House ad for Showcase #43 [Doctor No] (April-May 1963); printed in Challengers of the Unknown #31 (April-May 1963)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Bob Brown
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
This adaptation of the first James Bond movie was not created in-house at DC, but purchased from British publisher Thorpe & Porter, who originally published it as an issue of Classics Illustrated:
Cover of Classics Illustrated #158A* (December 1962), painted cover by Norman J. Nodel
I wish I'd had two shillings to buy this.
The artwork on Bob Brown's Showcase cover doesn't look at all like Sean Connery, but Norman J. Nodel's interior art is such a great likeness of that famous Scot that he oughta been the artist on that big giant treasury adaptation of Zardoz we all wish was published in '74.
Panels from Classics Illustrated #158A; script by Alfred Sundel (?), pencils, inks, and colors by Norman J. Nodel
However, it errs in portraying Bond's Jamaican comrade-in-arms Quarrel as white.
...when as we all know he's black, which gives me a chance to yet again link to my infamous post You Only Quarrel Twice:
Also, I don't think the comic book truly captures the awe-inspiring vision that is Ursula Andress as Honey C. Ryder...
Well, see, make that decision for yourself!
And the ending sort of whitewashes the spirit of the usual 007 fade-out. From reading this, I think they're gonna play Travel Scrabble™ until the Royal Navy picks them up.
Come back tomorrow for the only super-spy who's more dashing, more debonair, and more DC than James Bond!
*See? Marvel isn't the first publisher to come up with adding letters after its comic book issue numbers.
"I'm delighted to meet you, Doctor..."
ReplyDelete"No."
"OK, then, I'm NOT delighted to meet you."
This is the only copy of SHOWCASE that I don't own.
ReplyDelete"Take off my chacket? It'sh not even four p.m.! What kind of barbarian removes his chacket before shiksh?"
ReplyDeleteI have this issue of SHOWCASE! The UK "CLASSICS" cover is way better.
ReplyDeleteNaturally, the John McLusky newspaper strip adaptation of the DR. NO novel is better than this.
I just found out Norman Nodell also did the CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED adaptation of "JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH" (based on the book, not the movie).