Adventure into Mystery #2

In "The Straw Man," a curious gaseous alien mistakes a simple scarecrow for Earth’s dominant life form, attempting to possess it—only to be startled by a passing tramp who drops his cigarette into the hay, igniting the scarecrow. The sudden fire forces the alien to retreat, leaving Earth unharmed.

In "The Man Who Saw the Saucer," a desperate man spins a tale of alien contact to gain attention—only to find the truth far stranger than his lie when real Martians finally arrive. Written by an unknown author and illustrated by an unknown artist, this 1956 tale explores the cost of belief, the weight of truth, and what happens when the impossible becomes real.

In "The Betrayer!", a man journeys into the past to profit from war—only to return to the present and find his fortune meaningless, trapped in the obsolete currency of a lost cause. The story unfolds with a quiet dread, as the weight of time and consequence settles on a single, devastating realization.

In a future where the year 2160 has grown stagnant, a group of scientists from the present are abducted to revive their society. When the final recruit arrives, she must convince her captors to send them back—so their knowledge can change the world they came from.