Comic Book Questions Answered – where I answer whatever questions you folks might have about comic books (feel free to e-mail questions to me at brianc@cbr.com).

Reader Javier M. wrote in to ask, "I was reading Brave and the Bold #195 and noticed that skies were purple/pink. Then I realized that skies were like these in many Batman comics from the eighties and I am not sure if it was something Adrienne Roy used to do, or if it was based on printing limitations (maybe black skies weren't clear enough to also have a shadowed batman in contrast?). Can you make a post about the origin of the purple skies?"

Sure thing, Javier.

The late, great colorist Adrienne Roy, first colored Batman in a story in Batman Family #17 in the late 1970s...

She then did some back-ups in Batman's regular book from #303-306 or so...

And then took over the main titles in Batman #325 and soon became the main Batman comic book colorist.

After she colored Batman #400, David Mazzucchelli's wife, the brilliant Richmond Lewis, colored Batman: Year One, but Roy then returned and continued on the series.

There's Azrael as Batman in Batman #500, with the purple skies...

Roy's final issue of Batman was #518, so a nearly TWO HUNDRED issue run!

Roy tragically passed away in 2010.

My first person I turned to about Javier's question was the great Scott Beatty, author of Batman: The Ultimate Guide to the Dark Knight (and other Batman guides and encyclopedias and writer of some awesome comic book stories) and he had his theories, but he did not know for sure, but he recommended that I ask longtime Batman editor Jordan Gorfinkel and Jordan was ALL over it!

He explained:

Until about the dawn of computer coloring in comics, coloring in comics was limited to gradations of 25% and then 10%. The limitation meant that there were very few colors that would contrast with the primary colors of the characters' costumes. Purple-grey was the go-to neutral color for backgrounds. Now that you know, you'll see it EVERYWHERE. I call it "the color you use when you don't know what color to use". Today, if you see it used, to my mind it means the colorist needs to rethink their work. In fact, you can ask the colorists I work with an they'll tell you that I have such an aversion to the color that I refuse to use it in my work.

Awesome!

Thanks so much to Scott and Jordan and, of course, thank you to the legendary Adrienne Roy, for such a long and outstanding career in comics! For many fans (like me), she was the one constant in the world of Batman for many years.

Thanks for the question, Javier!

If anyone else has a comic book related question, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!