tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9338864.post110982027430000557..comments2023-07-29T02:39:29.806-05:00Comments on The Wastebasket: Black and BlueTony Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03133143645643661225noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9338864.post-46253029093598414092011-10-23T09:38:20.145-05:002011-10-23T09:38:20.145-05:00I'd add Doc Samson to the "Black" li...I'd add Doc Samson to the "Black" list. Some modern action figures even go back to the original coloring.Matches Malonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00387215450833764783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9338864.post-70809620597466303022008-01-15T15:38:00.000-06:002008-01-15T15:38:00.000-06:00Recently, on his official message board, veteran c...Recently, on his official message board, veteran comics creator John Byrne had this to say on the subject:<BR/><BR/><I>It's one of the longest-standing traditions in comics, superhero or otherwise -- black stuff has blue highlights.<BR/> <BR/>This has not stopped people asking me, with perfectly straight faces, why no one can tell Superman and Clark are the same guy since they both have blue hair!<BR/> <BR/>Whenever this debate comes 'round, it seems to come down to the same thing. Should we change the names of various characters? Should it be Blue Bolt? Blue Panther? Blue Widow?<BR/> <BR/>Cyclops' outfit is black. So is the non-furry Beast's. So was the pre-red Angel's. The original X-Men uniforms were yellow and black.<BR/><BR/>If you look thru a random selection of Golden and Silver Age comics, you will soon come to wonder if many colorists considered blue a default setting. Not surprisingly, since it is a single color (like yellow, and unlike red which, in printing, is actually made by combining yellow and magenta), and so requires but a single dot, swipe, or pass of the brush. The separators especially like single colors. No chance of missing a necessary hue on one of the plates and having, say, Spider-Man suddenly without pants! <BR/><BR/>So, blue is used for highlights on black, even tho’ such highlights rarely occur in the real world.<BR/><BR/>Black Lightning's costume is blue with black trim (otherwise it would be black on black). The "Black" in his name refers to his race. Same for Black Goliath, as far as the name. But as for the costume, I happen to be the guy who designed it! It's black.<BR/><BR/>But isn't it odd, as fandom has become so very hyper about "creator's rights" and "original intent" in the last few decades, that so many fans still seem to want to cling to these coloring misconceptions. "So what if Neal Adams obviously intended the Angel's costume to be black! I found this drawing from Don Heck breakdowns inked by Vince Colletta that clearly shows it's blue!"</I><BR/><BR/>Byrne also notes that he considers Spider-Man's costume to be red and black.Tony Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133143645643661225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9338864.post-1156871312486986402006-08-29T12:08:00.000-05:002006-08-29T12:08:00.000-05:00This is exactly right. Thanks for your comment. I’...This is exactly right. Thanks for your comment. I’m not sure why I left Doctor Strange off the list. <BR/><BR/>There seems to be two schools of thought on how to draw his costume, and, ironically, they are both derived from the work of Steve Ditko, the character’s creator.<BR/><BR/>In the earliest issues, Dr. Strange’s costume appeared as described above, although without the red and gold Cloak of Levitation, which he obtained later on. His tunic was dark blue with a large light-blue demon symbol on the front. His gloves were long and covered with a tapering area of black spots on one side. His leggings or tights or pants or whatever you want to call them were inked solid black.<BR/><BR/>(Incidentally, these gloves are often derided as “leopard-spotted” by critics. However, leopard spots are not black circles. They are blotchy black rings with a colored center. And while the gloves were colored orange in the comics, we should remember that that shade of orange is also often used to represent other colors like tan, beige, and sand.)<BR/><BR/>After a while, as with his other creation Spider-Man, Steve Ditko used less and less ink on Doctor Strange, and started leaving his legs “open for color.” He also stopped putting the spots on his gloves. And over time, his puffy sleeves moved down closer to his wrist.<BR/><BR/>Thus, after Ditko left, other artists, such as Frank Brunner, drew Strange wearing short (sometimes almost wrist-length) gloves and blue leggings. The demon symbol on his tunic also shrank and was simplified until it eventually looked more like a wire-frame trident. This is how Sal Buscema drew Doctor Strange in <I>The Defenders.</I><BR/><BR/>However, during Gene Colan and Tom Palmer’s initial run on Strange’s own book, Palmer often covered his legs with dark Zip-A-Tone to indicate that they were supposed to be black. While Palmer loved using Zip, most inkers wouldn’t take the extra time to apply it, and when Strange received his new “superhero” look, the point became moot.<BR/><BR/>Years later, when Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin took over, they made a break from the standard late-Ditko / Brunner version to return to the darker original, finally putting the spots back on his gloves and usually inking his legs solid black. Paul Smith continued this trend, although he was less consistent about the black leggings.<BR/><BR/>Since that time, artists have taken the character one way or the other, depending on which version they personally prefer. (Unless they chucked it all to come up with their own interpretation or even, as seen recently, used the 1969 “superhero” look.)<BR/><BR/>Personally, I consider the Rogers/Austin version of <I>Doctor Strange</I> v.2 #48-53 as definitive.Tony Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03133143645643661225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9338864.post-1156865855915089692006-08-29T10:37:00.000-05:002006-08-29T10:37:00.000-05:00FINALLY someone who knows the TRUTH!hahaha.No, ser...FINALLY someone who knows the TRUTH!<BR/><BR/>hahaha.<BR/><BR/>No, seriously...it's bugged me for decades about Spider-Man's costume and the "blue-hair" stuff.<BR/><BR/>I KNOW it's supposed to be "comic-book shorthand" for shiny black, but no one else seems to get it.<BR/><BR/>I remember as a youth I bought the 1st Marvel Try-Out book and Jim Shooter (I think he wrote it) actually makes a comment that his costume is Red and BLACK.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, one other worthy character of note to add to your list...<BR/><BR/>DOCTOR STRANGE (yes, him again).<BR/><BR/>His pants/tights/leggings (whatever you want to call them) are BLACK!<BR/><BR/>But somewhere along the way they were colored BLUE.<BR/><BR/>First dark...then progressively lighter.<BR/><BR/>So he was walking around in this 3-tone blue outfit (tunic, pants and emblem) with orange accents, a red cloak with gold/yellow accents.<BR/><BR/>It was a mess.<BR/><BR/>The true color palette was:<BR/><BR/>DARK blue tinuc<BR/>mid to light blue emblem<BR/>BLACK pants (tights...whatever)<BR/>Red cloak with gold-leafed accents<BR/>Orange sash and gloves (with black dots on the gloves).<BR/><BR/>Personally, I like to think the black dots were to represent "energies" or something, but they appeard on and off thruought his run by various artists.<BR/><BR/>ANd like in the DEAD GIRL mini-series, the colorist (Mike Alred?) made the gloves and sash yellow as well...which looked good to me.<BR/><BR/>However, besides that tangent, the point is...BLACK pants.<BR/><BR/>ThanX!<BR/>~P~<BR/>P-TORAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com