Value of Original Joe Shuster Art

Joe Shuster art price guide

The co-creator of Superman in Action Comics #1, Shuster is a legend. See prices for Joe Schuster artwork, and have your original comic art appraised FREE by us.

Facts About Original Joe Schuster Comic Art

Record Sale for Artwork:
$72,000 Action Comics #28 page 13

Official Website:
https://joeshusterawards.com/

Key Comic Book Issues:

• Action Comics #1

How Much is Joe Shuster Artwork Worth?

Very few examples of published Shuster art exist, and when they do come to market they sell for big money. It's more common to find unpublished art like sketches. Even these have significant value.

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Value of Original Joe Shuster Art

Action Comics #28 Page 13 sold for $72,000
Joe Shuster art

Action Comics #28 Page 4 sold for $28,000
Joe Shuster art

Batman and Superman Illustration sold for $11,650
Joe Shuster

Joe Shuster and Their Creators Illustration sold for $7,170
Joe Shuster Sutdio

Action Comics #43 Page 2 sold for $26,290
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman #325 Sunday Comics Strip 1-20-46 sold for $16,800
Joe Shuster art

Superman Drawing for Action Comics #544 sold for $6,040
Joe Shuster

Superman Frontispiece Illustration sold for $52,800
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman Sketch sold for $13,800
Joe Shuster 

Superman Sketch sold for $18,000
Joe Shuster art

Superman Specialty Illustration sold for $10,160
Joe Shuster

Superman Specialty Illustration sold for $16,730
Joe Shuster art 

Superman Illustration sold for $4,800
Joe Shuster

Superman Sunday Comic Strip #104 sold for $13,145
Joe Shuster art

Superman Sunday Comic Strip #267 sold for $11,500
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman Unpublished Story Page 9 sold for $6,570
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman War Bond Auction Illustration sold for $16,730
Joe Shuster art

Superman Unpublished Story Splash Page 1 sold for $18,600
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman Unpublished Landmark Story Page 7 sold for $15,535
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman Unpublished Story Page 3 sold for $5,760
Joe Shuster art

Superman Unpublished Story Page 5 sold for $5,530
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman Unpublished Story Page 6 sold for $5,760
Joe Shuster Studio

Superman Unpublished Story Page 7 sold for $7,200
Joe Shuster art

Superman Unpublished Story Page 11 sold for $8,960
Joe Shuster Studio

Action Comics #19 Recreation Cover Art sold for $5,080
Joe Shuster

History of Joe Shuster in Comic Book Art

Though it's hard to imagine today in a world where artists like Todd McFarlane retain their original art and all their rights, the early dawn of the Golden Age was very different.

Artists like Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster did not get such recognition, nor were they paid royalties for spin-off licensed products. They were often given the original art they'd created, but there was no market for such pieces at the time (one story tells of struggling comic book artists in New York City mopping up water from a leaking roof using a stack of Golden Age original art pages!).

Joe Shuster, despite co-creating Superman, did not thrive in the comic book industry, and he retired due to failing eyesight in the 1970s.

Shuster met Jerry Siegel in high school, where they co-published Science Fiction fanzine. They first worked together for DC Comics on New Fun in New Fun #6.

In their fanzine, Siegel and Shuster created a story called The Reign of the Superman, in which a bald telepathic villain wanted to dominate the world. The character bears a resemblance to Superman's arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor; they later reused the title of the story to name arguably the world's most famous superhero.

Siegel and Shuster also created the character Slam Bradley, published in Detective Comics #1 (March 1937). But Superman would shape their destiny in the annuals of comic book history when he appeared on the cover of Action Comics #1 in 1938. Siegel and Shuster sold the rights to the character to DC Comics in return for $130 and a contract to supply the publisher with material.

Near the end of their ten-year contract to produce Superman stories, Siegel and Shuster sued DC Comics in an attempt to regain the rights to Superman. The New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of the publisher, but granted Siegel and Shuster ownership of Superboy.

DC later paid $94,000 for the rights to Superboy and the duo's written agreement acknowledging the rights to Superman belonged to the publisher, and removed their bylines from subsequent Superman comics.

Siegel and Shuster launched a publicity campaign in 1975 to protest their bad treatment by DC Comics, which gained the support of famous names in the industry, including Jerry Robinson and Neal Adams. DC caved to the pressure and granted pensions to both creators, and restored their byline to new Superman stories.

Shuster and Siegel were inducted into both the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2005, the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Association instituted the Joe Shuster Awards, named to honor the Canada-born artist.

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