Wolverine (Limited Series) #1

A Canadian hero, made to order

Wolverine began as an assignment. Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas wanted a Canadian superhero and settled on the wolverine as a typically Canadian animal. He asked artist John Romita Sr. and writer Len Wein to devise the character. Romita set his height at 5 feet 3 inches, reflecting the small size of real wolverines.

The character first appeared at the end of The Incredible Hulk #180 (cover-dated October 1974) and made his first major appearance in #181 (November 1974), both written by Wein and penciled by Herb Trimpe. In Giant-Size X-Men (May 1975), written by Wein and penciled by Dave Cockrum, he was recruited into a new team of X-Men, and the revived X-Men comic, written by Chris Claremont, began with issue #94 in August 1975.

Over the next seven years Claremont, Cockrum and John Byrne turned the gruff Canadian into a fan favorite. His appearance and attitude drew on Clint Eastwood's film roles, including the Man with No Name and Dirty Harry. By 1982 his popularity had earned him a four-issue series of his own.

Claremont and Miller

Chris Claremont, born in London on November 25, 1950, wrote Uncanny X-Men for 16 years, from 1975 to 1991, and is credited with developing Wolverine into a fan favorite. His idea for the miniseries was to cast Wolverine as a "failed samurai," setting samurai self-control against the character's animal nature.

Frank Miller, born January 27, 1957, in Olney, Maryland, was then in the middle of his run on Daredevil (1979 to 1983), where he had created the assassin Elektra and the ninja clan the Hand. Miller was known for blending film noir and manga influences, and the Hand appears in this series too. After it he went on to Ronin (1983 to 1984), The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One (1987).

Joe Rubinstein inked the series and Tom Orzechowski lettered it. Wikipedia credits the colors to Glynis Wein; the Marvel Database lists the colorist as Glynis Oliver. The editor was Louise Jones, under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter.

"I'm Wolverine"

The issue opens in the Canadian Rockies, where Wolverine hunts a grizzly bear driven mad by an arrow in its back after it has killed at least fifteen people. The issue opens with the statement that became his catchphrase: "I'm Wolverine. I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice."

When calls to Mariko Yashida, the woman he loves, are cut off, Wolverine flies to the Yashida clan's stronghold in Japan. He finds her bruised by her husband, Noburu-Hideki; she tells him her commitments changed when her father returned. Ambushed with poisoned shuriken, Wolverine wakes as the prisoner of her father, Lord Shingen Harada, in his first appearance, who challenges him to a duel with wooden swords, cheats, and wins while Wolverine is still weakened by the poison.

The issue ends with Wolverine dumped in Tokyo, surrounded by a mob, until a woman named Yukio kills the attackers and pulls him up. Across four issues the series covers his battles with the yakuza and the Hand and his engagement to Mariko. The comics writer and commentator Elliott Serrano argued that before this series "Logan wasn't a key figure," and that with it "Wolverine became Marvel's Batman."

From miniseries to franchise

The series introduced Wolverine's ties to Japanese culture and his identity as a masterless samurai. It was followed by the six-issue Kitty Pryde and Wolverine (November 1984 to April 1985), and from 1988 Wolverine carried an ongoing solo title. In 1992 the Japan storyline was revisited in a story that ends with Mariko poisoned and Wolverine granting her a mercy killing.

The story reached the screen in 2013 as the live-action film The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold and starring Hugh Jackman, which loosely adapts Logan's adventure in Japan. It was also adapted in the Japanese animated series Wolverine. Jackman has played the character in ten films, from X-Men (2000) to Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).

In the graded market the issue has become one of the most common Bronze Age books. A collector forum post in January 2008 described it as among the most submitted books to CGC, with only one copy at 10.0. By January 30, 2020, CGC had graded 15,061 copies and three at 10.0. On October 1, 2026, the universal-label census stood at 26,811, with four at 10.0.

A CGC 10.0 sold in May 2009 for $15,535. Another 10.0, with white pages, sold at auction on June 28, 2024, for $27,000 after 17 bids. Completed sales of CGC 9.8 copies in September 2026 ranged from $476 to $649.99.

How to identify it

The issue is Wolverine #1, cover-dated September 1982, the first of four issues; the cover is by Frank Miller with Joe Rubinstein. The CGC census lists it as "Wolverine Limited Series 1 (9/82)"; Wolverine also had a separate ongoing series from 1988.

CGC's census on October 1, 2026, listed 26,811 universal-label copies, plus 6,341 in the Signature Series, 238 in the joint CGC and JSA category, 72 Qualified, 37 Restored and one Conserved, for 33,500 in all. Among universal copies, 9.6 was the most common grade, with 6,064 copies.

The numbers

Print run

No published print run figure found

CGC census, October 1, 2026

26,811 universal-label copies: 4 at 10.0, 41 at 9.9, 4,771 at 9.8, 6,064 at 9.6

CGC census, October 1, 2026, all labels

33,500 copies, including 6,341 Signature Series, 72 Qualified and 37 Restored

CGC census, January 30, 2020

15,061 copies graded; three at 10.0

CGC census, January 2008

One copy at 10.0, per a collector forum post

Timeline

1. Oct 1974

   Wolverine appears for the first time, at the end of The Incredible Hulk #180.

2. Nov 1974

   First major appearance in The Incredible Hulk #181.

3. May 1975

   Giant-Size X-Men recruits Wolverine into a new X-Men team.

4. Aug 1975

   X-Men #94 relaunches the title with Chris Claremont writing.

5. Jun 1982

   Wolverine #1 is released, by the Marvel Database's listing.

6. Sep 1982

   Cover date of issue #1; the series runs through December 1982.

7. Nov 1984

   Kitty Pryde and Wolverine, a six-issue follow-up, begins.

8. 1988

   Wolverine's first ongoing solo series begins.

9. 1992

   The Japan storyline is revisited with Mariko's death.

10. 2003

    The first CGC 10.0 copy sells online for $3,550, as recalled by a 2008 collector forum post.

11. May 2009

    A CGC 10.0 copy sells for $15,535.

12. 2013

    The Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman, loosely adapts the Japan story.

13. Jan 30, 2020

    CGC has graded 15,061 copies, three of them 10.0.

14. Jun 28, 2024

    A CGC 10.0 copy sells at auction for $27,000.

15. Oct 1, 2026

    CGC census: 26,811 universal-label copies, four at 10.0.

The world in 1982

• Jun 4, 1982

  Poltergeist, from Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper, is released.

• Jun 12, 1982

  A rally against nuclear weapons draws 750,000 people to Central Park in New York.

• Jun 30, 1982

  The Equal Rights Amendment falls short of the 38 states needed for ratification.

• Jul 2, 1982

  Larry Walters, "Lawnchair Larry," flies 16,000 feet above Long Beach, California, in a lawn chair tied to weather balloons.

• Sep 1, 1982

  The U.S. Air Force Space Command is founded.

• Sep 15, 1982

  The first edition of USA Today is published.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Wolverine (Limited Series) #1 is number 79 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 (49 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Wolverine's catchphrase, "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice," debuted in this issue.
• The issue opens with Wolverine hunting a grizzly bear that had killed at least fifteen people.
• John Romita Sr. made Wolverine 5 feet 3 inches tall to match the small size of real wolverines.
• Claremont pitched the series as the story of a "failed samurai."
• Frank Miller drew this series while he was still on Daredevil, where he had created the Hand, the ninja clan that returns here.
• When the first CGC 10.0 copy sold, around 2003, the price was $3,550; a 10.0 brought $15,535 in 2009 and $27,000 in 2024.