I did not email a reminder, and I think only one or maybe two people have not sent me a page back. Of course, it is 10am here, which means it’s not actually Thursday for anybody’s practical definition of the word in the States, where I think just about all of these people are. It’s possible I’ll get one or two more colored pages by this evening in the US, but I’m gonna go ahead and set up a poll and see what people think now anyway, ’cause I WANNA. :)
The gallery is here. All the images can be clicked through to a 550×800 (or thereabouts) size, which are, I think, big enough to render judgement on. I have a couple of particular favorites as a whole, which I think I will not comment on at all right now, just so I can see what people think without my opinion being up here already. :) I did fling an email off to my artist to see if he’s got a favorite, too. :)
I’m not crazy about the yellow in her room on #2, but I like the mirror work (only two or three of them made a distinction between the reflection and the character) and the night sky in the last panel. I’m not sure how much time is supposed to have passed, but it plays into that gradual darkening of the sky from the outdoor panels, and ties both threads together.
OMG, it’s full of stars!
I was waffling between 2 and 5, and possibly 3 — all of them have something good that the others are missing. But #3 is a bit on the gloomy side, and the yellow and purple clouds on #5 were rather distracting to the overall picture, so I went for #2. (I admit to a certain partiality to the non-lipstick on #5, what kind of superhero has time to stop and fix the makeup between battles? Never mind that being a superhero isn’t particularly realistic in the first place :)
I thought the colors were richest in #1. I really didnt’ care for the blue lipstick on some of them, and her skin just looked weird in a couple too.
I personally like the actual colors on #1 better, but I think the *coloring* on #2 is the best. The others are flatter, imho, or just plain odd.
I’d go w/ #2
tambo
I liked 1 and 2 for overall richness, but for character 6 was my favorite because of the use of lighting–as in it seemed to imply she was in a darkened room, which added to the mystery and suspense of the page. The panel showing the blue sky showed me it wasn’t just overall dark colors, but an active choice to show the difference between what’s going on in the room vs. outside, which I think is definitly a nice touch versus just coloring between the lines in pretty gradients.
Hrm. *puts her art history degree away. it likes to sneak out now and again*
It was a near-thing between one and two for me, although I went for two in the end, because I thought the colours in one were just a bit too bright and unsubtle. And the fact that the colourist of no.2 had gone to the trouble of putting some thought into colouring the last panel rather than just going for a flat block of colour.
It’d be interesting to see the uncoloured pencils and the script for the page as well.
Looking at them again, I noticed that the bra changes colour from panel 2 to panel 4 in No.1 (if that many numbes make sense…) So I’m definitely glad I went for #2.
I didnt put in a vote in the poll, but I like 1, 2, and 6 the best. Anyone who put in the blue lips lost my vote.
1 has strong, lovely colors
2 has somewhat more realistic, but still vibrant (just not as strong as 1) colors and the addition of stars in the last panel won me over
6 just appealed to me
of the ones I wasn’t so keen on 3 just had too much red and 7 too much green in ways and plces that are colorful but not realistic.On 4, the last panel was too white in the space behind her. On 5, I like what the colorist did with the white space in the last panel, but overall just wasn’t excited by it. (and see my previous note above — I don’t dig blue lipstick; it makes people look like they need CPR)
Honestly, I felt that the depth of colors and the depth of backgrounds in the 2nd were far superior. Option 1 was also rather good, but I felt that the 2nd one was most like what sells at our comics stores.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that I *like* the blue lipstick, because it ends up suggesting some fun stuff, like, how quickly does she need to *change her makeup* if she’s about to get caught after just chucking her costume into the closet. Color coordination is fun.
I voted ‘7’ because the colors are more vivid and lively — particularly in the images of the mayhem goin’ on while she’s getting dressed.
The other ones seem either too pale or too dark. I want the colors in this to pop, and the rest of them don’t, really, for me.
I went for 6. 1 *almost* got me, but the colors are just a little too bright. I like the shadows in 6, though, and I like the fact that she doesn’t have some funky colored lipstick on. While, like Fred says, that’s kind of fun, it’s the one extra costume step that makes me not buy it.
I should note that I also picked this one because I liked the color in the gas in the square. I definitely wanted it to be at least visibly noxious but 7 goes too far that direction and the ones where it’s white don’t have enough oomph.
I didn’t actually vote for any of them, but some notes:
I like the richness of the colors in #1. Something about #2 bothers me, but I don’t know what it is. I /love/ the dark brown and blue costume in #4, but the skintones are all… eh. I like the skin tones in #1 and #7 best. Hate the blue lipstick. :)
I voted for #2 because I love the colors and the great detail work that was put in. Second choice would be #1, because it’s also heavily detailed, but it’s a darker style much more akin to what I remember from Image. #6 was too dark for my tastes, and I wouldn’t buy it for that. #7 had a really interesting color scheme, but the blue lips really put me off. I’m with everyone else who didn’t like the blue lipstick.
I like #5 because it has the best combination of a) overall coloring, b) contrast changes, and c) color used to delineate action. It’s the one panel in which you can best see the action in the crowd scenes. But #2 comes in a close, close second.
Oh! Before I forget, I couldn’t actually “vote” so please make sure my 2¢ are counted. Maybe I couldn’t because I’m not a live journal user?
This was pretty much my opinion as well.
#1 had the best use of *color!* that caught my eye immediately in thumbnail version. It also had good use of shading (which seemed missing in other versions). I also liked #1’s skin tones the best.
