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Cover: Al Hubbard

Four Color #1183

Name: Four Color #1183
Brand: Dell
Availability: InStock

May 1961 · Dell · 0.15 USD

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★ 1st appearance — Cruella de Vil

About this Issue

Four Color #1183 is the first comic book adaptation of Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians, appearing in January 1961 — the same month the animated film premiered theatrically. It brought Cruella De Vil, Pongo, Perdita, and the film's contemporary London setting into print for young readers at the very peak of the property's cultural moment, making it a foundational document in the 101 Dalmatians franchise's expansion beyond the screen. The issue also sits at a historically charged moment for Dell: it appeared in the final stretch of the Four Color run, just as Dell's two-decade partnership with Western Publishing was beginning to unravel, giving it a valedictory quality among Silver Age Disney comics adaptations. As the only Dell-era single-issue comic treatment of the film, it stands as an unrepeated snapshot of a property that would go on to spawn decades of sequels, remakes, and television series.

Contains 4 stories

One Hundred and One Dalmatians [101 Dalmatians]

1 pp

101 Dalmatians

32 pp

PongoRoger RadcliffAnitaPerdita

Dalmatian Animation

1 pp

Dalmatian Diary by Pongo

1 pp

Pongo

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $13

CGC 9.4 · 2 in census $1,255

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $641*

CGC 9.0 · 4 in census $436

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $257

CGC 8.0 · 2 in census $230*

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $167

Show all 17 grades ▾

CGC 7.0 none in existence

CGC 6.5 none in existence

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 · 1 in census $90*

CGC 5.0 · 1 in census $90*

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $71*

CGC 4.0 none in existence

CGC 3.5 none in existence

CGC 3.0 · 1 in census $45*

CGC 2.5 none in existence

CGC 2.0 none in existence

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

Raw — VG+ ▾ $84.5–$97.5 2 listings

VG+ $84.5 VG+ $97.5

Raw — VG ▾ $12.95–$38.5 2 listings

VG $12.95 VG $38.5

Raw — VERY GOOD $22 1 listing Raw / ungraded $6.99 1 listing

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History

The comic was produced through the long-running Dell/Western Publishing arrangement, under which Western hired the writers and artists and sold completed material to Dell for publication. Writer Carl Fallberg was a natural choice: a Disney Studios veteran who had worked as an assistant director and storyman on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Bambi before becoming one of the most prolific Disney comics writers at Dell from 1952 onward, scripting characters ranging from Mickey Mouse to Scrooge McDuck. Fallberg was paired with Al Hubbard, a Western Publishing artist who had illustrated multiple Disney film adaptations, including a later Jungle Book tabloid edition with Fallberg himself, suggesting an established working relationship. The issue appeared virtually simultaneously with the theatrical release of the film — Disney's 17th animated feature, which had been under enormous pressure to succeed commercially after the box-office disappointment of Sleeping Beauty.

Trivia · 8 facts

First and only Dell Comics single-issue adaptation of Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians animated film (1961).
Published January 1961, coinciding almost exactly with the film's theatrical premiere on January 25, 1961.
Written by Carl Fallberg — a Disney Studios alumnus who had worked on Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi before becoming a prolific Dell/Western Disney comics scripter from 1952 to 1977.
Art and cover by Al Hubbard, a Western Publishing artist who frequently illustrated Disney film adaptations for Dell and later Gold Key.
Features principal film characters Pongo, Roger Radcliffe, Anita, and Perdita, plus supplemental one-page humor strips ('Dalmatian Animation' and 'Dalmatian Diary by Pongo').
Published as part of Dell's Four Color series (Series 2, 1942–1962) — the most prolific American comic book run in history, which used each issue as a one-shot vehicle for a different licensed property.
The film being adapted was the 17th Disney Animated Canon feature, based on Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, and was a landmark for introducing xerography to Disney animation.
A British Edition variant of Four Color #1183 also exists, published concurrently, indicating international distribution of the adaptation alongside the film's release.