Summary: The Human Torch goes to New York, which is under assault by strange green beings of cold flame.
Recap: We open on The Torch driving along an abandoned road, on his way to New York City. He received a wire from Johnson (from the second issue) saying that he was needed there, but it was scant on the details, and he only knows it's something about green flame, and the police must be up against the wall.
He pulls over to ask a man on the side of the road if he's on the right road to New York; the man reacts with fear at the name of the city and runs away. Confused, the Torch drives on and finds his way to the city.
He finds Broadway deserted and is unsettled by the emptiness of the city, and the sidewalks appear to be crumbling. There is a police car that veers into the road with its siren on and he nearly crashes into it. The police demand his credentials, stating that the city is under martial law and all out of town cars must be registered. The Torch, reflecting that Johnson warned him not to reveal his true identity, calls himself Jim Hamond. An inspector shows up at the scene and orders the Torch arrested for not registering his car.
Suddenly, a humanoid, flaming green figure floats quickly around the corner and toward the group. The police flee and tell him to run before the Green Flames get him. The Torch responds with "Why? I'm not scared of fire!" He lets out his long, weird yell which should extinguish any real flames, but the Green Flame keeps coming. The Torch tosses off his hat and coat and turns on his flame, then barrels into the Green Flame. He is startled to realize that it's ice cold. He grabs the Green Flame tightly, and applies his flames to it, and leaves it a charred body on the ground.
A car speeds by, with the people inside saying that the Torch killed one of their "brothers" and they need to return to Manyac's house. The Torch starts to give chase, but the police return and think that the Torch has murdered Jim Hamond. The Torch asks what they're looking at and tells them he's the Human Torch, but the police don't believe him, and open fire with tracer bullets from machine guns. The Torch waves his hand and the flaming bullets swerve aside.
He leaps over their heads and asks if they believe him now. The inspector says that the Torch isn't a killer and yet he obviously killed Jim Hamond, and warns him not to move. Then he opens fire from his revolver, but the Torch laughs and points out the bullets are melting before they ever reach him; then he melts the revolver in the inspector's hand and the inspector starts to wonder if he's telling the truth. He still thinks he killed Jim Hamond, though.
The Torch leaps away over the city, leaving him behind, and lands in a slum district alley. He find Johnson's house, noting again that New York is a ghost city. Johnson lets him in and introduces him to Maizie, "the best undercover woman in the business", who has a gun because she was afraid Manyac was tailing her. The Torch asks who Manyac is.
"Manyac" is a man who calls himself Dr, Manyac, a chemist by trade, inventor of the super-cold green flame which is capable of cracking concrete with its frost, the cause of New York's dilapidation. He is planning to hold the city and state for ransom; if they don't pay, he'll commit mass murder, starting in the slums, by setting the Green Flames loose and letting them destroy buildings and the cold kill those inside, then move to more affluent areas. The police are helpless to do anything about it, and Maizie tells the Torch that only he can do anything to bring them to justice.
Johnson asks Torch to help them, but the radio suddenly plays a news story where Inspector Reiss accused the stranger claiming to be the Human Torch of being the murderer of Jim Hamond. Johnson demands answers, and the Torch has to explain that Jim Hamond was the alias he took at Johnson's urging (which Johnson has seemingly forgotten about). Johnson laughs it up at his predicament.
Across town, in the dingy offices of Dr. Manyac, a man tells Manyac that it was the Torch who killed one of their brothers. Manyac says that he thought the Torch was just a myth, but they'll carry out his threat, Torch or no Torch. He orders the man to gather everyone to carry it out, but first to prepare the green bath for the men.
The green bath turns out to be a vat; Manyac's men don asbestos suits, dip into the vat, and come out as Green Flames.
Later, the heroes in Johnson's house hear a crash outside, and they look outside to find that the Green Flames have already destroyed two buildings, beginning their reign of terror. The Torch vows to make them pay for that, turns on his flame, and dives down into a group of flaming men. The Green Flames start to scatter, and the Torch punches one and throws a fireball at others, who call for help. A police car comes up and the officer asks Reiss if he should arrest the Torch, but Reiss says no, let him polish off the Green Flames first, because he's the only one who can.
From one of the fallen buildings, a trapped civilian calls for help. Reiss runs to help free him, but the Torch throws a fireball between Reiss's legs to melt the debris trapping the man. The man says he's all right, thanks to that ball of fire.
During the commotion, Manyac is sitting in a car down the block with a henchman. They see Maizie come out into the street, call her a double-crosser, and they get out to threaten her into the car without making a scene. She yells for the Torch anyway.
The Torch leaps after the car, lands on the hood, and uses his body heat to start to melt the engine. Manyac tries to shoot the Torch, but Maizie grabs the gun and throws off his aim, and he lets go of the wheel. The car veers onto the sidewalk and crashes into a fire hydrant, and the water begins to smother his flame.
Manyac drags Maizie from the car, then the Torch confronts him and Manyac puts his gun to Maizie's head, saying he'll blow her brains out if the Torch does leave. The Torch agrees, but then throws a fireball that curves around Maizie and hits Manyac. Johnson and Inspector Reiss run up, the Torch tells them that this is the man behind the Green Flames and that he is alive to be arrested, and Reiss tries to arrest the Torch for the murder of Jim Hamond. The Torch laughs and turns off his flame to reveal that he is Jim Hamond. Reiss apologizes for thinking him a murderer, and the Torch tells him to forget it.
This issue provides examples of:
- Arbitrary Skepticism: The police in New York know that the Human Torch is real. They know that his powers include being a man on fire. They even blame the Human Torch for the city's predicament of the moment. They just don't believe that this flaming man in front of them is the Human Torch.
- Big Ol' Unibrow: The villain Dr. Manyac has a unibrow.
- Bound and Gagged: Maizie is gagged to keep her quiet in the car.
- The Coats Are Off: The Torch removes his hat and jacket before he puts on his flames.
- Coincidental Broadcast: While Johnson and the Torch are talking, a news broadcast on the radio suddenly pops up about the Torch killing Jim Hamond.
- Cold Flames: The green flaming people burn incredibly coldly.
- Elemental Armor: The Torch's flame aura is so hot that bullet melt before they reach him.
- Fireballs: The Torch throws fire to fight and to melt debris.
- Hostage Situation:
- Dr. Manyac is trying to hold the entirety of New York City hostage.
- At the end, Dr. Manyac holds Maizie hostage with a gun to her head to make hte Torch let him go.
- Immune to Bullets: The narration points out that the normal bullets would melt before they reach the Torch.
- Kill It with Fire: Fire is very effective against the frigid Green Flames.
- Malicious Slander: There is a rumor going around that the Torch is behind the flames attacked New York, which is why he is advised to use an alias.
- Man on Fire: The Torch sets Manyac on fire, nonlethally.
- Mistaken for Own Murderer: The Torch is accused of killing Jim Hamond, who strangely vanished as soon as he showed up.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Manyac is the villain du jour.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The villain is "Dr. Manyac", as in "maniac". It's not very subtle.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: A minor case; Maizie succeeds in keeping Dr. Manyac from shooting the Torch, which makes them crash and puts a fire hydrant on him, and Manyac thanks her for helping him.
- The Only One: The police are helpless against the Green Flames; only the Torch and his flames can handle the situation. Maizie tells the Torch that in so many words. Reiss, who is against the Torch, says so as well.
- Secret Identity: Sort of Played With; this is the first time the Torch uses the name Jim Hamondnote . The Human Torch is his real name, and Jim Ham(m)ond is the disguise he adopted to move around in human society more easily.
- Wreathed in Flames: The Torch's standard appearance is covered in fire.
