Blog #2

The chapter I selected was chapter 8, "A Word About Color." The first key concept I focused on from this chapter was commerce. You need money to create comics with color, and they are more expensive than the standard black and white comics. Although comics do not have to have color included, it was found that readers preferred to read with color included. " Color comics hit the newspaper industry like an atomic bomb" (p. 187). The problem was that even though color was boosting sales overall, it was also boosting costs, so it "has historically been in the hands of larger, more conservative publishers" (p. 191). Another key aspect I focused on was the use and meaning color can portray within a comic. Color became an iconic power "because costume colors remained the exact same, panel after panel, they came to symbolize characters in the mind of the reader" (p. 188). Not only could color symbolize a character, but it could also give a character an identity. Certain colors were used to portray heroes, whereas other colors were used to portray super villains. Color also did much more than that, but also could convey an overall feeling or emotion or even put the setting in motion for the reader. By using certain colors, it can elicit the reader to experience a certain emotion. For example, if you use dark colors in a panel, you could convey the emotion of fear, but if you use lighter, softer colors, you could convey happiness or serenity.























This is an illustration from a "Little Red Riding Hood" book, and I chose this illustration solely for the little use of color within the image. Although we know this image was more expensive than a standard, black and white image, it was still cheaper than applying color to the entire image itself. I found this images use of color to be amazing. The use of color in Little Red Riding Hood elicited a strong response from the reader. It told us that she was in danger or something bad was going to happen within the story itself. Another place they used color, which was the same color used for Little Red Riding Hood's jacket, was in the words, which said, "she met the wolf." Because the colors match one another and the rest of the image, including the wolf, is either black or white, it tells us that there is something alarming going on in the story, and it makes the reader feel a sense of fear or urgency for Little Red Riding Hood.

I think McCloud's theories of color complicate my reading of images because I now know that not all comic book creators have the luxury of using color. Referring to the image above, if it would have been done in all black and white, I don't think it would have elicited the same response from the reader. It wouldn't have portrayed this sense of urgency as the colored image does here. It further complicates it because I think comics should be created with the use of color because it allows for the reader to have a deeper connection with the text, whereas McCloud thinks that although color has its perks, that black and white comics can and should have the same response. I just think that if a comic doesn't have color, it makes it harder for the reader to understand what is important in the panel, which makes me think that a black and white comic may need to add more dialogue to make sure the reader fully understands what is going on within the storyline.