Strange Worlds #5

In "We Are the 3 Who Vanished!" from Strange Worlds #5 (1959), three scientists vanish mid-project, leaving behind a journal that hints at a breakthrough in time travel. The story follows their strange fate as their minds are transplanted into the bodies of 17th-century scholars, each now consumed by the same dream of building a time machine—unaware they were ever anything else.

In "I Am...Gorilla!", a freak atomic explosion grants a gorilla human-level intelligence, sparking a moment of wonder as it contemplates its new mind—whether to rule humanity or guide it through reason. But the artificial intellect fades as quickly as it came, leaving behind only the echo of what might have been.

In "Don't Send Me...Out There!!!", a space pilot's dread of another mission is met with disbelief by his family—especially since he's a robot, and robots have never been afraid before. The story quietly builds tension around a machine confronting something it shouldn't feel: fear.

In "They Call Me...Space Pirate," a notorious interstellar raider lands on a primitive-looking planet, confident he’ll find an easy conquest. But when the so-called "unsophisticated" inhabitants reveal their hidden psychic mastery, his crew and he are swiftly captured—overwhelmed by a civilization far beyond his understanding.