WildC.A.T.s #1

Jim Lee's first creator-owned book

In 1991 Jim Lee drew X-Men #1, which sold more than 8.1 million copies and still holds the Guinness World Records mark as the best-selling comic book. A few months later he was gone. In 1992 Lee and six other artists who had produced Marvel's biggest sellers, among them Todd McFarlane and Rob Liefeld, founded Image Comics on the principle that the company would never own its creators' work.

WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams was Lee's first creator-owned project, developed with writer Brandon Choi. The first issue carries an August 1992 cover date, a few months after Image debuted with Youngblood in April and Spawn in May. Like Image's other early books it was produced through Malibu Comics, which handled administration, production, distribution and marketing for the new company.

On the inside front cover, Lee wrote a page about his career and how Image came together.

From Princeton premed to publisher

Lee was born in Seoul on August 11, 1964, and studied psychology at Princeton University intending to go into medicine. He joined Marvel in 1987, drawing Alpha Flight and The Punisher War Journal, and moved to Uncanny X-Men in 1989, where he co-created Gambit with Chris Claremont.

For WildC.A.T.s he brought along much of his X-Men team: inker Scott Williams and colorist Joe Rosas both worked on X-Men #1 as well. Lee's own studio grew into WildStorm Productions, which published WildC.A.T.s alongside titles such as Gen13.

Kherubim, Daemonites and the Vice President

The series is built on a centuries-long war between two alien races, the Kherubim and the Daemonites, with the Kherubim breeding with humans to create Half-Breeds. The team, led by Lord Emp, also known as Jacob Marlowe, includes Spartan, Grifter, Zealot, Voodoo, Warblade, Maul and Void.

The opening story, "Resurrection Day," begins with the line "Doc, this is crazy. Aren't we supposed to have a security team with us?" Its villains are the Cabal, led by the Daemonite warlord Helspont, and the plot reveals that Helspont has taken control of the sitting Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle.

Quayle was still vice president when the issue appeared; that November, President George H. W. Bush lost his reelection bid to Bill Clinton.

Direct or newsstand

WildC.A.T.s #1 came in two versions. The direct edition, sold through comic shops, has no UPC barcode and no month under the issue number, and lacks the cover blurb "1st Senses Shattering Issue!" It also has two trading cards bound in, featuring Spartan and Voodoo. The newsstand edition carries the barcode and blurb and has no cards.

Early issues sold more than one million copies wholesale to comic stores, so high-grade direct copies remain easy to find. In 2026, CGC 9.8 direct-edition copies changed hands online for roughly $90 to $100, while unspecified 9.8 copies sold for as little as $36.

From Image to DC

The series ran 50 issues, ending in June 1998. Chris Claremont reunited with Lee for issues #10 through #13, and Alan Moore wrote issues #21 through #34. WildC.A.T.s jumped to other media fast: a CBS animated series debuted in 1994 and lasted thirteen episodes with a family-friendly storyline, and Playmates Toys released action figures in 1994 and 1995.

In 1998 Lee sold WildStorm to DC Comics, and the WildC.A.T.s characters went with it. Later volumes followed, including a 1999 series written by Joe Casey from issue #8, and Wildcats 3.0, in which Spartan, now Jack Marlowe, tries to change the world through the HALO Corporation's technology. Lee rose through DC to become co-publisher in 2010, publisher in 2020 and president in May 2023. The first issue has been reprinted many times, including in a recolored Absolute WildC.A.T.s edition from DC.

The numbers

Pages

36; lead story 28 pages

Cover price

$1.95 U.S., $2.35 Canada

Editions

Direct (no UPC, two trading cards) and newsstand (UPC, no cards)

Early sales

More than one million copies wholesale

Timeline

1. 1987

   Jim Lee begins working for Marvel.

2. 1991

   Lee's X-Men #1 sells more than 8.1 million copies.

3. 1992

   Lee and six other artists found Image Comics.

4. Aug 1992

   WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams #1 is published, cover-dated August 1992.

5. Jun 1993

   The first issue is reprinted in WildC.A.T.s Compendium.

6. 1994

   A WildC.A.T.s animated series debuts on CBS, and Playmates Toys releases action figures.

7. Aug 1997

   A WildC.A.T.s #1 3-D Special is published.

8. 1998

   Lee sells WildStorm, including WildC.A.T.s, to DC Comics.

9. Jun 1998

   The first series ends with issue #50.

10. 1999

    A second volume launches; Joe Casey takes over as writer with issue #8.

11. Feb 2010

    Lee becomes co-publisher of DC Comics.

12. May 2023

    Lee is named president of DC.

The world in 1992

• Apr 29, 1992

  Los Angeles riots break out after the acquittal of police officers in the Rodney King case.

• May 22, 1992

  Johnny Carson hosts The Tonight Show for the last time.

• Aug 11, 1992

  Mall of America opens in Bloomington, Minnesota.

• Aug 24, 1992

  Hurricane Andrew strikes south Florida.

• Nov 3, 1992

  Bill Clinton defeats President George H. W. Bush.

• Nov 25, 1992

  Disney's Aladdin is released and becomes the year's highest-grossing film.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, WildC.A.T.s #1 is number 97 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 (84 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The first issue reveals that Vice President Dan Quayle has been taken over by a Daemonite warlord, Helspont; Quayle was still in office.
• Direct-edition copies came with two bound-in trading cards, of Spartan and Voodoo.
• Jim Lee studied psychology at Princeton and planned to become a doctor.
• The 1994 CBS cartoon lasted just thirteen episodes.
• Alan Moore wrote fourteen issues of the original series, #21 through #34.
• Even though it was an Image book, the issue's indicia names Malibu Comics as publisher.