Lex Luthor: Year One Begins in Action Comics #1103 This October
Lex Luthor has spent a lifetime trying to prove he is the most important man in the room. This October, DC is giving readers a closer look at the beginnings of Superman’s greatest enemy.
Action Comics #1103 launches “Lex Luthor: Year One,” a five-issue story arc written by Mark Waid with art by Patricio Delpeche. DC’s promotional announcement promises a definitive origin for its formidable criminal mastermind, setting the stage for a story with Lex firmly in the spotlight. The issue is scheduled to go on sale Wednesday, October 14, 2026, with DC’s official listing showing a US price of $4.99. Covers are shown below are by Chris Brunner, Ryan Sook, Don Aquillo, Ariel Olivetti and Dave Wilkins.
DC’s solicitation emphasizes the different roles Lex has occupied: Clark Kent’s school-age contemporary, President of the United States, a wanted super-villain and Superman’s greatest enemy. Taken together, those identities make an origin story particularly intriguing. How does someone with that much ability develop a worldview that puts him into conflict with a hero devoted to helping others? Waid’s involvement gives Superman readers another reason to be interested. He previously wrote Superman: Birthright, the twelve-issue retelling of Clark’s origin illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu and Gerry Alanguilan. His return to the formative years of Superman’s world, this time with Delpeche and a focus on Lex, is a compelling prospect.
For us, the appeal lies in the connection between Clark and Lex. Their shared history gives a writer room to explore the choices that help shape each of them. A Lex origin can examine how talent, pride and ambition develop, and how a person comes to believe that his own judgment should outweigh everyone else’s. That is the question we will be bringing to this arc: what does Lex choose to do with his gifts, and how does he justify those choices to himself? Waid and Delpeche have an opportunity to make those beginnings matter to readers who already know the formidable enemy he becomes.
Action Comics #1103 arrives October 14. Fans can ask their comic shop to add it to their pull list. Lex has our attention; now we get to see where his story begins.
