The Incredible Hulk #180

A Canadian hero, to order

Wolverine began as an editorial assignment. Roy Thomas, Marvel's editor-in-chief, wanted a Canadian superhero, and decided the wolverine was a typically Canadian animal that could inspire one. He asked writer Len Wein and art director John Romita Sr. to come up with a character of Canadian origin named Wolverine.

Romita designed the costume and the proportions. He decided the character would stand 5 feet 3 inches, reflecting the small size of real wolverines, and said he always pictured the claws as retractable: "If a man has claws like that, how does he scratch his nose or tie his shoelaces?" In Wein's original conception, Wolverine was a young adult whose adamantium claws were part of his gloves.

Nobody expected much. According to Herb Trimpe, who drew the first published appearance, Wolverine was conceived as a minor character with no plans for continuing popularity. Trimpe said in 2009 that he "distinctly remembers" Romita's sketch and that Romita and Wein "sewed the monster together" while he "shocked it to life." Though sometimes credited as a co-creator, Trimpe denied having any role in creating the character.

Inside the issue

The story finds the Hulk in Canada looking for peace and quiet. He is drawn to a cave where Marie Cartier, sister of the man who became the Wendigo, and her companion Georges plan to transfer the Wendigo curse to the Hulk and restore her brother, Paul Cartier. Her magic falls short, the Wendigo arrives, and the Hulk wakes up to fight it. Meanwhile the Canadian government sends its own agent to deal with the reported Hulk sighting: the mutant known as Wolverine.

That agent appears only in the final teaser panel, which is why this issue is usually described as a cameo. Wein wrote the script, Trimpe penciled, Jack Abel inked, Glynis Wein colored and Artie Simek lettered, with Roy Thomas credited as editor. An indexer note records alterations by John Romita to the Hulk on Trimpe's cover. Thunderbolt Ross, Betty Ross and Glen Talbot also appear.

For identification, the original carries a 25-cent price and an October 1974 cover date. The letters page, between story pages 11 and 12, includes Marvel Value Stamp #67, picturing Cyclops. The story has been reprinted widely, including in Incredible Hulk and Wolverine (1986) and in facsimile editions in March 2020 and September 2023.

Cameo or first appearance?

Wolverine's debut has been argued over for decades. One account traces how the leading annual price guide shifted: its 1980 edition gave this issue no notation and listed #181 as the first appearance; the following year it called #180 the first appearance; and in 1982 it changed again, labeling #180 a cameo and #181 an appearance.

Marvel, by the same account, has called #180 Wolverine's first appearance and tried to retire "cameo" as a term, though it has not been consistent across its own guidebooks and trading cards. The comics database and major auction catalogs describe this issue as a cameo in the last panel, with the first full appearance in #181 (November 1974).

The market has mostly sided with the full appearance. In April 2025, a CGC 9.8 of #181 sold for $50,969, and the census then listed more than 18,000 copies of #181, with 168 at 9.8 and one at 9.9. A dealer's market report on #180 called a first cameo "not a big deal" and argued that high-grade #181 was the better book.

Summer 1974

The issue reached newsstands on July 2, 1974, the day after Six Flags Great Adventure opened and about a week after the first Universal Product Code was scanned, on a pack of chewing gum in Troy, Ohio.

Watergate dominated everything else. On July 24 the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 0 that President Nixon had to surrender the subpoenaed White House tapes, and from July 27 to 30 the House Judiciary Committee adopted three articles of impeachment. On August 7 Philippe Petit walked a high wire between the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and on August 9 Nixon became the first president to resign. Wolverine's full appearance came in the next issue, cover-dated November 1974.

The copies and the prices

The census listed 9,499 graded copies when checked in October 2026: 8,701 universal, 610 signature series and 188 restored. Nothing has graded above 9.8, where 98 copies sit. In February 2018 the census showed 102 copies at 9.6 with 33 higher; by December 2023 it showed 334 at 9.4 with 249 higher.

The record is a CGC 9.8 that sold for $40,800, the highest price at its auction house for the issue; a secondary account dates the sale to 2021, at the top of the pandemic-era market, and says later 9.8 copies sold for $15,000 or less. A dealer's 2022 report noted only one sale at that level, with the next at $25,500.

The grade this entry tracks, 5.5, is a common one: 571 copies, 530 of them universal. The entry's record cites a CGC 5.5 sale of $469.88 in November 2023, but the cited page could not be loaded to verify it, so it is not listed as a price here.

