Colorblindness & the Popularity of Colored Comics

[LTyler]

For the time I've been making comics, I've noticed a correlation between a comics popularity and it being in color (or at least partially color-accented). Looking through the popularity lists there are about 2x more color comics making the list than black-and-white/grayscale comics. And when looking at comments sections, the ones with color seem much more likely to have their artwork complimented & praised by fans.
That being said, correlation does not prove causation - perhaps there are just more color comics than there are non-colored ones. But there is a pretty strong correlation here, and I think it would be silly to ignore it.

I've considered trying to bring color into my own comics, but whenever I try, it usually ends rather badly. It's rather difficult for me to do color, due to my colorblindness. (It usually ends up looking eye-stabbingly vivid to people, or really dull & boring due to overcompensation... Or both.)
Unless I sink several days of hard work into each frame and image, and then have a friend of mine point out what parts look 'off', color doesn't typically end well. It took me a week of full-time trial and error to get the covers done on each my comics, Aphotic Zone and ENTERTAIN ME... And I'm still not sure how well it turned out.

And if it's true that a comic is more likely to be popular if it's in color... Well, I can't help but feel more than a little frustrated by it.

What do you guys think? Are colored comics better comics? With all other subscription factors controlled for (such as story, characters, pacing, ect), are you more likely to look at, read, comment, & subscribe to a comic that has color, than to one that doesn't?
Let me know what you guys think!
And if any of you have an idea on how a colorblind artist can effectively pull off doing color in a non-obnoxious/dull way, feel free to share your secrets with me... LOL.

[Chopythes]

Have you tried using only one colour?
Like combining black and white and shade with colour?

^Like that for an example.
Are you using Photoshop?
Photoshop has this little icon when you colourpick which colours will look great in printing (it's this little triangular warning), I think that could've been useful for you!
I've noticed that when using that colour nearest to that colourpicker (gosh, I don't know how to properly explain this) it picks the colour which is closest to the one you originally wanted to have and is a print safe colour.
Those are usually a little bit "muddy" in colour, but I myself, found them to be easier on the eye than overall clear colour.

As a b/w comic artist myself, I know the problem people have with those kinds of comics. It's really difficult to get response, unless you've really mastered it completely (and that takes years).

BUt looking through your comics, and honestly? It doesn't look all that bad! I've seen worse and you've got a lot of potential and it's already looking good.
The colours are nicely fitted together, and I wouldn't be able to tell that it was made by someone who's colourblind.

(and I kinda look for whatever comics I find interesting, I usually just go by the title of the comic 8D I'm so terrible at this xD)

[Doubtcent]

Oh it's very true about color. I am also color blind, for most dark colors look black and most light colors look white. The worst contender is Navy Blue. I just can't see it.

The thing is, color takes a lot more effort than grayscale, truth be told, but grayscale can look just as good with enough skill put in. The reason why people enjoy color more than black and white, at least to me, is that colors are exciting. Same reason why we don't watch black and white movies anymore, unless it's a callback to the old times.

The reason however that black and white comics like Manga in Japan can be so popular without color is that they make a new chapter every week, and that takes a lot of work. If they added color, sure it would be impressive, but it be almost impossible to finish their pages in time. Black and white is also easier to print, so the publishing company can save money each week. But here in America, I don't think we really have any more weekly or monthly subscriptions to comics anymore. Just issues, and the more popular ones are often the same superhero type stuff.

Because black and white is not promoted, and we Americans just enjoy color more, it takes more time for comics to come out, and they're often all the same. Unique comics are then often ignored.

In some ways, color might be killing the comic book industry in America.

But I digress.

I used to work with grayscale before, and I didn't get that many followers. Now I add a base overtone of a single color throughout (with varying shades). Boom. More followers beacuse color now exists... to a point.

[Kamikaze]

I wish I had more to offer, but I think this thread on ConceptArt.org might help you know where to start. They're talking about traditional stuff here, but many of the ideas still apply. I hope it helps.

Alternatively, there's this cool little site that I found called Paletton which has a mode specifically FOR color blind people (and multiple types of color blindness too) so that way you can be sure YES this is the true color I'm seeing. Working within those parameters may help. The tab to change the setting for that is in the bottom right hand corner called "Vision simulation."

[LTyler]

I hadn't considered using just one color... That might really work! Thank you both for the excellent idea, @vincentprendick & @Chopythes ! And I completely agree with your analysis, Vincent... And that's a really interesting thing, that such a small addage of color can boost your subscription numbers so much!

[LTyler]

Really interesting resources there, Kamikaze. I'll be sure to look into them! Thanks!

[ghostnxs]

I also think that color is easier on the eyes. To be honest most colored comics that are popular are colored and drawn very welll. Most black and white comics I've read are not at that skill. So if you had someone with the skill of Takeshi obata making a webcomic I honestly believe it will probably be praised just as much as any colored comic. But I also think on a website which is mainly black and white having color makes your artwork pop out more.

[fishy]

There is that undeniable draw to colourful things, but even then I clicked on then moved passed certain webcomics because whilst they were in full colour, some didn't really use it very well. Colourful comics are hard to pull off and so I don't feel it's an automatic ticket to popularity.

