Mad scientist, captain of industry, supervillain, philanthropist, president, Legion of Doom. Lex Luther has been quite industrious in his 80-plus years in comics. While some of his villainous cohorts posture about their power though they fail to capture more, Lex has established himself as one of the craftiest, well-outfitted, and connected supervillains in DC’s catalog. He has developed into Superman’s greatest enemy which is even more interesting when considering he has no superpowers of his own.

Lex Luthor, one of the greatest comic villains, was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the team that gave us Superman. He was introduced as a mad scientist whose plans were thwarted by Superman in Action Comics #23 (April 1940), then evolved into the extremely wealthy and power hungry entrepreneur. Now, a savvy business tycoon, successful engineer, and one of the most intelligent people on the planet, he owns the conglomerate LexCorp and at one point was the President of the United States. Across his many interpretations, Lex is characterized by his hatred for Superman and belief that the Kryptonian is a threat to humanity.

Lex Luthor’s introduction in Action Comics #23 carried an original cover price of just 10¢. When Robert M. Overstreet published The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #1 in 1970, a Near Mint copy was valued at $23. It saw good momentum over the next ten years, landing at $180 in the Guide #10. When Lex celebrated his 50th anniversary in comics, his first appearance was up to $920 for 1990’s the Guide #20.

The book’s value grew to nearly six time that amount over the next decade, reaching $5,500 in the Guide #30. It nearly tripled to $16,000 for 2010’s Guide #40, and almost doubled in half that time to see $30,000 by 2015. When the Guide reached its milestone 50th edition, the key book had soared to $75,000. In 2023’s Guide #53, Lex Luthor’s first appearance in Action Comics #23 is already up to $90,000.

Will Lex’s debut break the $100K plane in 2024’s the Guide #54? Order your copy and find out in July!