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Wolverine Back Issue Talk, Part Seven: It’s Your Play, Hero. I’m Waitin’.

§ January 8th, 2025 § Filed under wolverine § 8 Comments

Here we are, the next-to-last (honest!) installment of “Which o’them Wolvie back issues are still sought out now, and possibly in the future?” Again, I may not cover every issue of Wolverine that you think may be of note, and if you think of any others, feel free to drop ’em in the comments.

So anyway, let’s start up with Wolverine #145, an extree-sized 25th anniversary issue with a cover by Leinil Yu
and Dexter Vines:

…with foil-enhanced claws on the cover of the “deluxe” edition. The big event in this issue is the restoration of the adamantium stripped out of his skeleton way back in 1993. Wow, you know, I don’t think I ever really thought about the fact that the “bone claw” version of Wolverine lasted six years. Huh.

As such, this is an expanded issue, it’s got a cool gimmick on the cover, it’s a Big Change (or rather, reverting a change0 for the character…all incentives for boosting interest and sales in this issue. I’d say it’s a Three Claw rank, using my nigh-infallible method of ranking these Wolverine comics, with “One Claw” being your typical box filler, and “Three Claws” being books that fly out of the door, now and possibly for the rest of time.

Now, these next two issues are interesting, featuring covers and interior art by Mr. Robert Liefeld, Esq. — issues #154 and #155 from the far-flung future year of 2000:

The initial reason these were in high demand, at least for us, was that Liefeld factor. Doing a couple of X-books in his post-Youngblood phase grabbed the attention of fans, making these comics popular sellers both new off the rack and out of the back issue bins.

Now, as the years have worn on — 25 of those years, in fact — Liefeld’s presence on these comics has become less of a sales motivator vs. the fact that Deadpool is in these stories. But, for whatever reason, sell they do, and at somewhat of a premium to boot. Again, I’m going with the Three Claws ranking for these two, though sales in the future will depend on whether Deadpool retains his allure or folks burn out on him again.

Here’s bit of an oddball one, #160 from 2001, art by J.H. Williams III and Mick Gray:

I mean, I suppose there are J.H. Williams III completists out there, snapping up copies of these. But look, I’ve been selling comic books for a long time, and I know when folks are pickin’ up specific issues because of the ladies on the covers. Nothing wrong with that, not yucking anyone’s yum, it’s perfectly okay to want to see Wolverine fight a couple of attractive hitwomen or whatever. And that is an eyecatching cover.

Those characters’ names, by the way? T & A. …Oh, come on.

Anyhoo, this comic is a pretty consistent seller…not a top tier back issue, nobody’s busting down my doors demanding it, but it’ll sell when it’s spotted. Gonna give this one the rank of Two Claws — you heard it here first.

For the finale of our little Walk Down Wolverine Lane (at least for the Wolverine series itself), here’s #165 (2001), cover art by Sean Chen and Norm Rapmund:

That’s definitely an eye-catcher! I seem to recall at the time there was some…apprehension in regards to the cover and to the violent content of this specific issue. Strangely enough, the event presented on the cover is less explicit inside, happening in shadow:

The mild controversy of course attracted sales, and this was in pretty good demand for some time, but I think that’s all forgotten now. When it sells today, it’s probably more for the “whoa, that cover” feeling. A defnite Two-Claw book.

That’s that…those have been the issues of the original Wolverine ongoing series that attract back issue sales now, and may (or may not) continue to get them in the future. Like I said above, I’m sure this wasn’t everything, and if you think I missed a big one from this run of books, leave it in the comments. Despite all my talk about wrapping this topic up, I can always return to it for some addendums later. I’m not proud.

Tune in Friday for the end of this (current) run of posts, as I look at few Wolverine appearances in other comics and what that did for current/back issue sales!