So, what color IS Despero, exactly?

[Sutekh]

You just sent me down the rabbit hole that is Google.

And I liked it.

Yeah, it's some funky stuff. The real world can be briefly interesting.

But I always go back to my comics.

[Riv86672]

But I always go back to my comics.

Heck yeah, brother!

[caj]

I seem to remember a couple of issues of Justice League of America (maybe 133 & 134) where Despero was colored red. Supergirl guest starred in these issues.

But otherwise I always remember him being pink. I loved the Mohawk Despero in JLA Detroit and the Giffen DeMatteis JLA.

[marhawkman]

^^^Good one!

When I was a kid I pronounced her name as Magneta. I just never realized it was the color.

There is actually a Marvel comics character in the MC2 timeline who DOES call herself Magneta.... because female Magento. She's a teenager nowhere near as powerful as the original Magento. But well, teen troublemaker with a fraction of Magneto's power is OP compared to most heroes.

But should we really judge a character by the color of their skin?

we're not judging him, just describing him.

[Phoenixx9]

Wasn't his mohawk facing left-to-right and then changed front-to-back?

[Riv86672]

There is actually a Marvel comics character in the MC2 timeline who DOES call herself Magneta.... because female Magento. She's a teenager nowhere near as powerful as the original Magento. But well, teen troublemaker with a fraction of Magneto's power is OP compared to most heroes.

^^^Damn that’s right. Good catch by you!

Wasn't his mohawk facing left-to-right and then changed front-to-back?

^^^He was really slim wore a jumpsuit and yeah, had the left-to-right Mohawk.
Not sure when that changed. Post Crisis I’d guess?

[Jim Kelly]

The fin on Despero's head looked cooler when they switched it back to front--and he became more of a brute. But I can see why the side to side fin was the better option in the beginning, because you can see it in full face view. If the fin is going back to front then the artist always has to draw him in profile or three-quarter view for the fin to be properly seen.

In my mind, the change in his fin is connected to the change in his personality and physicality. The side to side fin Despero was an aristocrat, who played chess--something must have happened in his life where his fin got switched and that cast him out of the aristocracy, so he had to become a brute to survive among the dregs of intergalactic conquerors.

I wonder if the reason he may appear red in the early comic books is because of the paper. Old comics yellow--and the combo of yellow and magenta is how they made so-called red in the printing process. But to save the bother, some publishers would leave out the yellow, knowing that the paper would yellow on its own.

Despero is coloured magenta in my copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ARCHIVES Vol. 1 (reprinting the cover and story), but I can't say what colour he is on the inside pages of the actual JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 1 (October-November 1960), because I don't have that comic book. The colour may vary depending on the grade of the comic for those collectors that have it.

[ducklord]

He's all colours of the rainbow, many-hued.

But he's still British. Very upper-class.

Also: I believe that Despero's fin should rotate based on his mood.

[Riv86672]

The fin on Despero's head looked cooler when they switched it back to front--and he became more of a brute. But I can see why the side to side fin was the better option in the beginning, because you can see it in full face view. If the fin is going back to front then the artist always has to draw him in profile or three-quarter view for the fin to be properly seen.

In my mind, the change in his fin is connected to the change in his personality and physicality. The side to side fin Despero was an aristocrat, who played chess--something must have happened in his life where his fin got switched and that cast him out of the aristocracy, so he had to become a brute to survive among the dregs of intergalactic conquerors.

I wonder if the reason he may appear red in the early comic books is because of the paper. Old comics yellow--and the combo of yellow and magenta is how they made so-called red in the printing process. But to save the bother, some publishers would leave out the yellow, knowing that the paper would yellow on its own.

Despero is coloured magenta in my copy of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ARCHIVES Vol. 1 (reprinting the cover and story), but I can't say what colour he is on the inside pages of the actual JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 1 (October-November 1960), because I don't have that comic book. The colour may vary depending on the grade of the comic for those collectors that have it.

^^^I read this post about 3 times, ty!

What you said about Chess reminds me, he (Despero) was playing against the Flash…

…and I read last night that Despero’s going to be in season 8 of Flash’s CW show.
I still haven’t seen what he’ll look like though.