Sword Fighters Guild

The color of a comic book hero’s costume, like that of a villain, has a direct impact on how that character is perceived.  That’s why comic book artists — those who ink and those who color — have to have a keen sense of what kind of human emotions and thoughts are evoked through the use of various colors.  Often, when we see Ironman’s more modern red and gold coloring, it instantly reinforces our supposition that red and gold are “good” colors.  Similarly, Thor wears red, blue, and gold together for an overall effect that gives people a sense of heroism.  Some colors, on the other hand, are identified as being “bad” or “evil.”  Let’s take a look at some of the reasons people link color to the ideas of good and evil in comic book color palettes.

Here is an infographic that shows what various colors in the costumes of both DC Comics and Marvel Comics stand for, and the prevalence of their uses.  The use of color in comics is a true science, and while most of us readers never think too deeply about the colors of costumes for good and evil characters, the subconscious reality is there.  Some of this goes back to the old “white is good, black is bad” technique of colorizing.  Since then the spectrum of colors that fall under those two general perceptions has broadened significantly, and in some cases made a complete reversal.