Heritage Auctions’ Weldon Adams, an Overstreet Advisor and comics historian, met Frank Miller the month that Marvel’s Daredevil #181 came out, and he got the writer-artist to do a sketch of Wolverine.

“Mr. Miller said that he had never drawn Wolverine before and needed reference material,” Adams wrote in The Overstreet Guide To Collecting Comic & Animation Art.

Adams had a sketch collection that matched artists and their respective styles with what he deemed to be the most appropriate characters for their talents. His list includes Nightcrawler by Michael Golden, Mesmero by P. Craig Russel, Sasquatch by Bill Sienkiewicz, Sauron by Walter Simonson, and Colossus by Bob Layton, among others.

“When he asked why I wanted that character instead of something Daredevil related, I explained about my Mutant sketch collection. And I explained that he drew such cool ninjas in Daredevil, and their swords reminded me of Wolverine’s blades. I also had the pose picked out and showed him exactly what I wanted. He did a great job and seemed to really enjoy it,” Adams said.

A couple of months later the Wolverine miniseries drawn by Frank Miller and written by Chris Claremont was announced. But Adams had forgotten to have Miller date the piece, which would have offered proof that it was Miller’s first Wolverine. The piece has the cool factor nonetheless, but Adams has often wondered how he’d ever prove his contention.

“Don’t let this happen to you,” he wrote for Overstreet with a touch of humor.

More recently, Miller and the Dark Knight III creative team were at the Dallas Fan Expo over the June 3-5, 2016 weekend, though, and Adams took the opportunity to remedy his 1980s mistake.

“A friend of mine had an extra pass for a trip through their autograph line and was kind enough to share it with me. I had brought my Wolverine sketch in case I could find a way to get to speak to Mr. Miller for just a bit. So things just kind of came together,” Adams said.

“I showed him the sketch and told him he had done this for me a very long time ago. Then I very briefly told him the story of his appearance at Lone Star Comics and Science Fiction when Daredevil #181 was released. And I reminded him how his sketch list was full of almost nothing but Daredevil, with the occasional Elektra or Bullseye. I mentioned that he told me that this was the first time he had ever drawn the character and I had to get a reference for him and I had picked out the pose,” he said.

After that, Adams asked Miller – if he remembered all that – would he be kind enough to write something to that effect on the sketch.

Miller wrote, “First time I ever drew this guy – Who knew?  All the best – FM” on the piece.

“Getting this verified as the first ever Wolverine drawing by Frank Miller is a huge thing for me. I didn’t know if I could get it done or not. He might not remember it enough to feel comfortable acquiescing to my request,” Adams said. “There were just a hundred ways this could have not happened.”