Comic Books
As a teenager, he took particular note of comic books drawn by Wally Wood, who became a major influence. In Manhattan, Bassford studied at the School of Industrial Art (which later became the High School of Art and Design), and he entered the commercial art field in the early 1950s with magazine gag cartoons and packaging art for toy boxes. His pen-and-ink illustrations were published in the magazine Amateur Art & Camera in 1954.
Bassford's first work in comics came in 1957 with "What Happened on the Mountain!" for Atlas Comics' World of Mystery, reprinted in Atlas' World of Fantasy #13 (August 1958). At the Wally Wood Studio, Bassford was an artist on Tower Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents almost from the start. Beginning with the second issue, he assisted Wood on the penciling of "Dynamo Battles Dynavac" (reprinted in Tower's The Terrific Trio paperback). Bassford, Wood and Dan Adkins teamed on The Munsters, a comic book adaptation of the 1964-66 CBS television series. Bassford also worked with Gil Kane on Undersea Agent.
An interview with Bassford about Wally Wood noted the educational aspect of the Wood Studio: "His later black-and-white work using Craftint doubletone board was truly amazing. I learned to use the valuable tones available with Zip-A-Tone Benday shading sheets simply by studying Woody's application."
After James Warren recruited Bassford for Warren Publishing in the early 1970s, beginning with an illustration in Vampirella #11 (May, 1971), he contributed to both Creepy and Eerie. For Creepy #39 he drew "The Dragon Prow" from a Steve Skeates script, and in issue #41, he executed "The Hangman of London" for "Creepy's Loathsome Lore." For Eerie #39, he illustrated Doug Moench's "The Mysterious Men in Black!" for "Eerie's Monster Gallery."
His work as an illustrator spans a wide range of subjects from science fiction and fantasy interiors to color cartoons and the poems of Nick Kenny. His airbrushed informational-card illustrations for International Masters Publishers have covered military aircraft; mermaids and creatures for IMP's Myths and Monsters series; and Sports Heroes, Feats & Facts.
Bassford's drawings have appeared in a variety of publications, including Screw and Bill Pearson's Sata. For the magazine Fantastic he illustrated two stories: "The Forest of Unreason" by Robert F. Young (July 1961) and The Trekkers by Daniel F. Galouye (September 1961).
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