The 64 colors used in old comics: http://www.wizzywigcomics.com/?p=411



Or digitally, for you computer colorists out there:



Also at that page is a "link to a Zip archive that contains the CMYK PSD file with all of the correct color mixtures. I also included a pretty transparent layer of 100% yellow that you can turn on and play with the opacity to make sure that all the colors work better together in a pleasing way, similar to the underpainted effect those old comics have now with their yellowish-orange, aged newsprint."

I have some black and white Little Orphan Annie comics/books from
the 1920s where the child has colored some of the pages. Hard to
resist, no doubt, after awhile of owning it.

I've used this palette often to recreate old school comics but I play with things a lot in order to emulate what they actually looked like in print. The thing is--old comics were printed on newsprint and newsprint deadened and subdued these colors quite a bit. Glossy paper is far less forgiving.

I look at this and I see the Legion of Super-Heroes.

The colors used for each of their costumes.

My joke was full of fail.

No Darkseid?

My joke was even MORE full of fail.

What's the Legion of Darkseid?

Helen Keller
Stevie Wonder
Ray Charles
Claude Monet
Andrea Bocelli
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Thomas Gore
Harriet Tubman
Louis Braille
Marla Runyan

Thanks. Now I get the Judge's joke.

Shut up, Doot.

I'm going to tell my son on you.

That's my biggest problem with Masterworks and other trades of old material that uses older coloring. they should get paper tinted to replicate the newsprint look.

great link thanks !

I prefer old school coloring, and recently it has occurred to me why.

The short answer: I can see the line work better.

The long answer:

I've never been one of those purists that prefers black and white (like Essentials and Showcases). Guys go "You can see the line work!" But I also like to see color when I look at a page. That's part of my response.

But modern coloring techniques allow the color to be rendered and have shade variation. And it's also darker. So less of the work of how light behaves is done by the pen, and more is conveyed by the color. It's a great tool to do that -- but I realized I like to see that inked line really pop. I like it when the artist does some hatching to show light shading. Or any number of techniques done with the pencil and pen to show how light is playing with the shape.

So -- I don't prefer black and white, but I prefer old school, flatter colors because I think they trigger that same appreciation center that people who prefer black and white have. The flatter, brighter colors are the compromise between the two things.

Hmmm...I'd never thought about it that way, but I see what you're talking about. The line work does often show up better.

I just wish they wouldn't muddy everything in modern books so much. Bright colors were what made comics cool.