Page 2 of 4
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 02:05
by Digifiend
stevezodiac wrote:I seem to recall a communication breakdown with colourists at Marvel that ended up with the Hulk becoming green or is that an urban myth? He was grey on an early front cover.
It seems to actually be some sort of technical problem with the inks.
In the debut, Lee chose gray for the Hulk because he wanted a color that did not suggest any particular ethnic group. Colorist Stan Goldberg, however, had problems with the gray coloring, resulting in different shades of gray, and even green, in the issue. After seeing the first published issue, Lee chose to change the skin color to green. Green was used in retellings of the origin, with even reprints of the original story being recolored for the next two decades, until The Incredible Hulk vol. 2, #302 (December 1984) reintroduced the gray Hulk in flashbacks set close to the origin story. Since then, reprints of the first issue have displayed the original gray coloring, with the fictional canon specifying that the Hulk's skin had initially been gray. An exception is the early trade paperback, Origins of Marvel Comics, from 1974, which explains the difficulties in keeping the gray color consistent in a Stan Lee written prologue, and reprints the origin story keeping the gray coloration.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 07:59
by tony ingram
stevezodiac wrote:It was probably felt the blue uniforms and the blue police box would clash so artistic licence was used?
I seem to recall a communication breakdown with colourists at Marvel that ended up with the Hulk becoming green or is that an urban myth? He was grey on an early front cover.
Not quite. The Hulk was grey in his first issue but the colour proved difficult for the colorist and printers to keep consistent so he became green in issue 2 with no explanation. The grey version later resurfaced in the late 1980s as an alternate personality of the Hulk's.
Oops, see I was beaten to it...
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 12:23
by philcom55
Funnily enough the same thing happened all over again with Iron Man...!
- Phil R.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 13:33
by tony ingram
philcom55 wrote:Funnily enough the same thing happened all over again with Iron Man...!
- Phil R.
Yes, hence the change from iron grey (which made sense, given the name) to gold (which didn't).
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 18:10
by Digifiend
At least Iron Man's is justified, he paints the armour like you would a car. Hulk had to retconned years later.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 21:49
by stevezodiac
None of that explains Thunderbolt Ross and his bricks 'n' mortar being bright yellow. Obviously the Hulk upset a catering tin of mustard powder in the army canteen.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 22:16
by dreamticket
Digifiend wrote:Why is that Police Box red? Phone boxes are red, Police Boxes are meant to be blue.
Presumably it's red because Korky lives in Glasgow (where P.B.s were coloured red up to the end of the sixties) (it sez here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_box ).
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 22:18
by dreamticket
suebutcher wrote:I'd say you're right, Steve, an artist choice for clarity.
As for the Hulk, there are similar mysteries about the colour of Korky's nose, Rupert's fur, and Magnus Robot Fighter's boots.
Firstly, thanks for the scan of #1001. Secondly, isn't the mystery about Little Plum's nose, and not Korky's?
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 23 May 2013, 23:14
by philcom55
suebutcher wrote:...and Magnus Robot Fighter's boots.
...Maybe Magnus just had more than one pair of boots!
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 24 May 2013, 07:34
by tony ingram
dreamticket wrote:Digifiend wrote:Why is that Police Box red? Phone boxes are red, Police Boxes are meant to be blue.
Presumably it's red because Korky lives in Glasgow (where P.B.s were coloured red up to the end of the sixties) (it sez here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_box ).
Wouldn't Korky logically have lived in Dundee? What colour were Police Boxes there?
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 24 May 2013, 10:58
by colcool007
tony ingram wrote:dreamticket wrote:Digifiend wrote:Why is that Police Box red? Phone boxes are red, Police Boxes are meant to be blue.
Presumably it's red because Korky lives in Glasgow (where P.B.s were coloured red up to the end of the sixties) (it sez here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_box ).
Wouldn't Korky logically have lived in Dundee? What colour were Police Boxes there?
As it was DDW drawing Korky, the colours would be the colours of boxes he saw either in Dundee or Broughty Ferry as that was where he lived and it's around 5 miles from the Ferry to the DCT building. So Tony's question is rather apt. Mind you, being from roughly the same area, I can't remember every seeing one that wasn't Policeman blue.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 24 May 2013, 16:04
by chrisb
Sorry colcool but that isn't DDW drawing Korky.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 24 May 2013, 17:17
by Phoenix
chrisb wrote:Sorry colcool but that isn't DDW drawing Korky.
Ray Moore of course identified the Korky artist as James Crichton many years ago, but I believe that
colcool007's main point, that the artist would tend to draw what he was familiar with, must surely be valid.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 24 May 2013, 17:44
by paw broon
I'm sure it's a different Ray More and other changes of colour have been mentioned but it reminds me of The Phantom and how his classic purple costume is re-coloured as red in European reprints. The new Scandinavian stories, however, use the traditional colour for his cossie.
Re: Police Boxes
Posted: 24 May 2013, 17:59
by Phoenix
paw broon wrote:I'm sure it's a different Ray More
As far as these forums are concerned, there is only one Ray Moore, the author of
The Dandy Monster Index 1937-1990,
The Beano Diaries,
The Magic Index,
Topper Tales and
The Book Of The Beezer. If he says James Crichton drew Korky from 1937 to 1962, then that is a fact!