X-Men #51

Name: X-Men #51
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Apr 1996 · Marvel · 1.95 USD; 2.75 CAD

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“Deathbound Train”

About this Issue

X-Men #51 (April 1996) marks the debut of Mark Waid as the regular writer on the adjectiveless X-Men title, a creative handoff that carried the book through the climactic Onslaught crossover. The issue is a pivotal piece of the 'Road to Onslaught' narrative architecture: the 'Beast' operating alongside Bishop and Gambit is actually Dark Beast — the Age of Apocalypse doppelgänger who replaced Hank McCoy in X-Men Unlimited #10 — and his willingness to kill mutated civilians on the train is a quiet, chilling signal that something is wrong with the team's scientist. Simultaneously, the first public announcement of Graydon Creed's presidential campaign, woven into the background of the story, planted the seed for the anti-mutant political subplot that would fuel X-titles for the next two years.

writer Mark Waid · artist Pascual Ferry · inker John Dell · inker Mark Morales · inker Vince Russell · colorist Marie Javins · colorist Malibu Hues · letterer Richard Starkings · letterer Comicraft · cover Andy Kubert, Cam Smith

ComicBooks.com Value

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CGC 9.8 · 25 in census $1,654

CGC 9.6 · 1 in census $590

CGC 9.4 · 2 in census $438

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $325

CGC 9.0 · 1 in census $325*

CGC 8.5 $198

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CGC 8.0 $198

CGC 7.5 $163

CGC 7.0 none in existence

CGC 6.5 $132

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CGC 9.8 $125 1 listing CGC 6 $158 1 listing Raw — MINT $2.99 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $4.99–$9.98 3 listings

NM $4.99 NM · Variant $6.95 NM $9.98

Raw — NM- $4.64 1 listing Raw — VF $4.99 1 listing Raw — FN/VF $136 1 listing Raw — FN $80 1 listing

Raw / ungraded ▾ $1–$87.95 7 listings

Raw / ungraded $1 Raw / ungraded $1.49 Raw / ungraded $2.69 Newsstand $4 Raw / ungraded $33.13 Raw / ungraded $86.24 Raw / ungraded $87.95

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History

Waid took over scripting duties on X-Men with this issue, coming directly off his X-debut in X-Men Unlimited #10, which had set up the Dark Beast impersonation subplot he inherited. The story fell under editor-in-chief Bob Harras, during the period when Marvel was methodically laying track toward the summer 1996 Onslaught mega-event. Penciler Pasqual Ferry served as the fill-in artist for issues 51 and 52 before Andy Kubert returned as regular penciler; the Grand Comics Database notes the issue was released in both Direct Edition and Newsstand formats, as well as an Australian edition.

Trivia · 8 facts

First issue scripted by Mark Waid on X-Men (vol. 2); his run continued through the Onslaught crossover.
Interior pencils by Pasqual Ferry (credited as 'Pascual Ferry'); cover by Andy Kubert with inks by Cam Smith.
The 'Beast' on the team is actually Dark Beast (Henry McCoy of Earth-295), the Age of Apocalypse impostor who replaced the real Beast in X-Men Unlimited #10 — a deception the other X-Men do not yet know.
Story: Cerebro detects a mutant energy spike on a New Jersey commuter train; Bishop, Gambit, and Dark Beast discover passengers infected by a contagious Sinister-engineered mutation virus.
Mr. Sinister appears at the issue's climax, revealed as the architect of the train experiment, setting up a direct cliffhanger resolved in X-Men #52.
Graydon Creed — anti-mutant presidential candidate and son of Sabretooth and Mystique — announces his run for the U.S. presidency in a television broadcast witnessed by Cyclops and Phoenix, seeding a political subplot that ran through multiple X-titles into 1997.
The issue is collected in X-Men: The Road to Onslaught Vol. 3 (Marvel, 2014) and is included in the X-Men: Road to Onslaught Omnibus Vol. 2.
Published in Direct Edition, Newsstand, and Australian variant editions; inkers included John Dell, Mark Morales, and Vince Russell; colors by Marie Javins and Malibu Hues.