Unbeknownst to me at the time, James Bama's artwork was highly influential to this young Monster Kid. His paintings for the box art on the Aurora monster model kits was an extra added measure of excitement when laying down my 99-cents at my local hobby shop (Gilberts in Torrance, CA). His cover for the Frankenstein paperback (featuring Boris Karloff in his test makeup for the monster) was also a wonder to behold. Then, in 1964 I got hooked on the Doc Savage Bantam paperbacks, not knowing that the cover artist was the same one that did the Aurora box art.
I'm not sure when I learned that this artist that had so enriched my model-making and reading experiences was a man by the name of James Bama, but I soon found out that he was very prolific and his work could be seen on the covers and insides of a multitude of publications, from paperbacks, to pulps and men's magazines.
This article from ILLUSTRATION magazine (#16, Spring 2006), written by Brian M. Kane, tells of his difficulty to get a collection of Bama's work into book form. As with so many others of his ilk, Bama was considered only to be an "illustrator" and not a "fine artist" for which these kinds of volumes were traditionally reserved. Finally, through the good graces of Flesk Publications, Kane's book was finally realized and James Bama now has a deserving place on the shelf alongside the rest of America's accomplished artists.
NEXT WEEK: James Bama discusses his technique for painting edges.
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