From Comic Book Resources: "Longtime Teen Titans Artist Eduardo Barretto Has Died"
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From Comic Book Resources: "Longtime Teen Titans Artist Eduardo Barretto Has Died"
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This is sad news. I remember when Eduardo Barreto was first introduced to the American market; he followed the great José Luis García-Lopez on Atari Force, an ongoing series that followed a five-issue limited series tied to the then-hot video game. Barretto started with issue #13, and I have to admit, at the time I thought his work was a letdown from García-Lopez's. It was competent, but not nearly as flashy. Later on, Barreto also happened to follow García-Lopez on New Teen Titans, and, among other things, did an old-school Elseworlds, Superman: Speeding Bullets, based on the notion that Thomas and Martha Wayne found baby Kal-El, not Jonathan and Martha Kent.
However, over the years, I came to appreciate Barreto's style -- especially as he did less superhero work and more live-action adventure stuff, like The Shadow Strikes, a Western/crime caper titled The Long Haul, and a crime drama miniseries title Cobb.
When he got the assignment for the Judge Parker comic strip, it was the only time I actually started to read it, and it was bitter news that he had to give it up, first because of a car accident and later, because of his illness. This is a real loss.
I was a big fan of his work with writer Chuck Dixon on Batman titles. His work had a classic look without being stiff. Sad news.
He was a great artist with an amazing sense of design. DC had him do a lot of covers. Very under-rated but greatly appreciated.
It's one of those coincidences, but I picked up this week's copy of the Phantom (from Frew Aus), just now, to see that Paul Ryan had stepped down as artist of the Sunday strip. His replacement? Eduardo Barretto. The changeover happened in the middle of the chapter in this issue (end of July this year).
Barretto's art is an immediate change of gears and is a little more impressionistic and sketchy than Paul Ryan's, whose style was a cooler and more clearly illustrative. Barretto's is obviously much more European/South American, with lots of shadows.
There is much made in the editorial pages welcoming Barretto into the highly respected cadre of Phantom strip artists. To become a classic Phantom artist would have been quite a feather in his cap. As it is, its quite something that he was chosen to work on the Phantom at all. I'm sure they have their pick of artists.
Beyond this sad little footnote, I don't have much familiarity with Barretto's work. Still, its very sad to read of this new start now that I've heard the news.
He was a very good artist. Rest in peace.
Barretto and Dixon also paired on the under-appreciated Marvel Knights team book.
JeffCarter said:
I loved Barreto's work unabashedly. I thought his shadows were perfectly placed, his scenes blocked just so, his storytelling impeccable. Everything was just perfect. (And his women were drop-dead gorgeous, which doesn't hurt.) He seemed to me to be an artist's artist and I'm shocked and saddened to hear this news.
BTW, Clark, he was born in 1954, if you can fix your headline.
Captain Comics said:
Done.
I really grew to love his work -- even this year, it was a draw for me to pick up certain titles (Superman Retroactive, 70s). There was an action-movie type comic called Cobb: Off the Leash by Beau Smith and Barreto that I picked up largely for his art; it's worth seeking out.
He was an unsung great.