Hulk #181 Changed Comic Books Forever (And You Can’t Change My Mind)

We’re launching a comic book vending machine (check it out here), providing our readers with a new way to grow their personal collections and discover new favorites. Every comic is sourced from a local shop and today we want to highlight one of our favorite finds that we’ve included in the machine: Hulk #181 – the first appearance of Wolverine!

You can even check out our own Chris Killian buying this iconic comic at Rick’s Comic City:

Wolverine gets a lot of credit for being one of the Marvel Comics’ most popular characters, but one thing he doesn’t get as much credit for is how much he changed the Marvel Universe. The character was one of the first major anti-heroes and started showing up monthly in Uncanny X-Men after 1975’s X-Men (Vol. 1) #94. Fans loved the gruff, violent man of mystery with a heart of gold so much that he became the break out star of Marvel’s merry mutants and has spawned legions of imitators. His proclivity to kill his enemies was first looked at as bad, but now has become more prevalent with other heroes than ever. His popularity morphed the superhero comic in his image, and he’s been a part of the bestselling comics ever since the 1970s. All of this comes from one comic: The Incredible Hulk #181, by Len Wein, Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel, Glynis Wein, and Artie Simek.

Wolverine has starred in brilliant stories, but when Incredible Hulk #181 dropped that was years in the future. This issue laid the groundwork for a character that would completely change the comic industry forever in the years to come. Wolverine has his detractors but there’s something to the character that resonated so much over the decades. Incredible Hulk #181 is a keystone moment in the history of the Marvel Universe, thanks to Wolverine.

Wolverine’s Example Has Made Me a Better Person

Owning Incredible Hulk #181 has long been a dream of mine. It’s a highly sought after book, and fans are willing to pay quite a price for it. The fact that we’ve found it at Rick’s Comic City in Clarksville, a Middle Tennessee comic store that has been serving the area for years, is amazing. Even more amazing is that, with our new Vending Machine, you could have a chance at owning the copy for yourself with the right lucky pull.

But why is Incredible Hulk #181 so great? Issue #180 ended with Hulk and Wendigo about to throw down and Wolverine showing up to stop them on the last page. The next issue told us more about why he was there and properly introduced the character. He was a soldier of the Canadian government out to stop the monsters – and what followed was a three-way fight that showed readers the kind of man Logan would be. This 5’3″ berserker looked at two of the biggest, scariest monsters ever and said, “Yeah, I can take them.” It would be years before Wolverine was fleshed out but right away we knew one thing about him: he was completely fearless.

This comic would put Wolverine on the road to becoming Marvel’s Batman and seventeen years after it came out, the character would enter my life. The first time I saw him was Uncanny X-Men #279, where he fought against a mind-controlled Gambit as the Shadow King launched his attack against the X-Men. He quickly became my favorite character. Ten year old me liked the one-liners, the violence, and the mystery, but it was only as the years went on that I realized why I really liked the character: he never gives up. Logan is a man who has suffered in unimaginable ways over the years, but he never lets that stop him.

He was a man who had done terrible things in the past, but he never stopped trying to make up for it. He was proof positive that no sin was too great to atone for. He was a person who didn’t allow himself to be defined by the worst things he did. We all have skeletons in the closet, things we never should have done. However, I always had James Howlett there, showing me that I didn’t have to be defined by all of that. Wolverine showed the path to being better, one that began with Incredible Hulk #181.

Wolverine Has Earned His Place on Superhero Mount Rushmore

I have written a lot about Wolverine over the years I’ve been a professional writer. The only reason I am where I am is because of Incredible Hulk #181. A short Canadian government-sponsored superhero jumped into a battle with two of the most dangerous individuals ever and that moment led to this one. It’s led to years of doing what I love and getting paid to do it.

In articles I’ve written about the character lately, I’ve talked about how wild it was that Wolverine got where he was. He was a third wheel in a fight and there was always a chance that we would never see him again. He could have been one of many throwaway characters that Marvel has created over the decades. However, Wein brought him into the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 and the rest is history. He’s become an icon, one that has been example for many of us. He changed comics forever and Incredible Hulk #181 is where it all started.

What do you think of Incredible Hulk #181 and Wolverine? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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