Journal · 12 May 2026
Why a colourist credit still belongs on a digital comic
Storefronts keep swallowing colourists into “art by.” Here is how the Leeds desk puts that shift back on the page.
A collector in York mailed us a screenshot in which a night-time issue was listed as “art by” a single famous penciller. The rain, though, was doing the storytelling: green-grey streets, a warm window, a cold cape. That is colourist work. The penciller drew the rain; someone else decided the city should feel unwell.
When we write a Marvel NFT comic creator spotlight, we refuse to let the storefront’s one-line credit finish the sentence. We open the issue, find the colourist in the box if the box exists, and then pick a day scene and a night scene. If the box is empty, the file says empty. Guessing a celebrity name to make a listing look complete would be a different, worse craft.
Digital comics make this laziness easier because the credit screen is a tap away from a “buy” banner. Paper floppies at least forced a reader’s thumb past a publisher page. Our job is to rebuild that pause. If you keep notes in Desk Ledger, a single field labelled “colourist” is enough to stop the collapse. The utility still does not price a token. It just refuses to forget a person.