Ripley's Believe It or Not! #85
In "The Dead Hand," Professor Jenkins visits an aging poet whose haunting verses conceal a buried tragedy. Through a mysterious mirror, the professor glimpses a long-forgotten moment: a young Keating caught in the aftermath of a fatal accident involving his sweetheart’s husband, a moment that shattered a love doomed from the start. With art by John Celardo and a cover by Mel Crawford, this eerie tale from Ripley’s Believe It or Not! #85 (1979) blends memory, regret, and the uncanny in a story that lingers long after the final page.
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While visiting an aged poet to discover the inspiration of his classic poems, Professor Jenkins witnesses a scene from the distant past in a mirror: a young Keating involved in the accidental death of his sweetheart's husband. As a result, the romance is forever doomed and the lovers can never see each other again. The poet confirms that, indeed, that incident was the dark source of his famous poems.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).