Here is the cover of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161 (DC Comics, Cover Date: December, 1978.
And here is the cover of MY COPY of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161.
Notice anything odd?
...No? Let's look a little closer...
A regular copy...
MY copy...
"Please Explain This to Me", why selected letters are YELLOW on MY copy...
...And NOT on the "regular" copy!
Clearly, I will never know, but I can always guess...
The YELLOW LETTERS were set as a trap by Sinestro to neutralize Green Lantern - taking full advantage of that Silver and Bronze Age "impurity" in GL's Power Ring that fails to work against anything yellow!
Think fast, GL! Here comes a payload of bright yellow death!
A desperate plea for help in the form of a cryptically-color-coded message from a captive worker in the DC Comics Production Dept. (...Probably worked for Mort Weisinger!)
Or perhaps the most incredible specifically-targeted SUN-FADE in history!
...And, if they can't "make sense", then let 'em "make with the imagination"! We always appreciate imagination 'round here! Have at it...
2 comments:
In printing (the old school kind of the sort used to make comics) red was a mix of two overlapping plates- yellow and magenta. Sometimes the an ink would run out or run low… in this case, the magenta ran out leaving only the yellow. Mystery explained!
I’ll accept that, Nate, but for one tiny detail… And I say this knowing little or nothing about the printing processes, then or now…
If the magenta *did* run out, why were the yellow letters not consecutive? Why only the “HAT” of “THAT”, and only the “Y’ of “You” – and with a completely red “GIVES” in-between?
Again, I’m a writer, not a production person, so perhaps that is feasible – but I’d tend to think not because of its unusual “selectivity”.
I must also point out that the “regular copy” seen here is from an Internet scan, so I accepted that ALL of its lettering was more “orange-y” than the red of my copy… just *because* it’s an Internet scan. …But maybe that is also related to your offered explanation?
Maybe magenta was LOW on some of the print run (but not OUT) accounting for an across-the-board “orange-y” look, as opposed to the more starkly contrasted red and yellow!
In any event, I’ve not seen the like of this anywhere in my collection, unless it was done purposely for effect – and, right now, I can’t even think of any where it was… though I’m certain it has been. And, I thank you for the explanation!
Anyone else reading this have a copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161? If so, stop by and tell us what your copy looks like.
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