Secrets of the Unknown #172
"Back from the Dead!" in Secrets of the Unknown #172 (1977) delivers a chilling sci-fi mystery with Steve Ditko handling both art and inks, bringing his signature precision to a tale of an ominous, ticking object that crashes into New York, triggering mass panic and evacuation. The story unfolds with quiet dread as the military waits for detonation—only for the object to vanish after the ticking ceases, its mysterious departure hinting at a cosmic judgment on Earth’s silence. Jack Kirby’s cover, inked by Ditko, captures the eerie spectacle with striking, otherworldly flair.
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A threatening object that appears to be a bomb drops from the sky and lands in New York city. The object even emits ticking sounds that lead people to believe they are in imminent danger and so the city the evacuated. The military cordons off the object and just waits for its detonation. Eventually the ticking stops and it rises into the air and disappears. It was recalled to its planet of origin because no living thing touched it in response to its signals, and its makers assume Earth is barren of life, so they send their gift package off to another world.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).