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Bad Men: Outlaws & Gunfighters of the Wild West
Artist and author Bob Boze Bell offers the reader a unique look at the lives of over 250 of the Old West's most notorious bad men. Fully illustrated, with over 100 original paintings by the author, plus over 200 photos, many never before published.
Hardcover
First published October 1, 1999
14 people want to read
About the author
Bob Boze Bell
41 books14 followersBob Boze Bell has always sought to get both the look and the history right. He has published and illustrated books on Earp, Billy the Kid, Doc Holliday and classic gunfights. Bell’s artwork and writing has appeared in Wild West, Arizona Highways, Playboy and National Lampoon. He appears often on the Encore Westerns channel, serves as a talking head on documentaries and since 1999 has been executive editor of True West magazine. “All the artwork I run in the magazine,” he quips, “the magazine gets for free.”
He’s been drawing as long as he can remember, and even as a child he often drew cowboys and gunfighters with an eye to accuracy.
“I hate fakery of any kind,” he says. “I don’t like low-back saddles, Hollywood hats, batwing chaps, inaccurate vests. It drives me crazy.” So is he a historian or an artist?
“I would say I’m actually a cartoonist,” he says. “I don’t really consider myself a historian, because I have historian friends that apply a certain academic level that I don’t have, I don’t claim to have, I can’t claim. But I just want to know the truth for my own sense of me. So I share that, and it’s taken for what it’s worth. I think I’m dismissed by a lot of people for not being a real historian. But I don’t give a damn.”
Bell is actually more of a Billy the Kid fan than a Wyatt Earp fan, but his real heroes are artists Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington and Norman Rockwell. “Those, to me, are the three big dogs,” Bell says. “No one has topped them.”
He loves scratchboard, pen and ink, and gouache, a form of watercolor. “I work on deadline constantly,” he explains, “and I can’t use oils, which is actually a medium I enjoy, because that takes too long to dry.
“Some of the best things I’ve ever done I’ve done on my lunch hour. And some of the worst things I’ve ever done I’ve spent three months on. You figure it out.”
He’s been drawing as long as he can remember, and even as a child he often drew cowboys and gunfighters with an eye to accuracy.
“I hate fakery of any kind,” he says. “I don’t like low-back saddles, Hollywood hats, batwing chaps, inaccurate vests. It drives me crazy.” So is he a historian or an artist?
“I would say I’m actually a cartoonist,” he says. “I don’t really consider myself a historian, because I have historian friends that apply a certain academic level that I don’t have, I don’t claim to have, I can’t claim. But I just want to know the truth for my own sense of me. So I share that, and it’s taken for what it’s worth. I think I’m dismissed by a lot of people for not being a real historian. But I don’t give a damn.”
Bell is actually more of a Billy the Kid fan than a Wyatt Earp fan, but his real heroes are artists Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington and Norman Rockwell. “Those, to me, are the three big dogs,” Bell says. “No one has topped them.”
He loves scratchboard, pen and ink, and gouache, a form of watercolor. “I work on deadline constantly,” he explains, “and I can’t use oils, which is actually a medium I enjoy, because that takes too long to dry.
“Some of the best things I’ve ever done I’ve done on my lunch hour. And some of the worst things I’ve ever done I’ve spent three months on. You figure it out.”
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 2, 2024
More details on some of the lesser known outlaws, you’ll spend more time looking at the pictures and excellent drawings by BBB.
This book is more of a Chronicle account of holdups, robberies, murders in the old west. It gives a short overview of events that many people including, the author, Bob Boze Bell, have written entire books on the life and times of the more famous outlaws, bad men, and nar-do-wells of the west.
I have other books by BBB that I liked better. I’d give this one 3.5 stars if I could. Most of his get 5 stars. Again, if you like his art work, you’ll like this book. It is more of a showcase of his artwork, than an engrossing read.
This book is more of a Chronicle account of holdups, robberies, murders in the old west. It gives a short overview of events that many people including, the author, Bob Boze Bell, have written entire books on the life and times of the more famous outlaws, bad men, and nar-do-wells of the west.
I have other books by BBB that I liked better. I’d give this one 3.5 stars if I could. Most of his get 5 stars. Again, if you like his art work, you’ll like this book. It is more of a showcase of his artwork, than an engrossing read.
January 19, 2024
Not bad but a little disappointing compared to Bell's other Wild West books.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews