Barreto, Eduardo - Superman #397 pgs.2 & 3 Double Page Splash !

Along with the Saviuk/Marcos Superman piece, I've also just received this magnificent piece in on consignment as well. It is the double Page Title & Credits splash from Superman #397, beautifully illustrated by the late, great Uruguayan artist, Eduardo Barreto. More importantly, this dps comes from the very first Superman comic Barreto ever drew and perhaps even more important than that, this is a perfect representation of the artist's pure vision, as he produced both the pencils AND the inks, plus an outstanding array of special effects created with white paint!

Superman related art outside of the DoS related storylines has long been undervalued, though the market has in very recent time been showing signs that this may not be true for much longer as collectors are getting wise to this and buying up vintage covers, splashes and double splashes lately.

Barreto drew some nice runs at DC Comics, such as on Atari Force and especially on New Teen Titans, though many fans don't realize he broke into the American market all the way back in 1979, inking the great Sal Buscema on Marvel Team-Up #88. Always the consummate professional, Barreto was still drawing pages for his final project, DC Retroactive: Superman - The 70's (Sept. 2011) from the comfort of his hospital bed. Sadly, Barreto passed away on December 15th 2011, apparently due to complications from the meningitis he had been struck with the year before and the comics world is all the poorer for his loss.