It seems to be the popular opinion that this recreation is not authentic, but I’m not so sure. Joe is known to have signed preprinted copies of his drawings (even some colored in by fans), but I’ve never heard of him signing pieces that he didn’t draw either original or preprinted copies of originals. Additionally, he was generous to friends (including Gary) in terms of giving them art, but he almost always inscribed/personalized them unless it was a commission piece. This brings us to the DC Comics label on the piece with was something Joe added to pieces for which he was paid; I can’t begin to understand the legal reasons for this. So if this was Coddington fan art, and even if I we were inclined to believe Joe would sign it, I’d still be surprised by the lack of personalization and the DC Comics label. Finally, as far as legend (noted earlier in this post), I’ve heard for many years that Joe was paid to do a dozen large recreations late in life of popular Superman covers (AC1, Superman #1, and Superman #14). So having a couple variations of the AC1 covers actually makes sense, and “the story” is similarly supported when you go back and look at the large recreations that are out there (Hakes sales, Comiclink, and some posts on Comicartfans) as they are almost always these covers. I’d love to hear Hake’s weigh in on their vetting process, but Franco Toscanini didn’t put things in his collection lightly. While this copy is not his, I’m inclined to believe that if his was legitimate (I believe it was) that this one likely is as well. Just my opinion...
Regards,
Ryan