book, with the artist Norman Nodel capturing the actors’ likeness rather loosely. (centre) Note how the three blind beggars are now seemingly Caucasian rather than the Chinese Negroes of the UK Classics Illustrated edition, and only one of them appears to be carrying a gun. As the comic book was aimed at a much younger audience, the violence was toned down from the film - which itself was unusually graphic for its time. (bottom) The death of Strangways’ secretary Mary is also toned down with the blood-stained corpse not shown in the comic book. The artist has also combined the removal of Mary's body with the searching of the filing cabinet into the same panel, whereas they were separate shots in the film version of Dr. No (1962)

Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)
Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)

ABOVE: (top) James Bond's arrival in Jamaica was filmed on the first day of location shooting on Tuesday January 16, 1962 - with Marguerite LeWars (Miss Jamaica 1961) photographing Sean Connery at Palisadoes Airport. For the comic book version Norman Nodel used two publicity stills from the day and slavishly copied them down to the smallest detail. The inking of the US version also lightens the skin-tone of ‘freelance’ Annabel Chung. (centre) The fight between Mr. Jones (Reggie Carter) and James Bond (Sean Connery) was also illustrated using publicity stills as the starting point. (bottom) The death of Mr. Jones was also faithfully reproduced for the comic book, even down to the facial expressions.

Dr. Mo (1962)
Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)

ABOVE: (top) Bond's meeting with Quarrel was another instance where the US SHOWCASE version was revised due to the differing attitude toward race in early Sixties’ America. The black Jamaican fisherman Quarrel was re-inked to resemble a Latino type, and in some frames was completely re-drawn so the character no longer resembled the black American actor John Kitzmiller. (centre) Another instance of Norman Nodel using a publicity still as a reference image, but note how the position of Bond and Leiter has been reversed - even the wine bottle and candle have swapped places! (bottom) Bond's meeting with Professor Dent is also replicated from a film still, although with some unusual colour choices in the inking.

Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)
Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)

ABOVE: (top) Even the simple panel of Professor Dent boarding a boat for Doctor No's island has been referenced directly from the film. (centre) Once again, toned down for a younger market, Professor Dent is not killed by Bond but wounded - although the panel is a direct replica of the controversial scene from the film. The previous panel showed Bond and Dent shooting their guns simultaneously, so bond doesn't kill him in cold blood. (bottom) Norman Nodel's depiction of Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder bears no resemblance to the Swiss actress, although the scene of her with Quarrel and Bond as they escape Doctor No's guards, shows her wearing a rather larger bikini than the one in the film. This was common practice with all US advertising materials for Dr. No (1962), with all art stills and posters retouched to cover her navel.

Dr. No (1962) Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison
Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)

ABOVE: Three more examples of Norman Nodel's slavish replication of publicity stills. (top right) The image of Bond, Honey and Quarrel on the Crab Key beach was from a black & white still that was later hand-coloured and used in the UK Front of House set. Both the FOH still and final comic book took great liberties with the choice of colour for Honey's bikini! Even one of the lesser-seen production stills (bottom right) was adapted for the comic, with Honey now visible and awake beside Bond, rather than collapsed as she the was in the film. The comic book version makes no mention of the fact the characters were drugged.

Dr. No (1962) Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison
Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison Dr. No (1962)

ABOVE: (top) Bond's dinner with Doctor No has again been copied from the reference still of Joseph Wiseman and Sean Connery on Ken Adam's set at Pinewood Studios. (centre) The panel where Doctor No's guards restrain Bond and Honey has also been replicated from another still, which itself became one of the images used in the UK Front of House set (centre) right. (bottom) An instance where a publicity still has been used but in a different context: A still of Bond (Sean Connery) fighting with Doctor No (Joseph Wiseman) has been appropriated as the image of him overcoming Chang. Although the page goes on to show Bond replacing Chang on the gantry, the death of Doctor No is different to the film version. Instead of falling into the nuclear reactor he is electrocuted when his hand touches a contact on the control board (see below).

Censorship, controversy and colour

Dr. No (1962) / Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison

ABOVE: The depiction of ‘freelance’ photographer Annabel Chung was inked differently in the American version of the comic book (right) to lighten her skin tone and change the perceived ethnicity of the character. The original UK version (left) portrayed her more or less as seen in the film and reference still used by Norman Nodel when he illustrated the sequence.

Dr. No (1962) / Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison

ABOVE: In addition to changing the ethnicity of all non-Caucasian characters in the US SHOWCASE version of the Doctor No comic book, Miss Taro's appearance was also changed, and Bond's seduction of her reduced to a few lines with the pair now fully clothed! Artist Norman Nodel clearly used stills of Sean Connery and Zena Marshall as a reference. Controversially, Kenyan-born Zena Marshall also wore eye make-up appliances in Dr. No (as did American actor Joseph Wiseman as Doctor No) to make her look more Asian. For the frame (above bottom left) from PAGE 18 of the Doctor No comic, the artist used the still of Connery and Marshall later used as one the US lobby card set (above top left) as a reference, but the finished artwork was flipped horizontally left to right!

Classics Illustrated/Doctor No US SHOWCASE Comic Book comparison

ABOVE: Doctor No's death was changed from the film version so that the character is electrocuted. The 1962 film also changed his demise from Ian Fleming's 1958 source novel DR. NO, where Bond kills him by taking over the guano-loading machine at Crab Key docks, and diverting the flow of guano to bury No alive. As with most of the panels, the demise of Doctor No in the comic book was colour-keyed differently in the various editions; the US edition was simply two shades of yellow, whereas the European editions had more colour. The panel is a good example of how skilful inking can change the overall impact of the image. Similarly the clothing worn by different characters in the comic was also changed. Honey's enlarged bikini was bright red in the USA, but a more subtle blue (and slightly more revealing) in other countries. Quarrel's skin colour was also more authentic to the original concept of the character. As Norman Nodel's original line artwork would have been rendered in black ink, it was up the to each publisher to choose how the comic was colour keyed for printing.


Doctor No comic book adaptation  

Dr. No FACT FILE