It was during the 1980s that Wolverine grew to become an extraordinarily popular character. And after two successful miniseries, the powers that be at Marvel decreed that Wolverine should have his own series.

To show just how much the comics industry has changed, the reason Wolverine didn’t already have his own series in 1988 was over concerns by writer Chris Claremont that a solo series would destroy the character. Wolverine worked best as part of an assemble with periodic solo travels, it was argued, and a monthly series would inevitably dilute his effectiveness as a character.

If only the Chris Claremont of 1988 could see the weekly deluge of Wolverine now…

In any event by 1988, such concerns had been brushed aside, and Chris Claremont wrote a ten-part Wolverine series (eight pages per chapter) to kick off a new bi-weekly anthology series, Marvel Comics Presents, a storyline that would lead directly into the upcoming monthly Wolverine series.

So when Walt Simonson delivered the following cover for Marvel Comics Presents #1, it could only mean one thing…

Wolverine is going solo.

After the jump is the full wraparound cover and the very first look at Madripoor…

The cover is even more impressive when one realizes that Wolverine is joined by Man-Thing, Shang-Chi and Silver Surfer (who intersects nicely with the flash of Wolverine’s claws).

Sal Buscema provided the interior artwork and this impressive first appearance of the “capital of a small island prinicipality south of Singapore.”

Better known as Madripoor…

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Incredible Hulk #340 by Todd McFarlane and Bob Wiacek.

It’s about as perfect a cover as it gets.

Frankly, words don’t do it justice, so I’m going to shut up and let you enjoy their work…

After the jump is the original pencil and inks, several homage covers and some equally stellar pages from within the issue itself…

First up is the original black and white artwork for the cover…

Then we have two terrific homage covers.

On the left, Powerless #5 from 2004 by Greg Land, and on the right, Marvel Zombies #3 from 2006 by Arthur Suydam…

Not to be outdone, the epic ‘Hulk vs. Wolverine’ animated short features a brief, but wonderful tip of the hat to the Incredible Hulk cover…

And finally, from within Incredible Hulk #340 itself, Todd McFarlane really struts his stuff…

Wow…

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Kevin Nowlan took a stylish turn on this wonderful throwback cover for Alpha Flight #52.

Known more for his Moon Knight work than Wolverine, Nowlan delivered an intriguing look at an Alpha Flight team that never was…

After the jump is a more traditional Wolverine cover from the next issue, and another Rick Leonardi jaw-dropper.

The subsequent issue, Alpha Flight #53, featured a fairly run-of-the-mill cover by the trio of Carl Potts, Jim Lee and Terry Austin. But since it stars Wolverine, it’s worth a look here. As is Daredevil #249, which offered a surprisingly lifeless cover by Rick Leonardi and Al Williamson…

The inside work by the same duo is a different story…

If only Rick could always draw like this…

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Following on the heels of a slew of guest artists, Marc Silvestri finally came on board as the new artist of Uncanny X-Men with issue #220.

And with Uncanny X-Men #221, he delivered a stunning cover with Dan Green that literally blew Wolverine away…

Unfortunately, many Wolverine covers from the same year didn’t hold up quite as well — as can be seen after the jump…

Brett Blevins filled in as guest artist for Uncanny X-Men #219 and created a truly evil vision of X-Men, but the cover is more about Havok and the X-Men than Wolverine. Uncanny X-Men #222, on the other hand, is all Wolverine (and Sabretooth), but this cover by Marc Silvestri and Dan Green just doesn’t have the same pop as the classic cover of the previous issue…

Alan Davis and Paul Neary provided the cover for Uncanny X-Men Annual #11, but the issue is known more for Wolverine regenerating from a single drop of blood (really!) than for the cover. And while Spider-Man Versus Wolverine #1 is a great read, the cover by Mark Bright and Al Williamson really doesn’t do the story justice…

Jon Bogdanove and Terry Austin did a terrific job on the Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men miniseries (yup, Marvel liked the versus books back in 1987), but the covers never effectively captured the tension of the series itself. And finally, Wolverine failed to receive that truly classic cover from the X-Men vs. the Avengers miniseries (I told you Marvel liked versus books) by Marc Silvestri and Josef Rubinstein…

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #213 | Next: Alpha Flight #52

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Uncanny X-Men #213.

