Tales of Suspense #21
In "Klagg! His Mission: Destroy Mankind!, Part 1," a man’s ordinary morning spirals into dread when his reflection begins to shatter—first in a hand mirror, then a bathroom one, and finally a full-length glass. As he flees from the eerie phenomenon, avoiding every reflective surface, his terror peaks when he confronts the face he’s seen in the mirrors—now standing inside an elevator, frozen in confusion before the cable snaps and the car plummets. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Steve Ditko, with vibrant colors by Stan Goldberg and dynamic inks by Dick Ayers, this 1961 tale from Tales of Suspense blends psychological unease with early Marvel suspense, all capped by a striking cover by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
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A man wakes up in the morning and sees a stranger's face in the mirror and then it shatters. He tries looking into another mirror and the same thing happens. He looks into a full length mirror and it happens a third time. He makes his way to work, avoiding mirrors, until he stands before the elevator. When the door opens, the man whose face he has seen is standing inside producing a terror-stricken reaction. Our hero runs away, and the puzzled man leaves the elevator which cable snaps, sending it plunging down the shaft to destruction.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).