However, I went with #6 in the end because it had really great use of shading. Her leg was shaded as she put on her costume as well as her face in the mirror close-up. I didn’t see much with shading on the others. I also felt that while #1’s colors were more vibrant, #6’s colors were much more realistic as well as the darker tones adding a “noir” effect.
And in looking over #2 which seems to be a current favorite, I felt that the colors were kinda washed out. There was nothing in particular that drew my eye into that panel and made me want more.
It was a toss up between 5 and 3 for me. What killed 3 was Chance’s lip color. The blue doesn’t really seem like her. But in 5 she doesn’t have any lip color and that seems more real to me than having her all glossied up before running out to save the world. I also like the red background, it was very eye appealing and kept the scenes nicely separate.
I really liked the darkness of #6. To me it felt very mysterious and private, and also hinted that Chance herself might have an internal darkness. Also, I loved the blue lipstick in #3, although the rest of the colors in that one didn’t appeal to me so much.
This was tough! But in the end #2 won out because I felt there was more depth to the panels.
I was torn between #1 and #2…I went with 2 for the sense of atmosphere lent by the coloring and how the line work comes through. You have nice pencils and inks… Show them off.
I really like the yellow and green fire in #7(?) but I think theirs more clarity in #6 over all the samples. Plus, her face is the most natural looking. I like the red lipstick and I also like the gray shadow that washes over the whole thing.
I think I’d have to read the story first. Though I know the yellow (#2) is not at all pleasent to my non-depth perception eyes. Though a different shade may be ok. The blue (1 & 6) look the best, but that’s because of my mood probably. They say to me, ‘why did I sign up for this super hero crap. Ah, well, whats a responsible girl to do..’ as opposed to the red #5 that kinda says “Stupid Super Hero Job, No bennifit, and it doesn’t pay worth a crap.” Text, story, or a mood swing would help change that probably. :-) or at least knowing the mood of the story.
I haven’t read any other comments so as to give you my undiluted opinion. I do see that I voted for the one that has the most votes at the moment, #2. Here’s why.
First, a number of the colorists seem to be coloring randomly. What are these bizarre colors above her in the bottom panel? Where is she? Another dimension? These same colorists were equally random in other choices, so they’re all out; goodbye #s 3, 4, 5 and 7. #1 is out because the highlighting is… unsubtle, to say the least. The colors are a little unnatural, too, reminiscent of the four-color days, almost. That leaves #2 and #6. #6 might have made it, but blew it on the very first panel. THE ONE WITH LIGHT SOURCES DRAWN IN IT. And indeed, he colored them bright whites — that don’t seem to have reached the 6 inches to her face without becoming extremely dim. Nice try. #2 gets it right — look how washed out her face is in front of those bright mirror lights. I love the colorful buildings — very Blade Runner — and the night sky he rendered perfects the bottom panel. A very nice job. Most of the colorists seem to have not kept in mind “where is she in this panel?” and “what are the actual reasonable light sources?” when coloring, and #2 clearly did. No contest.
1 – Too dark. Can’t make out all images clearly.
2 – Not sold on the yellow backgrounds. Awesome job on the smoke clouds, and the hint of flames in the background of the third panel. Love the night sky in the final pane.
3 – WTF?? With the blue lipstick? And the radiation-symbol bra?
4 – I like the blends of background color. And the miasma of smoke. And the variations of people color. But she seemed to be the color of her reflection in the later panes.
5 – This one popped, for me. Oddly, it’s the first one in which I noticed her gloves. I also really preferred the contrast of stripes and pants — it’s not as extreme as most of the others, and just looked better to my eye. The coloring of the smoke is more on-the-nose than in some of the others.
6 – The artist seemed to emphasize the body contours more than most, making the heroine look over-developed. And the smoke was clearly a noxious gas, since everyone is green.
7 – The contrast hurts my eyes.
So I think I’d vote 5, then 2, although both were really good. 5 did a better job on her costume. 2 did a better job on the scenery.
I picked #5 because it was the most pleasing/easiest on my eyes. Sometimes, particular colour schemes or too much or not enough contrast causes a great deal of discomfort to my eyes, and #5 didn’t do so at all.
What a nice set of choices!
#1 seems very Batman-y to me. Pretty good darkness, very slick, but that lipstick is a bit much. It sexes-up Chance some. I like the lightbulb effects in panel #1
#2 isn’t as vibrant as I’d like. The time of day in panel #3 is weird.
#3 It’s hard to get away from the blue lipstick. It doesn’t work for me.
#4 She doesn’t go outside, does she? What time of day is it #3 again? Why are the clouds green? I don’t like this one that much.
#5 I like it that she’s _not_ wearing trampy lipstick. Why, though, are the clouds green? The matching bra is cute.
#6 More green clouds. Interesting that only this person had it be daylight outside, and it looks like birds and not bats in the sky. But, absolutely great contrast between the dressing scenes in a dimly lit room and the outside. I really like those intermixed, gives a good sense of place.
#7 Weird colors! Strange glowing things! No.
I like #5 and #6 the most, and a lot of things about #1 but it’s a bit more towards the comic book cliche in feel.
I think #6 had the most impact on me, I’m voting for that.
Blue lipstick is Right Out (I hate Emma Frost’s white too). I best liked the moody colors of 6 (and the green poisoned people), followed by 2 (liked the mirror and stars, hated the yellow background).