A record blizzard has hit New York City: it’s the work of
Loki, banished to the remotest section of Asgard by Odin (last issue), trying to
keep himself amused with an enchanted Crystal of Transference. Karnilla the
Norn Queen visits with a proposal for an alliance to find the Plague Cask. They
set out into the storm and locate the ice caves where it requires the two of
them to cast their spell to free it from the ice….
Meanwhile, Thor patrols Manhattan looking for anyone in need
of his help. A snowplow driver cracks up and runs his vehicle off a bridge.
Thor catches him and also saves a cable car. He tries to halt the storm but he
cannot….
Karnilla takes the small figure of a snow giant out of the
Plague Cask and drops it into the Crystal of Transference thus transferring it
to Manhattan (hence the name) where it wreaks havoc. Thor spies it and gives
battle, with the snowplow driver offering to help. As the Thunder God mixes it
up with the monster, the driver rescues a woman and child trapped under snow.
In Asgard, Karnilla summons demons from the Plague Cask and they capture Loki
and lock him up; Karnilla’s plan is to impersonate Loki when Odin recalls him
from exile and thus smuggle all the bad things in the Cask into the heart of Asgard.
Back in the city, the driver tries to help Thor by crashing his plow into the
giant but he is captured, with the giant asking whether he is willing to
sacrifice himself for a human. Recalling a lesson taught by his father Odin
about pressing a snow giant back into a warmer clime, Thor agrees not to strike
his giant foe. But that doesn’t stop him from creating fires with a ruptured
gas main and an exploding gasoline truck to melt the snow giant. Then Loki
arrives, having escaped Karnilla’s clutches by diving into the Crystal of
Transference. He asks to be sent back to his place of exile, shrinking the
giant down to return him to the Cask. Thor hurls the Crystal into the distance,
it crashes, releasing Loki before Karnilla; he snatches up the Cask threatening
the Norn Queen with it and she flees. And with the destruction of the Crystal,
the storm on Earth ends. Thor takes the plow driver to the hospital….