A Shroud of Thoughts: The Late Great James Bama

Today would have been legendary artist James Bama's 96th birthday. Mr. Bama was a large part of my childhood. He painted the covers of many of the covers of Bantam Books' reprints of the Doc Savage novels that I read voraciously as a kid. He also painted the box art for the first several Universal Monster model kits put out by Aurora Plastics Corporation. And while I didn't know at the time, he was even responsible for promotional artwork for the TV show Star Trek, a poster of which adorned my bedroom wall. Sadly, James Bama died April 24 2022 at the age of 95.

James Bama was born on April 28 1926 in Washington Heights, New York. He took an interest in art early, copying panels from Alex Raymond's comic strip Flash Gordon when he was growing up. He was only 15 when he made his first professional sale, a drawing of Yankee Stadium published in the New York Journal-American. He graduated from the High School of Music & Art in New York City. Following his graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. He served as a mechanic and also painted murals while in the service.

After he was demobilized, James Bama went to study at the Art Students League in New York. Among his instructors was painter and illustrator Frank J. Reilly. His first illustration for a paperback was A Bullet for Billy the Kid in 1950. In the Fifties he also did covers for such men's adventure magazines as For Men Only, Man's World, Men, Stag and True Action. When he was 24 he went to work for Cooper Studios, an advertising studio that did artwork for advertisements for such companies as Coca-Cola, Ford Motors, and General Electric. He continued to work for Cooper Studios into the Sixties.

In the Sixties James Bama continued to do covers for paperbacks. It was in 1961 that he created the box art for Aurora's first Universal Monsters model kit Frankenstein. He would continue to create box art for the Universal Monsters model kits, doing the first 22. In 1964 Bantam Books began publishing reprints of the Doc Savage pulp novels, starting with the first novel, The Man of Bronze. James Bama did that cover, and would ultimately create 62 covers for Bantam's Doc Savage reprints. He also continued to work for magazines, creating art work for such diverse publications as Argosy, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Readers Digest, and The Saturday Evening Post. Mr. Bama also worked in television, creating promotional work for both Bonanza and Star Trek. He also created the movie post for Cool Hand Luke.

In 1968 James Bama and his wife moved to Wyoming. He began painting Western subjects, both historical and contemporary. It was in 1971 that Mr. Bama decided to leave the world of illustration so he could concentrate on easel painting. James Bama proved very successful as a Western artist, with books collecting his artwork published.

Arguably, James Bama is one of the most popular artists of the mid to late 20th Century. His illustrations for the Doc Savage novels and his box art for the Aurora Universal Monster model kits both have cult followings. He also proved very successful as a Western artist. As both an illustrator and a painter he was a realist. Some of his artwork appeared so realistic that it could at times be mistaken for a photographs. His command of lighting in his artwork was only matched by a few other artists, and the colours in his artwork could often be intense. He was an ideal artist for paperback covers, but at the same time he was capable of producing truly great Western artwork. He certainly was one of the most talented illustrators and artists of the 20th Century.