Melter

The Melter, born Bruno Horgan, is an American villain, former weapons manufacturer, and erstwhile member of the Masters of Evil. He utilizes a powerful energy beam that can melt any metal at will.

Biography

By 1963, Bruno Horgan had been a rival in business of Tony Stark, and held a great deal of spite toward him after the United States government chose Stark over him to produce weapons for them. One day, a beam in Horgan's factory seemed to malfunction, melting the iron objects nearby. Horgan was stunned at his discovery, and realized the significant power that lay in being able to melt iron at will. He devised a costume and a chest device that allowed him to fire the beam as he wished, and set out to destroy Stark's business for good. Traveling to Stark's main factory, Melter attacked its underground power plant, melting various pieces of equipment in moments. The plant was soon defended by Iron Man—secretly Stark himself—but a quick blast of the melting device forced the hero to make a hasty retreat. Iron Man did damage the steam pipes in the room on his way out, forcing Melter to leave as well. He returned to the factory some days later, and was again met by Iron Man, but this time the hero was impervious to the Melter's beam: he had created an alternative suit made of aluminum. Stripped of his only advantage, the Melter retreated by melting his way to the sewers.

Several months later, Melter was recruited by Baron Zemo to challenge the Avengers, of which Iron Man was a member, and was granted an upgrade to his melting beam that affected any metal instead of just iron. He would join the Black Knight and Radioactive Man in a team called the Masters of Evil to spread Zemo's heretofore-unbreakable Adhesive X across New York. The Avengers arrived as expected, and though the adhesive proved to be an effective weapon against them, they soon rebutted with a "super-dissolver" courtesy of imprisoned villain Paste-Pot Pete. This gave them the upper hand against the Masters, defeating them and bringing them all to justice. Several months later, Zemo attempted another assembly of the Masters of Evil, enlisting Enchantress and Executioner to spring Black Knight and Melter out of prison. The four confronted the Avengers while Zemo observed from his South American base, but wound up defeated. Black Knight and Melter were returned to prison, but the Asgardians escaped. Captain America traveled to South America and confronted Zemo, who misfired his weapon and accidentally killed himself. Melter and Black Knight got out of prison within a few months, and they were soon coerced by Doctor Doom's emotion machine into attacking the Baxter Building on the day of the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Enchantress and Executioner were similarly present, resulting in a small reunion of the Masters of Evil sans Zemo. A veritable legion of villains fought a similarly powerful force of heroes defending the Baxter Building. In the end, Reed Richards used a device provided by Uatu to transport all of the villains back slightly in time and wipe their memories of these events. Reed and Sue Storm were thus successfully and peacefully married.