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Cover: John Byrne & Terry Austin

The X-Men #133

Name: The X-Men #133
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

May 1980 · Marvel · 0.40 USD

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“Wolverine: Alone!”

★ 1st appearance — Robert Kelly

About this Issue

Published in May 1980 as the fifth chapter of the Dark Phoenix Saga, X-Men #133 — titled 'Wolverine: Alone!' — stands as the first full issue in American comics devoted primarily to Wolverine as a solo protagonist, a narrative choice by Chris Claremont and John Byrne that crystallized exactly what made the character so compelling: resourceful, feral, and functionally unkillable. The issue also delivers the first in-story demonstration of Wolverine's healing factor, a power that would become his defining attribute across decades of comics, film, and animation. Beyond Wolverine's spotlight, the issue plants seeds with enormous downstream consequences: the three Hellfire Club mercenaries Logan critically wounds here — Wade Cole, Angelo Macon, and Murray Reese — are later rebuilt as cyborgs by Donald Pierce and folded into the Reavers, a team whose vendetta against Wolverine drives some of the most brutal stories of the late Bronze and early Modern Ages. Sitting at the precise hinge point where the X-Men's most celebrated story arc was accelerating toward tragedy, this issue quietly reshaped what an ensemble superhero comic could do by stepping back from the team and betting everything on one man with his back against a wall.

In "Wolverine: Alone!", the X-Men are torn apart as Cyclops leads a desperate stand against the Inner Circle and their enigmatic new Black Queen, Jean Grey, while Wolverine pushes through relentless odds to reach his captured teammates. Written by John Byrne and Chris Claremont and illustrated by Byrne with inks by Terry Austin, this 1980 issue delivers a tense, action-driven showdown where survival hinges on one man’s unyielding resolve. The cover by Byrne and Austin captures the raw intensity of Wolverine’s lone charge.

writer, artist John Byrne · writer Chris Claremont · inker Terry Austin · colorist Glynis Wein · letterer Tom Orzechowski · cover John Byrne, Terry Austin

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $30

CGC 9.8 · 402 in census $1,445

CGC 9.6 · 810 in census $245

CGC 9.4 · 737 in census $245

CGC 9.2 · 487 in census $200

CGC 9.0 · 431 in census $200

CGC 8.5 · 386 in census $200

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CGC 8.0 · 271 in census $199*

CGC 7.5 · 174 in census $169*

CGC 7.0 · 131 in census $150*

CGC 6.5 · 102 in census $123*

CGC 6.0 · 57 in census $121*

CGC 5.5 · 34 in census $103*

CGC 5.0 · 27 in census $101*

CGC 4.5 · 17 in census $95*

CGC 4.0 · 15 in census $90*

CGC 3.5 · 12 in census $75*

CGC 3.0 · 4 in census $66*

CGC 2.5 none in existence

CGC 2.0 · 1 in census $44*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

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CGC 9.8 $1,650 1 listing

CGC 9.6 ▾ $75–$500 9 listings

CGC 9.6 $75 CGC 9.6 $299.95 CGC 9.6 $300 CGC 9.6 $310 CGC 9.6 $340 CGC 9.6 $345 CGC 9.6 · Newsstand $350 CGC 9.6 $499.95 CGC 9.6 $499.98

CGC 9.4 ▾ $188–$825 6 listings

CGC 9.4 $188 CGC 9.4 $200 CGC 9.4 · Newsstand $210 CGC 9.4 · Newsstand $215.99 CGC 9.4 $217 CGC 9.4 · Signed $824.99

CGC 9.2 $185 1 listing

CGC 9 ▾ $179–$230 3 listings

CGC 9 · Newsstand $179 CGC 9 $180 CGC 9 · Newsstand $229.99

CGC 8.5 ▾ $125–$180 3 listings

CGC 8.5 · Newsstand $124.99 CGC 8.5 · Newsstand $129.95 CGC 8.5 · Variant $180

CGC 8 $115 1 listing CGC 7.5 $110 1 listing CGC 6.5 $135 1 listing Raw — MINT $135 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $19.95–$140 2 listings

