By Eduardo Barreto, with a colorful assist by Scott Dutton…
1942’s Batman #11 cover, pencilled by Fred Ray and inked by Jerry Robinson — the first Joker cover appearance — is not only one of the greatest fronts of the Golden Age, it’s long been my personal favorite of the era. So every time we get a chance to feature it, we take it.
(And, hey DC! Not for nothing but this is a perfect candidate for a Facsimile Edition — not only is the cover incredible, but there are Joker and Penguin stories in the ish, to boot.)
Anyway, in my internet travels recently, I came upon yet another tribute to the cover, but before we even get to that, check out the original, plus other homages we’ve run over the years:
The original
The original art, which I’ve been fortunate to see up close
John K. Snyder III
Murphy Anderson
Chris Franklin
Back to the original point of this post: Colorist Scott Dutton — check out his website Catspaw Dynamics — frequently likes to recolor images and reformat them into new, imaginary covers.
And so is the case with another Batman #11 tribute. This one was illustrated by Eduardo Barreto and Scott went to town on it. The schtick? It’s the cover… one minute later.
Dig this progression:
Original illustration, from 2011
Art made production ready by Scott
Color version, with trade dress
Nice!
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MORE
— Dig CHRIS FRANKLIN’s Gallery of Glorious BATMAN Golden Age Covers — MEZCO Style. Click here.
— Dig JOHN K. SNYDER’s Gorgeous Homage to the Classic BATMAN #11 Cover. Click here.
June 24, 2025
I’m just waiting for this one to be a facsimile edition. Then I can finally sell my original. This new take is wonderful on its own too!
June 24, 2025
If I am not mistaken, the Barreto reinterpretation is/was part of Michael Finn’s One Minute Later theme/collection. I also believe Michael has been selling some of the OMLs at Heritage. Michael’s theme of commissioning artists to recreate covers showing what might have happened one minute later over the last two decades has been a clever delight.
June 24, 2025
That’s a beautiful piece! Barretto was such a fanastic artist, and incredibly underrated in my opinion. Scott Dutton’s colors and work on the piece are wonderful as well. And I too love the cover of Batman #11 (obviously). I’m honored my little effort was even included in such an August group.
June 24, 2025
It is one minute later and that is my decades long commission theme. I commissioned this. Glad you like it.
June 24, 2025
Hey, cool! Thanks!
June 24, 2025
Very nicely done! Barreto was one of my favorites when I first encountered his work in the early ‘90s. Chris does it justice, managing to add depth without over-rendering. The color is flat enough to retain a vintage feel. I dig it.
June 24, 2025
Oh, that is good! Thanks!!
June 24, 2025
Maybe since Michael Finn has verified the art’s origin, the headline should be changed to One Minute Later.
June 25, 2025
Thank you.