DOC SAVAGE COVER GALLERY

Outside of the pulps themselves, Bantam Books published the series that most fans of Doc Savage are familiar with. With eye-catching lettering and cover designs, these paperbacks were highly visible on the spinner racks. It didn't hurt that a large percentage of the covers were painted by James Bama who had a knack with the art of the fantastic that included his run on the earlier Aurora monster model box art.

The series ran for 96 books, just a few shy of one hundred, the last being MYSTERY ON HAPPY BONES, published in October 1979 with a cover by Bob Larkin. One indication of their longevity, when the first book came out in 1964 the cover price was 45-cents and the price for the last book was $1.75

All covers are by Bama with the exception of METEOR MENACE (James Avati), BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF (Mort Kunstler), and THE LOST OASIS and THE LAND OF TERROR (Douglas Rosa).

BAMA'S FAVORITE ILLUSTRATION MODEL

Like many illustrators, James Bama drew from live models, and his favorite was a man by the name of Steve Holland. Mr. Holland had the rugged good looks and physique that was perfect for the male-oriented themes that were widely popular on the cover of paperbacks and other media.

Holland's career spanned decades, and he is probably best known as being the model for James Bama's Doc Savage paintings. Bama called him, "the world's greatest model". This article is from ILLUSTRATION magazine (#73, 2021).

UPDATE: Per the comment, here's the LINK to the Steve Holland website. Some very interesting posts there, as well as a store where you can purchase not one, but three books on the great artist's model.

JAMES BAMA'S EDGE TECHNIQUE

In this article, famed artist James Bama explains the way he paints edges. This technique helps to further define the image and to make it "pop".

A LOOK BACK AT BAMA

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.

R.I.P. JAMES BAMA

I was very saddened to hear the news that the legendary artist, James Bama, passed away on April 24th. To us Monster Kids, Mr. Bama was instrumental in fueling our monster fantasies with his unforgettable paintings for the box art on the early Aurora monster model kit boxes. His many covers for the Doc Savage series of Bantam paperbacks were also notable for their images evoking those strange stories by Kenneth Robeson.

Bama began his career illustrating for men's adventure magazines. He was also revered as an accomplished painter of American Western Art.

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Born April 28, 1926, he died just a few short days before his 96th birthday.

Farewell, James Bama. Your artwork will live on.

VINTAGE AURORA MUMMY 'RELICS'

I never know what I'll find next in the dusty bowels of the Mysterious Mansion. For instance, just the other day I came across an over-sized, crumbling-with-age manila envelope crammed with monster memorabilia such as lobby cards, folded movie posters, etc.

Among the trove was a stack of the original boxes of Aurora monster models and their instruction sheets. Back in the 1960's collecting stuff like this with the understanding that it would actually be worth something was pretty much unheard of. Nevertheless, I thought the box art was so cool I just couldn't bear to toss them in the trash. So, I cut off the side panels and kept the box top with the cool art, never knowing at the time that the artist that did these was the same person who was painting the covers to the Doc Savage books I was reading! In retrospect, it would have been better to cut the corners and lay the whole box top open, but golly, I was just a young Monster Kid!

I did, however, value my models and magazines and such as priceless and I hung on to my models until I was forced to sell them at a yard sale because we sold our house to go on a long road trip in a travel trailer right after I graduated high school. In the meantime, at least I've got these few items as mementos.

NOTE: The following scans are from my collection and are unretouched.