Luke Cage, aka Power Man, is one of Marvel’s street level heroes who protects Harlem and the rest of New York City from run of the mill bad guys to enhanced villains. After a misspent youth, Cage chose to reform himself, but not before being arrested for a crime he did not commit.

While in prison, Luke was recruited for experimentation based on the Super-Soldier process. Luke’s treatment accelerated past its intended limits, resulting in body-wide enhancements, giving him superhuman strength and durability, unbreakable skin, and an accelerated healing factor. Once freed, he chose to return home and fight the criminals that harm his neighborhood.

Created by Archie Goodwin and John Romita, Sr., Cage made his debut in Luke Cage, Hero For Hire #1 (June 1972). When that issue hit comic shops, it carried a cover price of 20¢. A year later when Robert M. Overstreet published The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #3, a Near Mint copy was valued at 40¢. In 1980’s the Guide #10, it rose to $4.50, then took a dip in value over the next decade, landing at $3.75 in the Guide #20.

Luke Cage’s debut bounced back by 2000, priced at $40 in the Guide #30. It grew to five times that amount for 2010’s the Guide #40 when it went up to $200. That momentum continued over the next ten years, seeing $1,375 in the Guide’s milestone 50th edition in 2020. Now, a Near Mint copy of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 is valued at $2,000 in 2024’s the Guide #54.