Artist Robert McGinnis, who should be designated a national treasure, turned ninety-five yesterday. He’s painted iconic characters ranging from James Bond to Barbarella to Captain America. He’s done covers for authors such as Rafael Sabatini, Neil Gaiman, John Jakes, Gardner F. Fox, Donald Westlake and Ian Fleming…and he’s still at it.

McGinnis, born in 1926, apprenticed at Disney Studios in the mid-'30s, after which he studied fine art at Ohio State. After a stint in the Merchant Marine during World War Two, he went into advertising. In 1958, McGinnis burst into the exploding paperback illustration market. As he once put it:

'I didn't plan anything. I was just trying to make a living. An assignment would come along and I'd do it.'

Robert ended up 'doing' over twelve hundred paperback covers--up to this point--and a truckload of movie posters. Almost every book cover, almost every movie poster was graced with one of McGinnis’ trademark alluring females. Don Smolen, former art director for publicity at United Artists film studio--and one of McGinnis' big clients in the 1960s--has stated:

'Perhaps the finest illustrator of women that ever was, was Bob McGinnis, or is Bob McGinnis to this day.'

Those who have worked with McGinnis agree that he is the consummate pro, always ready to give his client exactly what they want. Frank Kozelek, who worked with Robert at Signet Books, recalled this:

‘[Professionalism] was Bob’s hallmark throughout my working relationship with him. He always wanted to give you his best effort to choose from. He was always concerned with your reaction to his work and always ready to do more on a project if you weren’t totally happy with either a sketch or a finished painting. I don’t think I have ever met an artist with less apparent ego—though his work could have supported a very healthy one.’

Did I mention that McGinnis is probably the greatest of all James Bond artists?

Robert even went back to his Disney roots for the hell of it, doing a movie poster for The Incredibles.

I've been a McGinnis fan for quite awhile. About ten or twelve years back, I picked up a Hard Case Crime novel with a particularly cool cover. Checking it out, I discovered it was a new McGinnis painting. HCC had brought Bob McGinnis out of semi-retirement. He did numerous gorgeous covers for them, all sporting his leggy femme fatales. All of the sensuality, all of the darkness and grit--it was still there.

However, it seemed that Robert had retired for real, finally, several years ago. No more McGinnis HCC covers had appeared for some time.

Then, Neil Gaiman happened.

Here's what Gaiman had to say about it in 2016:

'I've loved Robert McGinnis's covers for a very long time. I remember the first one I was aware of (it was the cover of Ian Fleming's James Bond book DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, when I was about 9. (...)
I sent a note to Jennifer [Brehl, his editor at William Morrow] asking if there was even the slightest possibility that Mr. McGinnis would be interested in painting the covers for the paperback set we wanted to do. He said yes.
I say that so blithely. But he has retired, pretty much, and he doesn't have email, and it was only because the Morrow art director had worked with him, and he was intrigued by the commission... and ROBERT MCGINNIS SAID YES.
He sent in the first painting, the one for American Gods. It was perfect.'

Robert finished the seventh painting for the Gaiman paperback book-set in mid-2020. When he was ninety-four. The man is a beast.

Think about that. To do what he did is an almost unparalleled display of artistic longevity and prowess. To be handpicked like that--by one of the top-selling authors in the field--when McGinnis’ supposed 'prime' was over thirty years ago, demonstrates a Frazetta-like level of prestige and respect.

Raise your glasses in honor of one of the last of the living titans of pulp art, sword-brothers.

Mr. McGinnis’ official website can be found here.