Black Space or White Space, which looks better between the panels?

[Elusivemike]

The space between panels can be super important to the look and feel of a comic. It can even help tell the story if used properly. I've been reading a lot of webcomics and printed comics, and seen a generally historic trend towards the use of white space, though in recent years I've seen quite a few stories use a black background quite effectively.
Example of WHITE background (http://piecesofeights.com/index.php?comic=401)
Example of BLACK background (http://piecesofeights.com/images/Session11-12.jpg)

My question is; Do you prefer reading one more than the other? AND/OR Do you know a comic that uses that space effectively?

[Domochevsky]

Hm, it really does depend on what mood you want to convey with the gutter (as it's called). The color (black, white, actual color) informs the mood of the panels they surround. Especially in a web medium they can be used for various trickery. :smallsmile:

(For example, starting out white and as things happen on the page and the mood shifts, gradient over to black or the other way around.)

[AdmiralCheez]

Yeah, I agree that different contexts call for different gutters. Though with webcomics, and the whole "not restricted to what can be feasibly printed" thing, you can do a whole lot with the page, and even the site itself. For a good example of using the gutter and the webpage for this purpose, Unsounded (http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/)does some interesting things. In some parts of the story, the webpage background is black, sometimes it's white, sometimes it's on fire and covered in smoldering ash. It's really quite cool, actually.

The most important thing to remember though is that it depends entirely on getting the point across. Does it add to the page by playing around with it, or is it detracting from the story? Sometimes the best course of action is just keeping consistency throughout. Each comic is different, and thus has different needs.

[Thanqol]

Black. Also, orange is objectively better than yellow. Yellow is a bitch colour.

EDIT: Realtalk I like black because it requires a certain heft and tone to the rest of the comic. If you screw it up it's super noticeable.

[Gopher Wizard]

I'd go with black.

[Prime32]

Worth noting: manga and manga-influenced styles traditionally use black gutters to indicate a flashback (transitioning between white and black on the same page if necessary). It doesn't have quite the same effect when pages are in colour (or when the gutters are small), but switching between them in the wrong place could confuse some readers.

[Cuthalion]

Of the examples, I prefer black. Think it's the way to go colored. If black and white, white works for the gutter as well.