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Cover: Werner Roth & Dick Ayers

The X-Men #24

Name: The X-Men #24
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Sep 1966 · Marvel · 0.12 USD

📊 ~36,906 copies sold its debut month

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“The Plague of... the Locust!”

★ 1st appearance — Ted Roberts

About this Issue

The X-Men #24 is the transitional pivot issue that formally moves Jean Grey out of Xavier's School and into Metro College, fracturing the team's original domestic setup and laying the groundwork for the Cobalt Man storyline in subsequent issues. It introduces both the Locust (Dr. August Hopper) — the first X-Men villain explicitly confirmed by Cerebro to be a non-mutant human, a storytelling choice that quietly underscored how the team was already battling threats beyond their core 'mutant vs. mutant' premise — and supporting character Ted Roberts, whose brother would become the original Cobalt Man. While the Locust himself is a minor figure in the broader X-Men mythos, the issue's emotional spine — Cyclops unable to confess his feelings as Jean walks out of his daily life — marks one of the earliest sustained beats in the Scott/Jean romance that would eventually define the franchise.

writer Roy Thomas · artist Werner Roth · inker Dick Ayers · letterer Sam Rosen · cover Werner Roth, Dick Ayers

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (VG) $28

CGC 9.8 · 6 in census $4,598*

CGC 9.6 · 39 in census $1,245

CGC 9.4 · 67 in census $468

CGC 9.2 · 75 in census $317

CGC 9.0 · 98 in census $255

CGC 8.5 · 113 in census $194

Show all 21 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 119 in census $192

CGC 7.5 · 93 in census $127

CGC 7.0 · 113 in census $79

CGC 6.5 · 76 in census $79

CGC 6.0 · 68 in census $72

CGC 5.5 · 68 in census $61

CGC 5.0 · 63 in census $56*

CGC 4.5 · 58 in census $42

CGC 4.0 · 53 in census $41*

CGC 3.5 · 19 in census $39*

CGC 3.0 · 15 in census $30*

CGC 2.5 · 8 in census $26*

CGC 2.0 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 1.0 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

This exact issue on ebay

CGC 9.8 ▾ $54.99–$175 2 listings

CGC 9.8 $54.99 CGC 9.8 $174.99

CGC 9 $500 1 listing CGC $50 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $6.22–$190 3 listings

NM $6.22 NM $6.99 NM $190

Raw — VF ▾ $99.97–$124 2 listings

VF $99.97 VF $124

Raw — FN+ ▾ $37.95–$71 2 listings

FN+ $37.95 FN+ $71

Raw — FN $64.95 1 listing

Raw — VG ▾ $26–$59.99 2 listings

VG $26 VG $59.99

Raw / ungraded ▾ $2.22–$303 8 listings

Raw / ungraded $2.22 Raw / ungraded $4.99 Raw / ungraded $4.99 Raw / ungraded $35 Raw / ungraded $52.99 Raw / ungraded $65 Raw / ungraded $99.99 Raw / ungraded $302.5

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History

The issue was written by Roy Thomas, who had taken over scripting duties from Stan Lee during the original series' mid-Silver Age run, with pencils by Werner Roth (sometimes credited as Jay Gavin), inks by Dick Ayers, lettering by Sam Rosen, and Stan Lee remaining as editor. Released on June 30, 1966, with a September 1966 cover date, it sits squarely in the Thomas–Roth collaboration that defined X-Men from issues #20 through the late thirties. Coloring has been attributed to Stan Goldberg and/or Marie Severin in reference indexes, though both credits carry uncertainty markers in the Grand Comics Database. An editorial note in the issue itself attempts to reconcile a panel depicting Johnny Storm and Wyatt Wingfoot at Metro College — contradicting their simultaneous appearance in Fantastic Four #54 — suggesting at least one last-minute continuity patch after the art was completed.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance and full origin of the Locust, alter ego of Dr. August Hopper, a disgraced entomologist who creates a device to grow insects to massive size; cover-dated September 1966.
First appearance of Ted Roberts, a Metro College student who befriends Jean Grey and whose older brother Ralph would later become the original Cobalt Man.
Jean Grey formally departs Xavier's School at her parents' insistence to attend Metro College in New York, though she continues to assist the X-Men on weekends — marking a structural change to the team's lineup that persists across multiple subsequent issues.
Cerebro confirms the Locust is a baseline human, not a mutant — one of the early in-universe uses of Cerebro to explicitly rule out mutant status for a villain.
Script by Roy Thomas; pencils by Werner Roth; inks by Dick Ayers; letters by Sam Rosen; edited by Stan Lee. Coloring attributed (with uncertainty) to Stan Goldberg and/or Marie Severin per the Grand Comics Database.
Cover and interior art by Werner Roth and Dick Ayers; an early reference index entry incorrectly listed Jack Kirby as layout artist, later corrected by researcher Nick Caputo in 2012.
The story was reprinted in X-Men #72 (October 1971) as part of Marvel's Silver Age reprint program.
The issue is collected in the Marvel trade paperback X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 2: Lonely Are the Hunted, which spans X-Men (1963) #24–45 and Avengers (1963) #53.