A true craftsman and consummate professional, he drew the New Teen Titans during the first phase of their Post-Perez decline, for which he was not at fault in the least. Meanwhile, he drew one issue of Legion of Super-Heroes, Baxter #56. One. Single. Solitary. Issue.

And he did it with his usual excellence. Here's a few panels, courtesy of Thoth:



Now, IIRC, he left NTT right about the time Greg LaRocque left LSH. And sometimes I wonder, what if he'd replaced LaRocque instead of the returning K**th G*ff*n? It's all too easy to dream of what might have been, but I like to indulge in it.

I also wonder, if Barreto had become the regular artist on Legion, would sales have continued their downward slide? Or would the slide have reversed itself?

I think had Barreto replaced LaRoque, Levitz would have been more likely to have called it a day early.

Like Perez with Wolfman, Giffen probably gave Levitz a shot in the arm. Levitz had wanted to go at the end of 50/51(?) I think it's very likely Giffen gave the sales a shot in the arm too, as so many love the earlier Levitz/Giffen pairing.

If the book was produced the same way as the Titans, then I don't think Barreto would have been supplying any more than the art. Both the Titans and Legion prospered with multiple people adding to the plot pot.

It's no reflection on Barreto that he was involved with Titans when the writer had writer's block and the Legion when the writer had an eye towards to finishing line.

I think I'll give myself a couple of brownie points for getting through the whole post without saying "what downward slide?" D'Oh!

That, in my opinion, would have been a good thing.



I'm not so sure of that, and I'm trying to look at it as objectively as I can. G*ff*n's style during his second Legion run with Levitz polarized people (hell, his style even polarized people towards the end of his first Legion run with Levitz -- many readers feel he lost it circa Omen/Prophet and never quite got back on track.)

Does anyone here at Legion World know for certain if sales went up during Baxter 50-63, or if they were continuing to decline?



I personally prefer more impersonal artists who just do their job and do it well. That, of course, is just a matter of individual taste. But I also feel very strongly that when Perez returned to the Titans after Barreto left, it was just as bad story-wise as it was when G*ff*n re-teamed with Levitz.

I had wondered if you were including Levitz in with the decline. I'd have to dig out the issues to have a think about the plots that felt like a natural extension of #50. Lar, Shady and Brainy leaving for example seem fair.



I recall a quote from one of the books possibly around that time along the lines of "Our sales were still going down. But they weren't going down as quickly as everyone else's"




Avengers, JLA and the TItans were all better with Perez. His art is good enough able to atone for issues elsewhere. I do seem to recall really liking Who is Wonder Girl (leaving continuity issues at the door). I can't remember what the share of plotting was supposed to be, but I'm sure I read that Perez was never going to be around for long. So, the writer's block would have continued right along.

Agreed. I liked all of those. But the whole Revenge and Death of the Emerald Empress/Dream Girl and Atmos/Magic Wars stuff was very unappealing to me personally.

I really liked the Empress two parter. Downside: You lose an iconic Legion villain (although others can take on the mantle). Upside: The Empress' quest ending as her power consumes her. A powerful scene with Jeckie too. Cool uniforms (except Brin's)too.

The Barreto issue was a lead into that with the villain there having an unpleasant follow up encounter with the Empress. The Dreamy/Atmos subplot wasn't a favourite, but followed up on the Universo plot.

Magic Wars seemed a bit rushed in the end, but had its moments and really set it'sef as a midpoint form the decline following Superboy's death through to 5 years later.