11/20/2017 - Comics Workbook

Caleb Orecchio here with some Marvel comics colored by thee great Françoise Mouly, and other news.

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“Years and years and years ago I colored comics for Marvel, and I didn’t feel comfortable in that world at all as a woman. But things have changed; I’m now running into women in their twenties and early thirties who discovered comics as adults.”

–Françoise Mouly, from this New Yorker interview

Some comics I own that were colored by Françoise Mouly in ’78 and ’79

Hey there True Believer! Have I got a treat for you. Maybe you knew this already, I think I did but obviously forgot, but thee great Françoise Mouly–perhaps you’ve heard of her–had a stint at Marvel Comics where she colored various titles from 1978 to 1979 (as far as I can tell). I was just minding my own business and perusing through the few issues of Tomb of Dracula I own (gotta love that Gene Colan/TomPalmer combo) when lo and behold, I see the credits for the colorist:

*Tomb of Dracula* #67 that my dad evidently claimed when he was eleven

Of course we all know Mouly’s work, famously the co-founder of RAW, art editor at The New Yorker, and recently the Resist! anthology with her daughter Nadja Speigelman—plus much more. A true champion of the medium of comics. What a pleasant surprise to find her in the pages of some of my favorite, dumb back-issues. This is half the reason I love old newsprint comics, you never know what combination of creators you will find, and what the results will be. Françoise Mouly colors?! What a treat.

I like how she considered tone and value. Something that wasn’t necessarily regarded often within the machine of newsprint boy’s-adventure comics. I assume this was merely a “job” to her on a freelance basis; and the years that she worked being ’78 and ’79, I can’t help but muse that the capital for publishing RAW (first published in 1980) was acquired through Marvel paychecks. Though this may not (probably not) be strictly true, I emit an evil laugh when I consider this. Water into wine. Mwahahaha!

After seeing her credited as a colorist in Tomb of Dracula #67, I figured that couldn’t be her only job she did for Marvel. I did some searching and found that I owned several other issues she colored. Most of these were my dad’s and among my favorite comics when he gave me his collection when I was seven. So, for all you Mouly and back-issue fans alike here is a list of her work at Marvel. Comics has such a wacky history–I love it.