Atlas editor Stan Lee has described being impressed with Roth's portfolio, particularly his drawings of women, "So I took his samples to show [then-publisher] Martin Goodman.
He drew a number of other features for Atlas, including most of the stories of the Apache Kid.
Roth returned to Marvel to work on the X-Men in 1966, initially using the pseudonym Jay Gavin, taken from the names of his two sons, to conceal his Marvel work from his editors at DC.
[4][5] His true name was revealed in the "Bullpen Bulletins" page of Fantastic Four #54.
X-Men series writer Roy Thomas later commented that Roth, though a talented artist, was a poor fit for the X-Men, being more oriented towards character interactions and relationships than action.