From last panel to leading man

After the Hulk story, Wolverine's next appearance was in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975), again written by Wein, where he was recruited for a new X-Men team. In the revived X-Men, Chris Claremont considered dropping him until artist John Byrne, himself Canadian, championed the character. He was first drawn unmasked in X-Men #98 (April 1976), and his name was revealed as Logan in #103 (February 1977); Claremont took it from Canada's Mount Logan, liking "the idea [of] the tallest mountain being the name of the shortest character."

A 1982 limited series by Claremont and Frank Miller made him a standalone star and gave him his catchphrase: "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice." Since 1988 he has often had his own ongoing series.

Outside comics, X-Men: The Animated Series (1992 to 1997) introduced him to a mass audience, and Hugh Jackman has played him in ten films, from X-Men (2000) to Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

The numbers

Print run

No figure verified; not stated by the sources used

CGC census, October 2026

9,499 copies graded: 8,701 universal, 610 signature series, 188 restored

Highest grade

9.8: 98 copies (96 universal), none higher (October 2026)

CGC census, February 2018

102 at 9.6, 33 higher

CGC census, December 2023

334 at 9.4, 249 higher

Copies at 5.5, October 2026

571 (530 universal)

Cover price

25 cents, 36 pages

Timeline

1. Jul 2, 1974

   The Incredible Hulk #180 goes on sale, cover-dated October 1974, with Wolverine in the final panel.

2. Nov 1974

   The Incredible Hulk #181 gives Wolverine his first full appearance.

3. May 1975

   Wolverine joins a new X-Men team in Giant-Size X-Men #1.

4. Aug 1975

   X-Men is revived with issue #94 by Claremont and Cockrum.

5. Apr 1976

   Wolverine is first drawn without his mask, in X-Men #98.

6. Feb 1977

   His name is revealed as Logan in X-Men #103.

7. 1980

   The leading price guide lists #181, not #180, as Wolverine's first appearance.

8. 1981

   The same guide calls #180 the first appearance.

9. 1982

   The guide relabels #180 a cameo; Wolverine gets his first limited series.

10. Oct 1986

    Incredible Hulk and Wolverine reprints issues #180 and #181.

11. 2000

    Hugh Jackman first plays Wolverine in X-Men.

12. 2009

    Herb Trimpe describes Romita and Wein as Wolverine's creators.

13. Feb 24, 2018

    A CGC 9.6 sells at auction; the census shows 102 at 9.6 and 33 higher.

14. Mar 2020

    Marvel publishes a facsimile edition of the issue.

15. 2021

    A CGC 9.8 sells for $40,800, the issue's highest verified price.

16. Sep 2023

    A second facsimile edition is published.

17. 2024

    Jackman plays Wolverine for the tenth time, in Deadpool & Wolverine.

18. Oct 2026

    The census lists 9,499 graded copies, 98 at 9.8 and none higher.

The world in 1974

• Jun 26, 1974

  The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time, in Troy, Ohio.

• Jul 1, 1974

  Six Flags Great Adventure opens for the first time.

• Jul 24, 1974

  The Supreme Court orders President Nixon to surrender the Watergate tapes.

• Jul 27, 1974

  The House Judiciary Committee begins adopting articles of impeachment against Nixon.

• Aug 7, 1974

  Philippe Petit walks a high wire between the World Trade Center towers.

• Aug 9, 1974

  Richard Nixon resigns, and Gerald Ford becomes president.

Price record

A realized private sale is a completed transaction outside an auction room. The amount is what changed hands on the date shown. Private sales are reported less consistently than auction results, so a single comparable carries less weight than a run of them.

By reference price, The Incredible Hulk #180 is number 75 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (60 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Wolverine was invented because Roy Thomas wanted a Canadian superhero, and the wolverine struck him as a typically Canadian animal.
• John Romita made Wolverine 5 feet 3 inches tall to match the small size of real wolverines.
• Herb Trimpe, who drew Wolverine first, denied being one of his creators.
• In Len Wein's original idea, the claws were part of Wolverine's gloves.
• Chris Claremont named him Logan after Canada's tallest mountain, Mount Logan, because he liked giving the shortest character the tallest mountain's name.
• The letters page carries a clip-out Marvel Value Stamp of Cyclops, a future X-Men teammate of Wolverine.
• The issue went on sale about five weeks before Richard Nixon resigned.