Lots of fantastic art is currently up for bids as part of the latest Larry Shell Benefit Art Auction, including art by Mark Schultz, Bill Sienkiewicz, Timothy Truman and many others.
Included are these two stunning Cerebus pages from #200 of the long-running comic by Dave Sim…
Larry Shell has been a publisher, editor, and writer, and collector, since the 1970s, a creative soul who has been involved in many different parts of the industry, including at Marvel in their PR department.
Self publishing since 1975, he was, among other roles, Director of Publications for the late, great Heroes World Distribution, the third largest comic book distributor in the country until its demise, where he edited and packaged their 250+ page monthly catalogue, along with several specialty catalogues for 10 years. His article, “How To Solicit In The Direct Market” was published in Comics Buyer’s Guide and served as a template for many small publishers for a number of years.
Larry generously continues to offer insights into the history of American comics and more through discussions on groups such as Comic Book Historians on Facebook. But recent years have been far from kind.
Disabled from two spinal surgeries over the past ten years, he is unable to work and earn a living. This has caused his home of close to 50 years to fall into disrepair and the township he lives in has given him a limited time to make at least some of the repairs, or face consequences of thousands of dollars in fines. which could ultimately lead to the house being condemned. It is liveable, and just needs a lot of work.
In addition, property taxes for 2025 are overdue and non-payment would result in the township putting the house up for tax sale.
To this end, Larry has contacted many of his comic book and strip cartoonist friends to donate a piece of Original Art for an auction to help pay the taxes and for the repairs, starting with his front porch which is falling apart and needs to be completely rebuilt, and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.
There have been occasions of late where Larry has literally had just $5 in his wallet before his next social security check, and medical issues, including unexpected falls, haven’t helped, so if you can help him by buying a piece of amazing art, then go for it.
The auctions are part of the weekly Heritage Wednesday Comic Art & Animation Select Auction #322550 and are live and open for bids now, the auction ending on Wednesday 10th December 2025.
Among the artists whose work will be auctioned are Peter Bagge, Mark Bode, Hunt Emerson, Gary Hallgren, Fred Hembeck, Geof Isherwood, Doug Latino, Joseph Michael Linsner, Steve Mannion, Bill Morrison, Kim DeMulder, Mitch O’Connell, Gary Panter, Rick Parker, Ron Randall, Mark Schultz, Dave Sim, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bob Smith, B.K. Taylor, Timothy Truman, Shannon Wheeler, and others.
• View all the auctions being offered for the benefit
• View all the auctions being offered for the benefit
• View all the auctions being offered for the benefit
• Heritage Wednesday Comic Art & Animation Select Auction #322550
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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