The Best Comic Colourists

We all spend a lot of time talking about our favourite comic writers and artists, usually the penciller/inker, but there is another group of people often overlooked despite their talent – the comic colourists. These are the talented individuals that bring both the writers complex story and the artists intricate designs to life, and as you would imagine, they all have their own unique styles – some of which stand out above the rest.

In this article, we are going to look at 5 of the best comic colourists of all time. There are so many other great comic colourists out there, which made this list a very hard one to compile, but we unfortunately cannot list them all. So, we have tried to factor in popular opinions rather than just that of our own, to make sure this list is undoubtedly full of the people who deserve it the most.

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Rachelle Rosenberg

First on the list, my personal favourite at the moment, Rachelle Rosenberg. Rachelle has a large catalogue of projects she has worked but two that stand out for me are of course Hell to Pay and Bloody Dozen, the first two instalments of the Shrouded College – a series we simply cannot help but mention every time we compile a list like this.

Rachelle often works on Marvel comics such as Spider-Man 2099, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and a new series Rogue: The Savage Land, when she is not working on herself – by that, I mean her Superwoman-like physique. Take one look at her Instagram and you will see how inspirational this talented individual is in her every day life and the art she brings to life in these comic books.

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Gregory Wright

When it comes to iconic comic books, fans would have likely heard of Gregory Wright. Gregory has quite literally hundreds of comic books under his belt but has done some notable work alongside Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale including The Long Halloween and its predecessor Haunted Night.

Since becoming a freelance colourist in the 90’s, Gregory has spent a long time working for DC and Marvel and has even co-created long time characters such as Daredevil’s Crippler with Jackson Guice.

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Dave Stewart

Next we have a multiple award winning colourist, Dave Stewart. Over the last 20 years, Dave has won the Eisner award for best colouring a whopping ten times – pretty much doubling any other artists claim to the award.

During his career, Dave has worked on multiple projects for DC, Marvel, Darkhorse, but his most notable project is without a doubt colouring Gerard Way’s Umbrella Academy comic series which was recently adapted into a very popular TV series. Dave is the second one on this list to have worked with the dynamic duo Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale on their six part series Catwoman: When in Rome.

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Jordie Bellaire

Another winner of the Eisner award for best colouring is Jordie Bellaire, and it is so easy to see why. Like the others on this list, Jordie has worked for all the major publishers, but the project we are absolutely blown away by is her work on Absolute Wonder Woman, a series we have been following very closely and have high expectations for – another shout out to Jordie for her work on Batman ’66, what a nostalgic piece of art that comic book is.

Jordie Bellaire is also the reason that Colourist Appreciation Day exists, which makes her that even more inspirational. In 2013, Jordie took to Tumblr to talk about how underappreciated comic colourists are describing them as ‘backing singers’. This quickly prompted fans to label January 24th ‘Colourist Appreciation Day’ which is celebrated by fans every year.

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Tatjana Wood

For the final entry on this list, we step back into the Bronze Age of comics. I am sure comic fans agree that from that period of time there is one name that comes to mind – Tatjana Wood. Tatjana worked on many incredible projects during her long career but the most notable is probably Len Wein’s Swamp Thing.

For me however, Tatjana Wood’s work on Batman comics in the 70’s, where not only did she colour incredible stories but also actually created some of my favourite comic book covers of all time including Batman #270. If it was not for the Bronze Age of comics paving the way, comic books would not be as popular as they are today. There is something so nostalgic about reading these, even if you were yet to be born when they first released – truly incredible.

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Conclusion

Colourist are the unsung heroes of comic books. There are so many talented individuals that bring to life the stories, characters and universes that we love so much. With some many talented colourists out there it was hard to play favourites, but we encourage you to look at your collection and share with us your favourite comic colourists!

See also: Most anticipated comics of 2025

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