Color problems?

[greg]

does it bother anyone else when Batman's cape, cowl, etc. is colored almost all BLUE?! it drives me crazy. i love Jim Lee's stuff, but the color irritates me. i can see showing a little blue (TAS), but not all (older Batman). i think they should use dark gray like in TNBA. thats what i liked about a lot of the post NML stuff. now there back to the blue! am i the only one this bugs?

[reideen1313]

I'm on the other side of the fence. I grew up with the blue and grey, so that's the only costume for me (in the comics). I can accept the black and grey - it's alright, but it's nowhere near my fav.

[Faithfulbutler]

I don't have a problem with other Colours but like Reid i grew up in the Silver Age where Blue and Grey was the thing and still is my personal fave.I must confess i like the darker Blue like Lees than say the pale blue on the new Mattel proto Batman but it's still my fave colour scheme for Batman.And of course dare i say it,i much prefer the oval Black/Yellow symbol on his chest too!

[gotham95]

I like either way.

[greg]

i guess i am the only one. it just seem unrealistic to me. and i grew up with TAS, so i prefer black.

another question, does the artist choose, or the colorist? if so, i'd like to see Lee's Batman with the black/grey.

as for the bat logo, i can go either way, but i like the new belt better.

[NAMTAB]

supposedly batman"s costume is black and grey, there are some colorist and artists that make it blue possibly, because they like it better just like reideen and FB, but it is pretty much a matter of interpretation, even when it is highlighted in blue, Batmans costume is always black to me.
and for the record my favorite color is all black with no oval, with black and gray, again with no oval, a close second, it just makes more sense to me.

[Tyson1990]

For some reason the Blue and Gray costume is my fave even though I grew up with the animated series black and gray with highlights. My favorite symbol is the Black and no oval(though I can live with either) and I like the belt with the pouches.

[reideen1313]

The color variations actually go way back to when comics were first being printed in color. Printing before the advent of computers used two processes for separating colors into CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black). One process was to shoot separations from the photograph or artwork with a stat camera, ending up with four pieces of film that could be stripped together onto a larger project. The other process, used by comic book companies to color their black line drawings, was to use overlays.

The technique was to use three pieces of acetate lined up on top of each other over the artwork page, each representing C, M or Y. Usually this acetate was rubylith, a product still used in screen printing today (to print on material and other substrates). Where the reddish film was cut away from the acetate ink would not print. Where the film was left ON the acetate, the camera negative would leave a blank spot, and ink would print.

If that sounds complex wait, there's more. Separators would then use screens, dot patterns on sticky acetate, to create the screened back colors. I believe the only screens they used were 25 percent, 50 percent and 75 percent. These were then stuck on the three acetate overlays.

The process is why early comic books used a limited color palette. 100 percent cyan and 100 percent magenta is a deep blue; 25 percent cyan is a nice sky color; 100 percent magenta and 100 percent yellow is a bright red; 100 percent cyan and 100 percent yellow is a bright green; and so on.

If they did an all black cape as an example, there would not have been any way to show detail - thus the blue cape with black details, blue cowl with black shadow, etc. Superman's hair was blue with black lines, Silver Surfer is actually white, and Spidey's costume should actually be black and red - not the traditional blue and red that's commonly accepted.

It all comes down to a matter of personal preference, with neither one being 'correct' or better than another.

[Robin]

I like both. But I like a black and dark gray costume. It makes more sense.

[greg]

i can handle a little blue as an accent, but not blue with black accents. it doesn't seem scary at all. but thats just me.