.
Regarding the JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY 2 story, "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper", illustrated by Gil Kane/ Ralph Reese, here is the same story reprinted in a 1975 black and white Marvel magazine titled
MASTERS OF TERROR, an all-reprint magazine that lasted two issues, collecting adaptations of Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Theodore Sturgeon and other fantasy/horror authors.
https://viewcomiconline.com/masters-of-terror-issue-1/It actually looks much better in black and white. The coloring in the original comics versions, were uninspired and functional at best coloring for the most part. Good coloring often makes or breaks a story for me, such as Steve Oliff coloring in
BERNI WRIGHTSON: MASTER OF THE MACABRE.
Bad coloring can diminish a good story, and in the case of Wrightson elevate work I already love even more.
Oliff's coloring in the
HULK magazine's "Moon Knight" back-up stories (issues 13-20) by Moench and Sienkiewicz (I believe Oliff's first professional coloring, at least at Marvel) is another example of color elevating already great work.
The preceding issues 10-12 are examples of colors that diminish what were supposed to be more sophisticated offset-printed issues, that were supposed to improve the magazine over its previous black and white
RAMPAGING HULK magazine format (issues 1-9, which I also liked.)
But it took till HULK issue 13 to fully demonstrate the benefit of its new offset color format.
Alan Moore and Bissette/Tottleben's work in SWAMP THING, good as it was, I felt also was diminished slightly by often less than stellar coloring. Such as in
issue 45, which is otherwise one of my favorite issues of the series. But that I felt could have been even better if it had more impressive coloring. And unfortunately, those same colors are used in all the various collected reprint editions of those issues.
Some of those issues are very well colored, such as 38-42, others are not.
Even back in the late 60's and early/mid 70's, where the printing technology was less, and before sophisticated offset formats came along, in circa 1981-1983 reprint editions, there are still many beautifully colored issues in the preceding 1970's era, such as the O'Neil and Adams/Giordano BATMAN and DETECTIVE issues.
Or in many of DC's mystery anthology titles, such as
HOUSE OF MYSTERY, HOUSE OF SECRETS, WEIRD MYSTERY TALES, SECRETS OF SINISTER HOUSE and many others. From 1968-1975 or so, I think DC's main colorist was Jack Adler, and I love the look of DC's line in that period.
