Thor returns home from his nightly patrol to an emergency
call from the clinic for Dr Donald Blake. In his human guise he hurries over
there to discover a medical mystery: seven people, all strangers to each other,
suddenly falling into a catatonic trance….
Meanwhile, a ghostly gargoyle flies around the town, causing
mayhem and destruction; it then enters a woman’s bedroom, scaring her badly and
absorbing her nightmares, leaving her catatonic….
Don and his colleague Ramon Hernandez can find no cause for
the mystery condition; Don heads home and on his way he spies the Dream Demon.
Changing to Thor he tries to battle the monster but while the Demon can hit
Thor, Thor’s attacks pass through his opponent. Thor chases the Dream Demon
through the skies but when the sun rises, the Demon dissipates and disappears….
Later at the clinic two more victims have been brought in; Dr
Jeffries calls on a hypnotist to examine the patients but he is stumped as
well. The hypnotist refers them to an expert on dreams. Don goes to the University
and meets Dr. Eugene Beaumont, who shows him his dream machine which can
extract the guilt, fears, and frustrations that torment a sleeper: he has a
group of patients in every night for treatment. Don goes home and to bed and
the Dream Demon attacks him in his sleep; he suddenly awakens to find the monster
clutching at his face and quickly becomes Thor. Deducing that the Demon feeds on
dreams he leads it to the University, breaking through into the sleep lab. Dr
Beaumont shuts off the machine but the monster is not affected. Awakening the sleeping
patients, however, causes the Dream Demon to dissipate. It seems that the dark
energies extracted from the sleepers fused into a creature that lived on nightmares….
Don arrives at the clinic the next day to discover that the
mystery patients all recovered about the time the Dream Demon was dispelled….
“The Chains that Bind!”
Writer: Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio. Pencils: Keith Pollard
(breakdowns), Chic Stone. Inks: Chic Stone. Colors: George Roussos.
Synopsis: Loki, driven to madness by his being chained to
his wife Sigyn, abuses her with tales of his infidelities, driving her to
tears. Loki heads to the palace to plead with Odin to release him but is refused
entry. Loki seeks out Frigga and asks her to plead with Odin to see him. She
does and Loki pushes his way in anyhow, dragging Sigyn, and begging Odin to free
him. Despite Loki’s history of evil, Odin releases him from bondage but
banishes him to the farthest point of his kingdom. He then sits in sorrow and
regret for his lost son.