by Joshua H. Stulman

What an AMAZING find!! Never before in twenty years of selling Vintage Comics and artwork, have I ever come across a COMPLETE book of original art!!

The set includes the entire 44 page Original Artwork for The Jungle Book (Classics Illustrated # 83) by Norman Nodel from 1968. However, not only do we have the complete set of comic book pages, We also have an additional 8 Page story “Rikki Tikki Tavi” that was intended for publication as the fourth story in The Jungle Book by Classics Illustrated that was NEVER PUBLISHED!

That’s 52 pages of Original Silver Age Artwork along with 8 sheets of printer proofs!

TO ORDER CONTACT: info@brooklyncomicshop.com

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CHECK OUT THE VIDEO

Here’s some history on The Jungle Book and the Classics Illustrated adaption.

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Classics Illustrated # 83 with artwork by Norman Nodel debuted in 1968, hot off the heels of Disney’s widely successful 1967 feature animated film, “The Jungle Book” based on the 1894 critically acclaimed book by Rudyard Kipling.

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Gilberton Publications who published Classics Illustrated had previously released their version of the Jungle Book in comic format in 1951 with artwork by Alex Blum (1889-1969). Blum had been an early stalwart for Gilberton, having completed many of Classics Illustrated adaptations from the late 1940’s to 1966, as well as their weekly newspaper feature. Much like other Classics Illustrated editions, Blum’s version of the The Jungle Book was re-issued several times throughout the 1950’s. Although acceptable for its time, Blum’s artwork was often stiff and hampered by uninteresting layouts and figures.

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When Disney released its animated film adaptation of “The Jungle Book” to exceptional box office sales (32nd highest grossing Film in USA), Gilberton saw an opportunity to modernize their comic adaption. Enter: Norman Nodel!

Norman Nodel (1922-2000) was a skilled technical artist who had honed his abilities in World War II serving as field artist (similar to Jack Kirby) drawing military maps and first hand soldier accounts abroad. He received a Bronze Star Medal and many of his war-time illustrations are housed in the US Library of Congress.

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Nodel began working in comic illustration in 1940 for various publishers like True Comics and Sun Publications. He excelled at artwork that required illustrative details and on-model proportions of figures and objects that were well suited for historical or real life genres. He was a natural for romance comics, which required well drawn portraits and the challenge of making pages of conversation look visually interesting via layouts. A large portion of his romance genre work was done for Charlton Comics from the 1950’s into the 1970’s.

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For Classics Illustrated, Norman Nodel had completed many book adaptions such as Cleopatra (1961), Les Miserables (1961), Abraham Lincoln (1960) and many more. Perhaps his best known work was his adaption of The Ten Commandments (1956) for which he won the Thomas Alva Edison Award for Best Children’s Illustration. His artwork was so successful that Cecil B. DeMille Productions used his costume and set designs for The Ten Commandments movie starring Charlton Heston.

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Norman Nodel’s only work for DC Comics appeared in DC Showcase # 43. It was an adaption Ian Fleming’s James Bond book “Dr. No” that had been originally commissioned by Gilberton. Nodel’s adaption borrowed Sean Connery’s reference from the James Bond film. It was intended for publication in Classics Illustrated until DC Comics won the rights to the movie adaption. Later on in the early 1970’s, Marvel Comics sought to imitate the recently defunct Classic Illustrated with their “Marvel Classic Comics” brand. Marvel’s adaption of Ivanhoe in Marvel Classic Comics # 16 is a frame-to-frame copy of Norman Nodel’s artwork from Classics Illustrated # 2.

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Tasked with re-adapting “The Jungle Book” for Classics Illustrated, Nodel sought to present a more “realistic” version of The Disney animation by styling Mowgli after his cartoon counterpart. Nodel made a point of depicting Mowgli as a child, as well as the ferociousness of the jungle animals. His technical illustration is noticeable in the realism of the variety of different jungle beasts as well as jungle itself with its detailed vines, overhanging vegetation, mountain cliffs and ruins.

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If you read the Classics Illustrated version of “The Jungle Book,” you will immediately realize that the book is NOT the same story from the movie! You might think that Gilberton created “new” stories to capitalize on the popularity of the Disney movie- but this is not correct! Gilberton’s version of the “Jungle Book” is in fact based on Rudyard Kipling’s original 1894 Jungle Book and its 1895 sequel The Second Jungle Book. The two books present a variety of short stories that both feature the adventures of Mowgli, but also focusses on other animals and their jungle stories. The stories included in Classics Illustrated are “Mowgli’s Brothers,” “The King’s Ankus,” and “Red Dog” – a tale of Mowgli as a teenager.

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However, a fourth story “Rikki Tikki Tavi” was planned for the 1968 Classics Illustrated Adaption that was NEVER published! This 8-page story features the triumph of a brave mongoose who risks his life as he defends a human family from the evil Naga and Nagaina serpents. Nodel fully illustrated the feature. Paste-ups for the script were arranged but for some reason, the fourth Jungle Book tale (pages 46-53) was dropped from Classics Illustrated edition, never to see publication! This “untold” Jungle Book story would eventually be adapted to cartoon film by famed Looney Tunes director, Chuck Jones, in 1975.

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52 pages of Original Silver Age Comic Art is an astounding discovery by any measure- but to have a full length comic from page 1 to finish is almost unheard of in these times, where pages are often immediately broken up by art dealers and sold piece-by-piece to comic art collectors and investors. These pages have been preserved in outstanding condition for over 50 years.

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If you are interested in owning this special set of Original Comic Art, Contact us at info@brooklyncomicshop.com

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Joshua H. Stulman

Owner, Brooklyn Comic Shop