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When did Wolverine really become popular??
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Hey, for you guys that were reading comics when Wolverine was first introduced... how long did it really take him to pick up steam as a character? Was he an instant hit after Hulk 181 or did it take a while?

 

Just curious. I got to wondering about this because I just saw a X-Men 109 in the sales forum. Wolverine was taking a beating on the cover and it got me wondering: were people really into him at that point and did they realize he was something special, or was he just another character that they figured might disappear somewhere down the line?

 

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Collecting in the early '80s, I remember that #181 was a modestly expensive key, with #180 and 182 both fetching a decent price.

He was far and away the most popular X-Man and picking up steam with every issue it seemed. Those old Overstreets will help be a good guide if someone wants to look up a couple books to see when he gets broken out.

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i think he really took off after the claremont/miller mini series (1982?).

 

this made him a cool character with an interseting story outside of the team.

 

poker is right 180 and 182 were also fairly highly priced at the time.

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there is that weird issue of iron fist (14 i think ) where byrne drew him with a different costume it was really weird. dont think he wore it in uncanny though?

He did, but if you blinked you missed it. He took it off Imperial Guardsman Fang in #107, kept it for the continuation of the story in #108, then switched back when they got back to Earth in #109. The IF story must take place between #108 and #109.

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# 141 was the coolest issue. For some reason probably due to the area I grew up in the X-Men were not read or even glanced at by the guys in my neighborhood around 1980-81. (shrug) We were just kids and we read Hulk, Spiderman, and Ironman. Getting some coins from your parents to buy books was something that couldn't be wasted on just anything.

 

We were pure Marvel fans though. Rom was big and in full swing.

 

Then one day out of boredom at the Supermarket (the spinner rack was getting bare and running out of everything else) I picked up X-Men # 141. It was a good read.

 

I showed it to the guys and they liked it as well.

 

With everyone "labeled" in the future and most everybody accounted for, seeing Wolverine appearing on the scene to beat up some hooligans was very cool to the guys I went to school with. Then came the cover to X-Men 142 and getting to see him fried was pretty cool to a bunch of eleven year old's.

 

This made us fans. We began to back track and see who could find the older issues.

 

We weren't too wild about the artist that replaced Byrne but we kept on buying.

This was the era in which Wolverine was big to us. (shrug)

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I think he really took off during the Hellfire Club story arc 130 -133 or so. When he was alone and slicin and dicin them up...he was already the most popular X-Man by the time the Miller Wolverine LS came out

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i think he really took off after the claremont/miller mini series (1982?).

 

I would say maybe a little before that. Certainly, he took off after that series, but Marvel recognized the popularity of the character enough to issue a mini series. Back in those days, minis were not nearly as prevalent as they would become soon after that.

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The two most important issues in Wolverine's growth in popularity were X-Men 133 and the Wolverine Mini Series.

 

As many of you probably know, Wolverine was an also-ran in the early X-Men run, and the writers were decided which of the duplicate anti-social wild-child characters to kill off in X-Men 95 - Thunderbird or Wolverine.

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I can never understand why he became popular?

 

Must have been the bright yellow costume and long fingernails!

 

It's the fact that he was Canadian.

 

:makepoint:

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I can never understand why he became popular?

 

Must have been the bright yellow costume and long fingernails!

 

Because he was a bad- in the days before every hero had angst and a .45 or a sword at his hip. This was pre-Watchment, pre-Dark Knight Returns, and pre-Miller's revamp of the Punisher.

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The two most important issues in Wolverine's growth in popularity were X-Men 133 and the Wolverine Mini Series.

 

As many of you probably know, Wolverine was an also-ran in the early X-Men run, and the writers were decided which of the duplicate anti-social wild-child characters to kill off in X-Men 95 - Thunderbird or Wolverine.

 

Definately the mini series had a lot to do with it. That was off the charts back in the day and still probably in my top 10 favorite story arcs of all time.

 

Since Marvel gave that story to Miller to draw (who was at the top of his game) they must have already had terrific feedback from readers regarding the character.

 

It was definately John Byrne in the regular X-men run who made gave Wolverine the kick start and helped form who he was...with it being galvanized by the time the Dark Phoenix saga rolled around.

 

What is the time period between the X-men issues and the Wolverine Mini?

 

R.

 

 

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Since Marvel gave that story to Miller to draw (who was at the top of his game)

 

nah, that was not Miller's peak.

 

If by the top, you mean artistically, that period would really begin with DKR and end with 300, so roughly 87-2000 (damn my horrible memory).

 

if by the top, you mean in terms of clout, that would be roughly the same time period.

 

When Miller did Wolverine LS, his star was still rising.

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Poor Cyclops, just as popular as Wolverine during the first 2 years of Uncanny X-men now considered a whiner like Silver Surfer. my how times have changed!

With that in mind,this is the book I noticed that made Wolverine a major playa!

 

300px-What_If_31.jpg

 

 

Edited by MR.COMICBOOK
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