Relive Wolverine’s First Appearance Forever With Sideshow’s New Statue

To say Wolverine's comics debut was run of the mill is a tad offensive to all those mills out there, running. It wasn't until he was added to the roster of the X-Men that Wolverine gained any kind of status in the Marvel Universe, let alone among fans. Still, the Canadian mutant's history can all be traced back to his one-off appearance in the Incredible Hulk in 1974, and as such, the Hulk and Wolverine have been tethered to one another throughout their histories.

The battle between the pint-sized pugilist and the green goliath has been well-documented in a number of mediums, but never before have we seen artist Ariel Olivetti capture it. Nor have we seen him capture it in statue form. Until now!

Sideshow Collectibles is bringing the art of Olivetti to life in the form of a massive new maquette featuring Wolverine versus the Hulk just the way you remember them from Incredible Hulk #181. Well, mostly anyway. The basic version of the statue will feature Wolverine in his more modern, massive-finned mask. Sideshow's exclusive, however, will come with an alternate portrait that stays true to the original whiskered design. Hulk is just as big, emerald and angry as he was 30 years ago. So there's that at least.

We got a glimpse of the prototype back at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and it's a real stunner. It's huge too, as it's basically two statues in one, but that largess comes with a lot of great detail. The muscle and sinew are practically popping off both characters, and seeing Olivetti's art transformed to 3D is a real treat. He's always captured the brutish mass of characters like the Hulk quite well, and seeing it in physical form gives you a great idea of a "real" Marvel Universe from Olivetti's perspective.

The Sideshow Collectibles Hulk vs. Wolverine Maquette will be available for $649.99. Pre-orders will open sometime today.