Wait, Is Supergirl's Hair Gold or Black?

From a 1962 banner ad. just prior to Supergirl coming out of her Superman-imposed secrecy.
So the colorist thought she had... black hair? Well, it would have made sense since she shares some DNA strands with Superman and HE'S got black hair. Except the Maid of Steel had been around since 1959, so really there's no excuse. Here's the actual cover as it was eventually published:
It's a well-known fact the blond gene jumps around in dark-haired families. Lois and Lucy Lane. Superman and Supergirl. Pete Ross from the comics and Pete Ross from the Smallville TV show. WELL. KNOWN. FACT.

Comments

LiamKav said…
I liked Clayton Hickman's take on the whole thing.

https://twitter.com/claytonhickman/status/571269683481055232

February 28, 2015 at 2:08 PM
Anonymous said…
If anyone's interested, I did my own research on that dress with the help of GIMP. The "black" parts of the dress aren't strictly black; they're more of a smoky grey with a tinge of yellow (so heavier on the R and G than on the B). But the "blue" parts of the dress are more like a pastel cobalt blue (so heavier on the B than on the R and G). Now if you're a white/gold person like me, your brain assumes that the pastel cobalt blue is shadow from backlighting, and so you mentally "color correct" by seeing more R and G than are actually there. So slightly yellow smoky grey becomes gold (backlit), and pastel cobalt blue becomes white (backlit).
February 28, 2015 at 3:47 PM
Siskoid said…
Thanks Anon, I knew it was all manipulation.

But neither of your comments address my point about blond cousins!
February 28, 2015 at 7:42 PM
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