Over on this weblog, they're pondering what is to them a mystery: Who colored the early issues of Fantastic Four? Those comics had credits for the writer, artists and letterer but the person who applied the often-inspired hues was always unidentified and unheralded. Indeed, it was not until the mid-seventies that any comics credited the colorists…and actually, there was a reason for this, though not a good one.
Used to be, back in the pre-computer era, that when you were moving a comic book through production, the last step before you got to the coloring was to finalize the black-and-white line art. You'd get all the pictures and lettering done and proofed and corrected and you'd make stats of it all and then it would go to the colorist. So at the moment you finished the credits, the colorist hadn't started his/her job yet and therefore might be unchosen…or if chosen, might still change. So they just didn't worry about a credit for the colorist because it was easier that way.
In the mid-seventies, companies became a bit more sensitive about this and realized they were snubbing an important member of the team. So they went to a little more trouble and began inserting the name of the colorist even if it meant going back in later and inserting or correcting that credit, and it's now the norm.
Back in the sixties, especially the early sixties, the name of the guy who colored most Marvel books was Stan Goldberg. That's a photo of Stan up above. I took it last year at the New York Comic-Con. That's the guy who colored the cover to Amazing Fantasy #15. That's the guy who decided on the color schemes of most of Marvel's major original characters…the person who said, "I'm going to make the Hulk green!" Stan Goldberg.
Stan was and still is a fine comic artist who when he draws, works mostly in the "Archie" style. In fact, these days, he works mostly on the Archie comics. In the fifties and sixties, he drew in that manner for Marvel books like Millie the Model. He was also freelancing for Archie back then, which was another reason he didn't get (or want) credit for his coloring work.
The editors at the Archie company then didn't like their freelancers to freelance for other companies and especially to be involved in comics that aped the Archie style. To keep them from finding out what else he was doing, Stan didn't push for credit for his coloring work…and most of his Millie comics were signed just "Stan G." to preserve a bit of anonymity. There was even a period when he was especially fearful of Archie realizing he was drawing Millie so it was signed "Solly B.," and folks thought it was Sol Brodsky, Marvel's production manager and an occasional artist for the company. Nope. Sol was just lending his name to the effort so the Archie editors might not realize Stan Goldberg was drawing those comics. Stan got screwed on credits no matter what he did.
Stan didn't or couldn't color every single issue and at some point, as Marvel's publishing increased and he got more work drawing, others would do the honors, including Brodsky, Marie Severin, Bill Everett and a lot of other folks who either worked in the office or were related to someone who worked in the office. It always seemed like a good job for someone to give his wife or children. But from the late fifties up 'til around '67 or '68, the vast majority of those comics were colored by Stan Goldberg.
And before anyone asks: DC had a whole in-house department that consisted of Jack Adler, Tommy Nicolosi, Sol Harrison, Jerry Serpe and several others who did the coloring up until the early seventies when others began taking it over. One of these days, I should do a long, in-depth piece about coloring theories as they differed from company to company, and even over the years at the same company. For now, just remember the name of Stan Goldberg and mention it often. Given how little recognition he got in the past, he's deserving of as much as we can give him.