With one colour tho, Daniel is a great comic that uses black and white, but then has red blood making a lovely contrast! So yeah I guess I'm pretty much agreeing with @Chopythes. Using one colour can work brilliantly.

Or you can use a bunch of colours for convenience, like when using magic.

[apocryphagraphics]

I don't think there's any big mystery about why color comics are more popular. The real world is in color so color comics more realistically simulate the world and most readers find that more satisfying just like most Tv or movie viewers. This doesn't mean that black and white comics are inferior or less evolved artistically, it's just a choice the artist makes based on style and presentation. Anyone can color a comic page. That doesn't mean they can color it well but it's not hard to color a drawing. We've all been doing it since we were one. I actually don't see color in a comic as a sign the artists are more advanced. It's actually one of my pet peeves how often poorly executed and mediocre line art is "saved" by computer coloring tricks that imitate depth and dimension realistically. It seems like even a lot of the artists at the big companies are getting away with this. As an artist I can't see past the bad line art. It seems a LOT of people do see past it with nice coloring because I see some of these books get a lot of compliments on the artwork. I really dig awesome B&W art but you're never going to get past the fact that color will be more popular. I'm thinking of having a parallel color version of Heroes for Ghosts here on Tapastic so I can have the best of both worlds. I just have to find a color artists who won't drive me to the poor house because I definitely don't have the time to do it myself!

[gateofselidor]

Colour is certainly more eye-catching, but I don't think you need it to have a successful comic. Take a look at Hemlock and Sakana, neither of which use colour. They both look great and have built up a substantial following. They have very distinctive character designs, and make effective use of contrast, and the lack of colour doesn't just look good, it's also an important part of their style. They both tend to use bold lines and large areas of black, and this creates a dramatic effect that's much harder to achieve with colour, because while colours are pretty, they can also distract the reader from other aspects of your art.

There are also comics that mainly use black and white, but highlight with occasional colours, such as Shaderunners or Starfighter (nsfw).You don't have to worry too much about harmony here, because most individual colours can work with greyscale, especially brighter ones, and a lot of readers enjoy this approach.

[Luie]

Colors incite emotions. It's likely that people are more drawn towards colorful comics because, literally, they're more eye-catching than greyscale. Comic makers also have more trouble making greyscale comics "pop" like colored comics do. In panels where there is a lot of visual information (such as complex background shots with perspective and lots of characters), readers tend to have a harder time separating each object in the picture when the panel lacks color. There's a proper way to do this without color, but it's very hard to get right. Colors are much easier to work with visually.

Since you're colorblind, you'll probably have an easier time working out contrasts over people who can see color. Use this to your advantage. As previous comments suggest, try using one color. Unsaturated blues are very close to greys and blacks, while unsaturated yellows are very close to whites.

Judging by your comics, you're already very good at contrasts. Your textures are used well. I don't get confused with complicated panels. You don't need to change anything, but if you want a splash of color, one is all you'd need c:

[AngieVX]

I prefer b/w comics. Color is OK but in most cases it ruins dynamics of action scenes. Color works great to create a mood or an atmosphere. I've only seen a couple of comics that are in color and the action scenes look awesome, but the skills of the artists are just on another level.
I've also noticed that colored pages attract more attention and positive feedback, but I realize that this feedback is related to art, not to the story, and not to the scene in the chapter. I find it a bit demotivational. And if you're writing a graphic novel, this kind of attention is not that important, it won't bring you true fans and readers.
P.s. your comic looks great without color.

[Bii0]

I dunno, I don't really like a whole lot of colour comics, sure there's more out there than b&w but I'm more interested in the latter. Personally I think it's a little cheap, anyone can slap on some gaudy colours and people would think it looked good no matter how terrible their anatomy/backgrounds/general story are, but you can't hide stuff with b&w. It takes skill to pull it off correctly or it'll look atrocious, it's awesome because it shows off the linework and the artist's style with no extra stuff covering it.
Yeah, colour could look good and make a great atmosphere if the artist knows what they're doing, and there are some comics that would call for colour (The comic I have here is b&w, but the other one I have is in colour because there will be scenes that require there to be colour to get the idea across), but most people don't know nothin' about what they're doing so most of the time it turns out gross.

Don't worry too much, people are just prejudice, but you'll get readers that will really appreciate your stuff over time. Those are better than people who only sub because the comic is "bright and pretty!". Also keep at it, keep practicing and don't forget your life studies! Draw everything.

[iddqd]

There's a lot of interesting opinions here! If there's anything I would add, I think color is much better suited to web-comics than b&w. If anything, it's probably something expected at this point when you're surfing the web no matter the media. I'd go ahead and wager that b&w really shines when printed on paper. As a pen-and-ink artist, that makes me a little jelly, but that's life. Adding color definitely takes a lot of extra effort, especially when done traditionally and then scanned for web.

[Kayke]

I usually do my comics in full color but I switched to limited color for one chapter and got a few complaints? I've never posted a comic fully in black and white though