Who assigned the background colors on Marvel Comics? 1 1

[shadroch]

Did the artist choose them? I'd think it would be an editorial or even a production department decision. I've always loved the deep purple backgrounds, and the yellow ones, as well. 

I think there must have been some pattern to them, having a Fantastic Four with a yellow cover next to an Avengers with the same background. While we know who penciled and inked each cover, is there a record of who colored each of them?  Would the books colorist also do the cover and would he choose the background colors?

[Dick Pontoon]

In the early days the bulk of it was done by Stan Goldberg.

[Aman619]

The backgfounds when colored in say all red, or blue etc are crazy decisions…. But that’s what cement the whole comic book vibe. Keeps it graphic and the eye focused on the important elements. 

[Dave2739]

I've always wondered why so many early Marvels had bland grey backgrounds

[jcjames]

2 hours ago, Aman619 said:

The backgfounds when colored in say all red, or blue etc are crazy decisions…. But that’s what cement the whole comic book vibe. Keeps it graphic and the eye focused on the important elements. 

I remember a story Stan Lee would tell is that just for fun, they'd decide on a couple covers being all red or all blue, and then watch with a chuckle as DC would then, like clockwork, follow up with an all red or all blue cover trying to figure out why Marvel kept beating them in sales. 

 

Edited June 29, 2021 by jcjames

[shadroch]

11 hours ago, Pontoon said:

In the early days the bulk of it was done by Stan Goldberg.

Was he able to choose the main background color or were they assigned?

[hippiecop]

Great topic ! 

The background color has always resonated with me and affected my enjoyment of covers.  None of my favorite Silver Age covers have boring white backgrounds, and I've always been drawn to the deep, dark colors.  I think of how much better (using Spidey for an example) AS-M #23 would be with a green background.  Or think of how much weaker the classic A S-M #15 cover would look if Kraven was charging at Spidey with a white background, instead of the dark blue, which really conveys the nighttime feel.

It feels strange to be sitting here wasting time writing about background colors on 50-60 year-old comic books, that whoever made the coloring decision probably didn't spend 5 seconds on, but man, we do love the stuff, don't we...??

[hippiecop]

Another one- I love the mint green A S-M # 20 background, but how much cooler would it have been with a starry dark blue or purple night time sky background...??   Okay, now I AM spending too much time on this stuff...

Too bad there's not some sort of app to play around with colors on comic backgrounds.

[jimjum12]

The person you should ask while he's still with us would be John Romita Sr. He was Marvel's Art Director for a number of years and would know the answer or at least have some input. He might be active on social media, although I wouldn't hold my breath.  GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Math Teacher]

I have always been a fan of gradient covers or monochromatic covers.