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In a recent re-issue of
Doc Savage #18 from Sanctum Books, Anthony Tollin and the gang have added an interview with James Bama, the artist who elevated Doc's reputation with a new generation of readers in the 60's and 70's with his stunning covers for the Bantam reprints.
The core of that interview (conducted by Brian M.Kane) was Bama's picks from among his awesome sixty-two covers for his top ten. Above you see the results with volume thirty-two's "Dust of Death" winning the number one slot. Among the comments Bama added was that the number two cover "World's Fair Goblin" was his chance to do a King Kong cover.
These aren't necessarily the same covers I'd have picked. But it's interesting to read what the artist himself thinks about the work. He says now he was sad to leave the gig since Bantam left him alone to design the covers which were he said almost exclusively symbolic to help elevate Doc's mythic status.
More from this interview later.
Rip Off
Those aren't the ones I would have chosen either. Interesting how an artist's intent and what the viewer receives can be so far apart.
ReplyDeleteHe seemed really interested in how the colors blended. To be honest, I mostly focus on the figures. He said he wanted the covers to sell the story in single image, and sales sure suggest he did. The famous widow's peak hairdo was at the request of the editors, to add a sci-fi flavor to the books.
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Rip: My all time favorite illustrator and the Doc Savage covers were his finest work. I can so well remember staring at those DS mass market paperbacks at my local Little Professor Bookstore when I was a kid. They left me in awe then and now. I have a signed lithograph of the cover "He Could Stop The World" hanging on a wall in my office at work. Thanks, Rip, and Happy Holidays.
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