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[alimantan]

one thing i wondered a long time: who colored the golden age comics normally? Did the penciller / inker do the job or was it done by the publishing company? if the latter had the artists any influence?

i hope its not a silly question, but i coudn't find any data and google didn't help me either.

[boox909]

one thing i wondered a long time: who colored the golden age comics normally? Did the penciller / inker do the job or was it done by the publishing company? if the latter had the artists any influence?

i hope its not a silly question, but i coudn't find any data and google didn't help me either.

I've read that sometimes it was the printer. This should be a good topic! 

[Roygbiv666]

i vaguely recall a reference to ladies "cutting out the colors" or something from something I read as a kid.

It is somewhat referenced in this article:

http://comicscomicsmag.com/2008/08/comics-color-article-from-cc-2_26.html

The

[narfstar]

I believe LB Cole did his own coloring. I do not recognize his pencil but when I see certain covers the colors tell me it is Cole and sure enough it is. Joe Kubert could probably give a good idea

[alimantan]

What an interesting article, thanks for posting it roy.

[josemas]

I do remember reading that Marie Severin prepared a lot of the coloring guides at E.C. in the 1950s. 

Colorists typically used Doc Martin's dyes to color these guides for the separators.  Doc Martin's continued being used, at least, into the 1980s.  Nowadays I guess much of the coloring is done by computer.

As I've been looking through these GAC downloads I've noticed that Bob Powell seemed to use color holds a good deal more than any other artist of the GA period that I've run across so far.  To my mind this would imply that if he didn't prepare his own coloring guides he must have made a lot of notes for the colorist to follow.

Best

Joe

[Jedifish]

Interesting topic. Something I've wondered about. I guess I kind of new about Marie Severin at EC, mainly from the current Archives, but I know almost nothing about the other companies.

[Roygbiv666]

Could Bob Rozakis answer this? Huh, the Answer Man, get it?

Actually, he has a website somewhere .... http://bobrozakis.blogspot.com/

maybe he'd be able to help point you in the right direction.

[NobbyNobbs]

Do anybody know if Alex Schomburg colored his own covers?
I have seen a few guesses at colorist for Schomburg covers at the GCD (name with ? after), but wonder if he might have done the coloring himself, as the thing that really stands out with his covers for me is the great coloring, and this seems to be the same with different publishers.
I know Jack Kirby did a lot of his own coloring in the Golden Age, and again believe that this holds true for the covers more than the stories.

[narfstar]

It makes sense that they may have colored their own covers. Way to make more money for one picture than a whole story. I am convinced that is the case with LB Cole

[Roygbiv666]

This doesn't answer the who, but seems to help explain the (old) how:

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4400940#Post4400940

[Drusilla lives!]

It makes sense that they may have colored their own covers. Way to make more money for one picture than a whole story. I am convinced that is the case with LB Cole

LB Cole did indeed color most (if not all) of his comic book covers, and he was probably allowed to do so due to his extensive background knowledge of lithography (he worked as an art director in the lithography biz prior to entering the comics industry)... and those unforgettable, though sometimes garish color schemes he used are as distinctive as his signature.  Btw, he referred to them as "poster colors."