Wolverine vs. Sabretooth.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

Alan Davis and Paul Neary kicked 1987 off in stunning fashion with this wonderful study in savagery…

After the jump is some of the tremendous interior art by the same duo…

Alan Davis filled in as guest artist with inker Paul Neary and provided a truly primal sequence when Chris Claremont was not quite as loquacious as he is now…

Wow.

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #212 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #221

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Barry Windsor-Smith returned to X-Men cover duty in December 1986 with Uncanny X-Men #212 and wrapped up an amazing year of Wolverine covers.

As with his previous cover, one can only look on in astonishment as it slowly comes to life…

After the jump is some of the tremendous interior art by Rick Leonardi and a surprise that I hadn’t seen in 20 years…

Rick Leonardi filled in as guest artist with Dan Green and provided some eye-popping interior art to go with some sharp Chris Claremont dialogue…

Followed by…

Rick Leonardi also produced a Wolverine poster around this time that proudly graced my wall for many years before finally disintegrating.

This is the best copy I’ve been able to track down, if anyone has a cleaner version, please let me know…

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #210 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #213

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Back in November of 1986, Marvel Comics celebrated the 25th anniversary of the “Marvel Age” of comics by featuring a character portrait on every single Marvel title that month.

Uncanny X-Men #211 was no different, placing Wolverine in the exalted position.

The cover by John Romita, Jr. and Bob Wiacek wonderfully captures Wolverine at his battle-tested best, mask torn asunder.

If you want a real treat, alternate placing your hand over each side of the cover. You will be amazed to discover two entirely different images.

After the jump is an earlier Uncanny X-Men cover that didn’t quite make the cut…

It is really difficult at times to determine if Wolverine is central enough to a cover to truly call it a classic Wolverine cover.

And because of the overabundance of genuinely terrific Wolverine covers from 1986, I made the difficult decision to downgrade Uncanny X-Men #210, also by John Romita, Jr. and Bob Wiacek.

But because the cover rocks so much, I decided to present it here as an added bonus…

Make our day, indeed.

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Uncanny X-Men #207 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #212

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Uncanny X-Men #207 is perhaps the single most enduring Wolverine image of 1986.

John Romita, Jr. perfectly captures the savagery and danger of Wolverine while subtlety breaking the fourth wall.

And if the name sounds familiar, it should.

He is the son of legendary Spider-Man artist John Romita, Sr. who just so happened to have created the visual design for Wolverine back in 1974…

After the jump is the spectacular cover color guide sans logo…

From the collection of Chris Burnham, comes this stunning color guide by colorist Tom Smith…

I am so jealous…

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Five years before the legendary ‘Weapon X’, Barry Windsor-Smith gave Wolverine fans a treat with this brilliant cover to Uncanny X-Men #205.

Look at it long enough and you can actually see Wolverine in three dimensions…

Wow.

After the jump is the seldom seen X-Men Classic cover by Jae Lee…

Jae Lee provided a terrific cover for X-Men Classic #109, the second to last issue of this exemplary reprint series and the last to feature Wolverine on the cover…

‘X-Men Classic’, nee ‘Classic X-Men’ (1986-1995).

Requiescat in pace.

Previous Classic Wolverine Cover: Captain America Annual #8 | Next: Uncanny X-Men #207

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1986 was a very good year for Wolverine covers.

We begin with the unforgettable Captain America Annual #8, where we finally witnessed Wolverine’s unbreakable claws go up against Captain America’s indestructible shield.

And the fiery visuals by Mike Zeck did not disappoint…

I still get a grin looking at that cover!

After the jump are two classic Alpha Flight covers from the same year costarring Wolverine…

Mike Mignola provided two terrific covers for Alpha Flight #33 and #34. Unfortunately, Wolverine doesn’t quite own the covers enough for me to classify them as classic Wolverine covers, but I share them because they are still awesome covers…

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