The X-Men #28

The X-Men #28, published in January 1967, emerged during the mid-sixties period of Marvel Comics when the title was still finding its definitive voice under the creative partnership of writer Roy Thomas and artist Werner Roth. This issue serves as a quintessential example of the series' early focus on the team's struggle to balance academic life at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with their duties as mutant heroes, featuring a showdown against the villainous Banshee.

The visual identity of this era was heavily influenced by Werner Roth, who drew under the pseudonym Jay Gavin and brought a refined, illustrative style to the characters that differed from the dynamic energy of Jack Kirby’s earlier tenure. While the issue is remembered today for its steady expansion of the mutant lore, it was received at the time as a standard installment in a title that was then operating on the periphery of the broader Marvel Universe’s popularity.