Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

There was one other great cover in 1985

But it wasn’t your average comic book.

Think ‘We Are the World’ for the comic book industry, or more accurately, Heroes for Hope starring the X-Men.

And the cover by Arthur Adams was about as tremendous a start for such an ambitious project as could have been hoped for…

After the jump is a breakdown of all those involved in the project including Stan Lee, Stephen King, Berni Wrightson and Alan Moore, plus a special Wolverine page by Harlan Ellison and Frank Miller…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

1985.

Another year, another solitary classic Wolverine cover.

And this one is more about Wolverine’s shadow than it is about him.

Regardless, Uncanny X-Men #196 by John Romita, Jr. and Terry Austin is one of the most suspenseful covers of this era…

After the jump is another selection of Wolverine covers from this time period, from awesome Wolverine cameos to covers that didn’t quite make the cut…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

After a tremendous run of covers in 1982 and 1983, Wolverine hit a dry spell in 1984 and 1985. So I humbly present the only good Wolverine cover of 1984: Alpha Flight #13 by John Byrne (with inks possibly by Bill Sienkiewicz and/or Al Milgrom).

What’s even sadder is Wolverine’s appearance is only a dream. That said, I do enjoy how John Byrne uses elements within his artwork for editorial purposes, such as the gravestones for all the artists involved in this particular cover…

After the jump is a selection of the worst Wolverine covers to hit newsstands in this era…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

Uncanny X-Men #173 by Paul Smith continued a remarkable run of tremendous Wolverine covers in 1982 and 1983. Unfortunately, as will be seen next week, this cover also marked the end of that remarkable run…

After the jump is another terrific final panel, the little seen reprint cover from X-Men Classic and an original unused cover…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

In 1982, we read the ‘Wolverine’ limited series.

By 1983, we endured THREE agonizing months without Wolverine to make sure the continuity fit just right within ‘Uncanny X-Men’.

And all summer long of that same year, we discussed the prospect of Wolverine actually getting married.

So when Uncanny X-Men #172 finally hit the stands (and remember we didn’t have advanced previews of the covers back then), every Wolverine fan gave a cheer…

A truly mesmerizing cover by Paul Smith capturing the last panel of Wolverine (Limited Series) #4 and showing the wonderfully lined face of Logan…

After the jump is another terrific final panel and the little seen reprint cover from X-Men Classic…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

Where is the cover to Wolverine #3 (Limited Series), you ask?

Well, the short answer is it’s after the jump. The longer answer is that the cover just didn’t work for me in the same way the first two did.

And for that matter, it didn’t match up to the tremendous cover for Wolverine #4 (Limited Series) by Frank Miller and Josef Rubinstein…

And while we are wrapping up the Wolverine Limited Series, let me remind folks out that continuity was so important in comics back in 1982 and 1983, that Wolverine didn’t appear in Uncanny X-Men for three months to make the chronology work just right. And for two of those months, Wolverine didn’t appear in a single comic.

Can you imagine?

Two whole months without a single Wolverine appearance.

After the jump is the aforementioned cover to issue #3 and the most jaw-dropping final panel I have ever seen in comics…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

You don’t get much more iconic than the cover from Wolverine #2 (Limited Series) by Frank Miller and Josef Rubinstein…

And for those of us who read this series as it came out in 1982, the following by Chris Claremont from the trade paperback collection sums up our feelings about Wolverine pretty well…

I told him (Frank Miller) the idea that had been swirling around in my skull for some time — that the essence of Wolvie’s character was a ‘failed samurai.’ To samurai, duty is all, selfless service the path to their ultimate ambition, death with grace. Every facet, every moment of their lives, is absolutely under control. Wolverine, however, is almost a primal life force totally beyond control, as graceless as can be. The one might be considered the ultimate expression of humanity — wherein the will, the intellect, totally overmaster all other aspects of existence — while the other is total animal.

After the jump is my favorite Frank Miller panel as well as the cover of the aforementioned trade paperback…
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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

Wolverine, the limited series.

Back in 1982, the revelation of a Wolverine limited series was the biggest thing I could imagine.

Now it happens nearly every week.

But in September 1982 when Wolverine’s first miniseries hit the stands, I was absolutely blown away. And frankly, so was every other Wolverine fan on the planet.

We all knew about Chris Claremont and his contribution to the Wolverine mythos, but this time he was paired with Frank Miller who was wowing the industry with his unbelievable Daredevil run (including the unforgettable Daredevil #181).

But according to the Chris Claremont interview in ‘Comics Creators on X-Men’ (2006), the limited series almost didn’t happen…

Frank Miller thought Wolverine was an incredibly dull character and didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He had absolutely no interest in drawing a story about a berserk psycho killer. The two of us got stuck in traffic on the way to Los Angeles after a San Diego Comicon… Since we had nothing else to do, we started talking about Wolverine, about who he is and why he is. The conversation ranged over samurai pictures and manga and all of the things that we were enjoying at the time. During the course of the conversation, we basically started building the story. This is one of those rare occasions where a story evolved out of the character, rather than the plot.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The stunning cover to the first issue is by Frank Miller and Josef Rubinstein and one of the best Wolverine covers from the 1980s, if not of all time.

Below is the cover sans logo…

After the jump is some original art from the first issue as well as two stunning homages…
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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

Ever since they first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1, the New X-Men (as they were known in the seventies and eighties) were drawn by either Dave Cockrum or John Byrne. Sure there were a few fill-in artists for annuals and such, but these two artists and writer Chris Claremont were the caretakers of the New X-Men for a good seven years.

Think about that.

Three creators solely in charge of the entire mutant universe for SEVEN years.

Wow.

So back in 1982, when a new artist was announced for Uncanny X-Men #165, the fans stood up and took note.

Luckily for us, it was Paul Smith.

Paul Smith’s first cover to give prominence to Wolverine was the final issue of the year-long Brood saga and featured the entire New X-Men team mourning (not for the last time), the death of Professor Charles Xavier….

After the jump is the equally impressive, but little noticed reprint cover by Adam Hughes, and a few other surprises from Paul Smith and Mike Mignola…

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Every week, Wolverine Files highlights, in chronological order, another iconic Wolverine cover. Want to start at the beginning? Click here…

In 1982, Chris Claremont embarked on a then unheard of year-long ‘Uncanny X-Men’ saga involving the insidious Brood, parasitic aliens that laid eggs inside of their hosts. Not surprisingly, Wolverine was infected and his mutant healing ability pushed to the limit in Uncanny X-Men #162, the midpoint of the saga.

The cover to that issue was by long-time X-Men artist Dave Cockrum (with inks by Bob Wiacek) near the end of his second legendary run (Paul Smith would pick up art duties in a few issues, wrapping up the Brood storyline)…

After the jump are a host of Wolverine vs. the Brood reprint covers by Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame…

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