The Brain #6

Benjamin Bang dreams up an elaborate two-stage rocket ship to reach Mars—and when his dad grounds him for the wild contraption, the young inventor decides to sneak off to space that very night. His adventure takes a sharp turn when he discovers the planet Kreep and stumbles onto an alien invasion plot against Earth, forcing him to think fast and use his wits to save his home world.

When Russell and his cousins bully their way around the park, the Brain hatches a clever scheme to teach the troublemakers a lesson—setting up a series of snowy traps that turn the tables on the neighborhood menace. With help from his pal Dinky, the Brain creates a deceptively innocent snowman that packs a hidden surprise, proving once again why brains beat brawn every time.

When Percy, your father's boss's bratty kid, spends the holidays with you, you decide to show him your new portable missile protector invention—only to have him cause chaos and announce there's no Santa Claus to everyone. Desperate to restore Percy's belief before Christmas Eve, you devise an elaborate scheme involving a Santa dummy and some hidden string-pulling to make him a believer again. In this 1958 tale from *The Brain*, one boy's Christmas ingenuity just might turn the most pesty guest around.