Jose Luis Salinas - El Artillero 5/15/73

El Artillero was drawn by co creator Jose Luis Salinas (written by Alfredo Grassi) from 1971 to 1973 for King Features Syndicate. Appearing in papers on both sides of the Atlantic, it was published under several titles including Dick the Gunner and Dico. I obtained these consecutive examples from the stepson of Phantom artist, Cesar Spadari. They were gifted by Salinas to Spadari when the two knew each other in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I've never seen any other surviving Salinas originals from this futbol strip, so it seems very fortunate that they landed in fellow artist Spadari's appreciative hands. As in Cisco Kid, Salinas' remarkably realistic figure work still shines through in these athletic examples. Originally written in Spanish, it was later translated into English for other markets as can be seen in some of the dialogue paste ups. Curiously though, it seems to have never appeared in American papers.

First example of a wonderful championship game ending sequence!