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The comic series Marvel Super-Heroes issue 16 has a story reprinted from Men’s Adventures 28. It stars the original Human Torch and Toro, who are both basically the same character and can fly and throw fireballs. In the story, their friend George designs a space ship that will take a man to the stars. He abandons his dream after seeing the way humans reacted to space aliens. The original story was printed in 1954, seven years before actual space travel. But the irony was that the story was reprinted in 1968… a year before a man landed on the moon.
In the story, it opens with George looking up at the stars, and tells Torch about his dream of taking man to the stars with his designs for a space ship. Coincidentally, a flying saucer is seen. The local people begin blaming the apparent space aliens on a local plague that has been killing everyone. Assuming the same thing, The Human Torch and Toro decide to investigate.
When they approach and enter the saucer (with their fire still on, which in reality would have taken all the oxygen and probably have killed whoever was inside) they were quickly confronted with the aliens explaining how they visited Earth to provide the cure for the plague.
When Torch and Toro left (like a bunch of chumps) the mob assumed that they were working with the aliens and had the crap beaten out of them. They were then tossed into a shower system or something so they could not burn their way out. Well that jet bath must of sucked, because one of them was able to light their arm on fire anyway, and burned their way out.
You may be wondering at this point, where is the ironic part? Well after an alien is beaten to death while trying to give the cure, our friend George from the beginning of the story decides to end his dream, and that man was not fit for the stars. To have this statement printed, then a year later have people land on the Moon is ironic.
If you are interested in this story, it was reprinted (Affiliate Link) in Marvel Super-Heroes 17.