NM · Variant $19.95 NM $139.99

Raw — NM- ▾ $115–$170 6 listings

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VF $79.19 VF $104.5 VF $118.79 VF · Newsstand $150

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Raw / ungraded ▾ $7.99–$350 17 listings

Virgin $7.99 Raw / ungraded $10 Raw / ungraded $50 Raw / ungraded $73.99 Newsstand $78 Newsstand $80 Newsstand $85 Newsstand $89.99 Raw / ungraded $95 Signed $98.93 Raw / ungraded $112.2 Newsstand $125 Raw / ungraded $125 Newsstand $139 Raw / ungraded $194.5 Raw / ungraded $211.59 Signed Joe Rubinstein $350

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NM/M · Variant $400 CGC 9.8 $1780

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History

The issue was written by Chris Claremont and plotted in close collaboration with penciler John Byrne, a co-plotting partnership that characterized the entire Claremont/Byrne run on Uncanny X-Men from the late 1970s through issue #143. Inks were provided by Terry Austin, lettering by Tom Orzechowski, colors by Glynis Wein, and editing by Jim Salicrup under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. The Hellfire Club itself — whose Inner Circle provides the issue's backdrop — was created by Claremont and Byrne, who drew direct inspiration from a 1966 episode of the British television series The Avengers ('A Touch of Brimstone'), in which agents infiltrate a secret society modeled on 18th-century gentlemen's clubs of the same name. One editorial footnote: a comment attributed to John Byrne in fan sources claims that the three mercenaries Wolverine mauls in this issue were originally intended to die, but that as Wolverine's popularity grew, Jim Shooter reportedly pushed for them to be retroactively saved — a decision that eventually gave rise to Cole, Macon, and Reese's roles as founding Reavers.

Trivia · 8 facts

Published May 1980 (cover date); story titled 'Wolverine: Alone!'; written by Chris Claremont, penciled by John Byrne, inked by Terry Austin, colored by Glynis Wein, lettered by Tom Orzechowski, edited by Jim Salicrup.
Considered the first issue in U.S. comics where Wolverine is the primary protagonist, fighting solo through the Hellfire Club's sub-basement to rescue his captured teammates — though some sources note the other X-Men also appear, making a strict 'solo story' designation debated.
First in-story demonstration of Wolverine's healing factor: he takes multiple rifle rounds to the chest, is left for dead by the mercenaries, and immediately recovers to continue fighting.
First appearance (as a name/mention in dialogue) of Senator Robert Kelly, attending the Hellfire Club party as Sebastian Shaw's guest — a character who would become a central anti-mutant political antagonist throughout the X-Men's history, including in the 'Days of Future Past' arc and the 2000 X-Men film.
Hellfire Club mercenaries Wade Cole, Angelo Macon, and Murray Reese make their first appearances here as the guards Logan carves up; they later receive cybernetic reconstruction at Donald Pierce's direction and become founding members of the Reavers, debuting as that team in Uncanny X-Men #229 (1988).
The Hellfire Club's Inner Circle — Sebastian Shaw (Black King), Harry Leland, Donald Pierce (White Bishop), and Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) — appear with the brainwashed Jean Grey as their new Black Queen; Mastermind kills Cyclops on the astral plane, ending the issue on a cliffhanger.
The issue has been reprinted over 30 times internationally, including in Classic X-Men #39, the 1984 Dark Phoenix Saga trade paperback, Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 5, and a 2025 Marvel Facsimile Edition.
The Hellfire Club was designed by Claremont and Byrne after a banned 1966 episode of the British TV series The Avengers, with Inner Circle member designs reportedly inspired by real actors: Sebastian Shaw modeled on Robert Shaw, Harry Leland on Orson Welles, and Donald Pierce on Donald Sutherland.