melter n : a worker who melts substances (metal or wax etc.)

The Melter is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Tales of Suspense #47 (Nov. 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Sam Rosen.

Publication history

The Melter debuted in issue #47 of Tales of Suspense (Nov. 1963), and proved popular enough to then feature as a member of the first version of the Masters of Evil in Avengers #6 (Jul. 1964). The character later appeared in issues #15 - 16 (Apr. - May 1965), #54 (Jul. 1968) and #83 (Dec. 1970) of the same title. Several more battles against Iron Man followed in Tales of Suspense #89 - 90 (May - Jun. 1967), Iron Man #92 (Nov. 1976), #123-127 (June - Oct. 1979), and #166 (Jan. 1983).

The Melter also featured in the 1986 crossover storyline involving the Scourge of the Underworld, a vigilante who assassinates numerous minor supervillains. The Melter is murdered in Avengers #263 (Jan. 1986). The character has also made posthumous appearances in Sensational She-Hulk #53 (Jul. 1993); Marvels #2 (Feb. 1994), Fantastic Four #405 (Oct. 1995), X-O Manowar/Iron Man in Heavy Metal #1 (Sep. 1996), Avengers #8 - 9 (Jun. - Jul. 1997), and the inter-company crossover Avengers/JLA #4 (Dec. 2003).

Fictional character biography

Bruno Horgan is an industrialist who specializes in providing munitions to the United States government. Horgan is driven into bankruptcy when a government safety inspection team proves that he is using inferior materials. The defense contracts are awarded to his competitor — industrialist and inventor Anthony Stark, who is secretly the superhero Iron Man. Horgan then discovers that one of his faulty devices is capable of casting a beam capable of "melting" anything composed of iron. Horgan redesigns the device so that it can be strapped to his chest, and after donning a costume adopts the alias the Melter. Horgan then becomes a professional criminal and embarks on a campaign of industrial sabotage against Stark Industries, and comes into conflict with Iron Man. Despite damaging Iron Man's armor, the Melter is defeated.

The Melter is then coerced by master villain Baron Zemo to join the original supervillain Masters of Evil in a bid to destroy the superhero team the Avengers, of which Iron Man is an original member. The Masters of Evil, however, are defeated twice and the Melter is incarcerated. The Melter then coerces Tony Stark to improve his melting weapon, and battles Iron Man again. The Melter later joins another version of the Masters of Evil formed by the robot Ultron, but they are defeated when betrayed by the Black Knight. Some months later the Masters of Evil accidentally encounter the Avengers once more, and during the battle are defeated when surprised by several female super-heroines. During the fight, the Melter is overpowered by the Wasp.

The Melter — along with fellow supervillains Whiplash and Man-Bull — is later recruited by other-dimensional villain the Black Lama to form the team the Death Squad and fight Iron Man to claim the Black Lama's prize. They are, however, defeated. The Melter improves his melting weapon again, and steals a prototype nuclear weapon, and then has one more brief encounter with Iron Man before disappearing into obscurity. Several years later criminal mastermind Justin Hammer hires the Melter to join an army of supervillains and battle Iron Man, who subsequently beats the Melter twice in a matter of days.

The Melter later attacked Iron Man at Stark International, and joined a large group of superhuman criminals attempting to kill the Thing.

The Melter is then incarcerated for several years, and upon his release plans to attack the Avengers, but is shot dead by the assassin the Scourge of the Underworld disguised as the Melter's laboratory assistant.

Powers and abilities

Bruno Horgan invented a device which projected a form of energy that loosened the bonding forces between the atoms or molecules of substances, causing these substances to change from solid form to liquid form, thus melting. The Melter's first melting beam could affect iron, while a later version could affect almost any substance. The melting effect did not appear to involve heat, but when used on a human being, the beam inflicts burns as opposed to truly melting. Over the course of his career, the Melter had several of these devices, including hand-held pistol versions and a device worn on his torso in a harness. His later designs could liquefy flesh, wood, stone and any form of metal, with an effective range of 300 yards, and could operate for several hours before the battery unit needed charging. In that time, about twenty cubic feet of any material the Melter's beam could affect would be liquefied. The Melter's helmet contained a small melting beam projectors around the temples which were effective at a range of up to three feet.

Horgan possessed extensive knowledge of weapons and munitions.

Other media

Television

Melter appears in The Marvel Superheroes. He is seen as a member of Baron Heinrich Zemo's Masters of Evil.

Video games

Melter appears in the Iron Man video game.

Notes

References

External links

• Melter profile at Marvel.com