RIP: James Bama

Last night word began leaking that James Bama had died.  I wanted to wait for a verified source.  Sadly, it is true.  James Bama died yesterday, just 4 days short of his 94th birthday.

James Bama grew up wanting to be a cartoonist.  He had his first professional sale, a drawing of Yankee Stadium, at the age of 15.  After a stint in the service, Mr. Bama began his career as a commercial illustrator.  He created art for paperback covers, movie posters, and magazine illustrations.  James Bama is perhaps most widely known for the 62 paperback covers he did for the Doc Savage series.  Later in his career Mr. Bama became known for his many western paintings.

James Bama was inducted into the Illustrator’s Hall of Fame on June 28, 2000.  He was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall Of Fame at The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards in 2005.

I first became aware of Mr. Bama’s art with his beautiful renditions of the Universal Monsters on the Aurora Monster Model Boxes.  I can remember how much my buddy and I loved the art, often more than the models.  It wasn’t until I was older that I learned Mr. Bama’s name as I saw more and more of his art.  What a wonderful and varied career he had.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to James Bama’s family, friends and fans.