Comics are a format certain audiences enjoy, due to the visuals that can be easily understood by a wide range of audiences. There are different messages and corresponding techniques used by artists and writers to accurately convey the meaning behind their work, and thus, comics come in varied forms. Many are in grayscale and overly detailed, while many others are simplistic and blooming with colors. There is no correct way to make a comic – the techniques used are meant to help move the message along into reader’s minds for a better understanding. The use of color and lighting is explored in comic panels, as colors are read by the audience in certain manners and lighting can adjust tones the strip is meant to convey. Thus, these are used to set emotions throughout the plot. With this being in place, the reader can pick up on tones of the characters and their meanings in a more precise way. Color usage helps develop the scene being set, and lighting can push focus into certain shots of a panel. In the excerpt of the comic, Bitch Planet, colors and lighting strategies are used throughout scenes to convey the mood and deeper meaning behind characters and their messages to the audience.

Bitch Planet has underlying themes of racism and sexism with guidance of these colors and lighting differences as characters communicate to one another. These are not outright stated, but are easily read by the viewers with the repeated actions against Penelope’s character and identity. Along with these passages and themes, colors and shadows are heavily changed and drastic in each scene to depict the mood and messages for conflicts. In present time, Penelope is interrogated by the “fathers” – within these scenes, she is wearing a harsh orange against blue and white backgrounds. The blues and whites are used for the government officials; these colors are known to be used for mechanical objects, as well as conveying calm (blue) and pure (white) feelings. This is the contradiction with Penelope’s situation, as she is wearing a fierce orange mainly used for prisoners and also meant to invoke a feisty personality. With these colors used to help set the mood, the reader can understand that this conflict is against Penelope – that she is a prisoner that requires “help” from the picture-perfect government. The fathers refuse to comprehend how Penelope loves herself and desires to change her. Her identity is wrong to them due to not fitting their standards of “normal”. This is a repeated theme throughout the excerpt – within her flashbacks and back to present time. These bright lights help put Penelope into a harsh shadow, and also bring out a certain color change that is only seen in present-time. This technique makes Penelope stand out to viewers, and allows for an easy interpretation of how different she is compared to others in her company. With each of the flashbacks presented in the comic, a specific color symbolizes the force and ideals against Penelope, and the shadows/lighting are used to show who is pure and who is impure. 

The first panel of focus is on page 188; when she is called into Mother Siebertling’s office, the background takes on a pink hue as Siebertling explains to Penelope why she is wrong in her ways and that she should not be a “fool”. The pinks used here can help set the mood for how Mother Siebertling is the definition of white femininity – fair skin, light hair, low weight and clothes that help show off her figure. This is a harsh opposite of Penelope, and it is supported even further by Siebertling insulting Penelope’s family history and by asking how to “control her hair” despite Penelope having natural curls. With these statements, it is shown that people like Siebertling have ingrained racist thoughts – by trying to “control” Penelope’s natural afro-curls, this is a statement of deeming black hair as bad and needing to be more like hair belonging to white women. This ends once again with a harsh black shadow, this time of Siebertling with a straightener, to change Penelope to fit society’s expectations better.

 In the final flashback, browns and grays are used to give an overall gloomy feeling – Penelope is not happy with her job, and customers encourage this further by treating her poorly. The panels at the bottom of page 194 show drastic differences in a woman similar to Siebertling, and Penelope. When the screen comes on to discuss the news, a pink woman against a white backdrop appear – pink being the sign of femininity and the white lighting adding back to that pure feeling. This, from the explanations earlier, shows the picture-perfect society that they live in and what is expected of women. As the light-skinned customers continue to discuss trivial things while also dissing Penelope for who she is, she grows angrier and loses control. The panel of Penelope on this page shows her at an angle to show off most of her upper body, as well as has dark, neutral colors to show a stark difference against the women on the screen. When this happens, the shadows are made stronger and brings out how violently Penelope is reacting. With these differences between the panels, one can tie the women on the news screen back to the men, and Penelope is once again left alone to stick out from the rest of the characters put into focus.

In the excerpt of the comic, Bitch Planet, colors and lighting strategies are used throughout scenes to convey the mood and deeper meaning behind characters and their messages to the audience. Within each scene, a certain memory and discrimination is in place, and thus, more easily read by the audience. With this, comics are a good form of visual story-telling, and Bitch Planet portrays the conflicts and emotions very well via use of color against each conflict.  As colors and shadows are used a repeated motif throughout the panels, it can ease the reader along to properly convey the emotions and moods for each scene.
