Understanding Comics Chapter Summary & Analysis - Chapter 8, A Word about Color Summary

Chapter 8, A Word about Color Summary and Analysis

In this brief chapter about color, Scott discusses the stormy relationship between color and comics throughout history. He explains that throughout art history, color is a "powerful, even predominant concern" of all good artists, no matter where they live. Georges Seurat is listed as an example, since he devotes his life to the study of color. Kandinsky believes that color can have "profound physical and emotional effects on people". Although Scott admits that color can be a "formidable ally" for artists in any visual medium, he stresses that comics and color do not always go together.

Scott blames the prevailing forces of commerce and technology for comics' failure to use color to its highest potential. In 1861, Scottish physicist Sir James Clerk-Maxwell isolates what are called the three "additive primaries". The three additive primaries are the colors of red, blue, and green. When projected together on screen in combinations,...
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