The X-Men #22

Published in July 1966, The X-Men #22 was part of the original Silver Age run of the series, created during a pivotal era for Marvel Comics. At this stage in the title's history, the team consisted of the original five members navigating a world that feared and hated them. The narrative served to flesh out the expanding Marvel Universe, maintaining the momentum established by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who had launched the series three years earlier to explore themes of prejudice and social alienation through the lens of mutant adolescence.

This issue features cover art by Werner Roth, who often worked under the pseudonym Jay Gavin, and interiors by Roth following Jack Kirby's departure from the title. Roth brought a more refined, illustrative style to the characters, moving away from Kirby's explosive dynamism toward a slightly more grounded, traditional comic book aesthetic. While the title was not yet the commercial juggernaut it would become in the 1970s, issue #22 is valued by collectors today as a representative artifact of the mid-1960s developmental phase, illustrating the transition of the creative team as they sought to define the X-Men's distinct identity amidst Marvel's burgeoning superhero roster.