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Melter

The Melter is the name of three fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Melter, Bruno Horgan, first appeared in Tales of Suspense #47 (Nov. 1963). He was both an enemy to Iron Man and a founding member of the Masters of Evil.

The character debuted in Tales of Suspense #47 (November 1963) and was created by Stan Lee and Sam Rosen.

He was an industrialist who specializes in providing munitions to the United States government. After an initial encounter with hero Iron Man, the character reappears in The Avengers #6 (Jul. 1964) as part of supervillain team the Masters of Evil. A version of the Masters of Evil return in The Avengers #15-16 (Apr.-May 1965), with the Melter being jailed. The Melter reappears to battle Iron Man in Tales of Suspense 89-90 (May-Jun. 1967), and then The Avengers #54-55 (Jul.-Aug. 1968) as part of the next version of the Masters of Evil (formed without the villains' knowledge by the robot Ultron) and again in The Avengers #83 (Dec. 1970). The character becomes a perennial villain in the title Iron Man, appearing in issues #72 (Jan. 1974); #92 (Nov. 1976) and #123-124 (Jun.-Jul. 1979) and #127 (Oct. 1979). After another attempt to sabotage the company Stark International in Iron Man #166 (Jan. 1983), the character reappears in Marvel Two-in-One #96 (Feb. 1983) before being assassinated during the Scourge of the Underworld storyline in The Avengers #263 (Jan. 1986). As writer Mike Conroy stated "Bruno Horgan was one of those villains who suited simpler times...Times moved on, though, and Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's creation didn't. Despite numerous upgrades to his weaponry, the Melter was never a major player."

Long-time Marvel writer Roger Stern recalled:

...Mark Gruenwald had compiled a list of villains who were either less than inspired or had outlived their welcome. I picked the Melter because he was such a doof. There had been maybe one good Melter story...which had been repeated over and over again by various writers. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with the name.

Another character using the name "Melter" debuted during the Dark Reign storyline in the limited series Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1 - 5 (July-Dec. 2009).

Bruno Horgan is driven into bankruptcy when a government safety inspection team proves that he is using inferior materials, with the defense contracts awarded to his competitor Tony Stark (the alter ego of hero Iron Man). Discovering that one of his faulty devices is capable of generating 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. As the Melter, Horgan becomes a professional criminal and embarks on a campaign of industrial sabotage against Stark, hoping to ruin him. He eventually encounters Iron Man after Stark is told he could lose his government contracts. Despite damaging the hero's armor and forcing Iron Man back, the Melter is defeated when Stark builds a temporary duplicate armor composed of aluminium, but leaps into the sewer, though Stark is unaware whether he was killed or not.

The Melter reappears as an employee of Baron Zemo (who has upgraded the melting beam to affect all metals) as part of supervillain team the Masters of Evil. He helps spray Adhesive X over the city. The Melter meets Iron Man as the Avengers first meet the Masters, but Iron Man knocks him away using his magnetic repulsor. The Masters are defeated, with the Melter being jailed after Iron Man drenches him with water, preventing his beam from working. Melter is placed in a cell with bars that have been chemically treated so they cannot be melted. The Masters of Evil have a second encounter with the Avengers after Melter and Black Knight are broken out of jail by the Enchantress and Executioner. The Melter nearly finishes Iron Man after welding his boots to a roof, but he is stopped by Thor using his uru hammer, which the Melter cannot melt. The Masters of Evil are eventually defeated after Thor transports them and the Avengers to another dimension with different laws of physics, making their weapons rebound. The villains are bound and returned to Earth.

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