Melter



Bruno Horgan is a former competitor of Tony Stark. He becomes the Melter and is considered one of Iron Man's deadliest foes. The Melter is eventually killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.

Origin
Bruno Horgan was a former competitor to Tony Stark and wanted to get revenge on him after Stark's report showed that Horgan's factory was using inferior materials. The US Army revoked their contract with Horgan and offered Stark to build their tanks. Horgan then accidentally discovered his secret of dissolving iron when one of his electronic testing devices built of inferior parts went haywire in his laboratory. The inspection beam began to melt any iron the beam was shining on. Horgan study the device in his lab, finds the source of its power and manages to fit it into a small, compact unit. Horgan understood that iron was the most important metal on earth and with his ability to melt iron with ease would make him the most powerful man in the world. Horgan wanted to humiliate Stark during his first exploit as the Melter. Horgan sabotaged some of the tanks Stark's company built during a demonstration while Tony Stark and some visiting congressmen were present. The tanks broke down right in front of them and Stark realized that every vital point was melted. Stark decided to personally inspect the vital parts of his weapons components when he was struck from behind by the Melter. The Melter then used his ray to destroy Stark's newest shipment of war materials to slow up the Army's defense effort and to cost Stark a fortune. The Melter decided not to finish Stark as he laid motionless on the floor and actually preferred that he live so he can toy and torment Stark. The Melter breaks into one of Stark's munitions factory and begins to melt the main generators in order to paralyze that factory. Iron Man appears and confronts the Melter. However the Melter's beam strikes Iron Man's left arm and the armor melted off. Iron Man causes a distraction and is able to escape the Melter's wrath. Stark is in jeopardy of losing his government contracts and his employers do not believe him that this man he calls the Melter is responsible. Stark knows he has to catch the Melter and devises a plan. The Melter would engage Iron Man at one of his power plants and attacks him. However the Melter's beam has no effect on Iron Man and tries to escape. Out of desperation, the Melter nearly crushes Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts by melting a crane that is holding up a huge boulder. Iron Man grabs the boulder just before it hits them. During the distraction, the Melter melts an iron drain cover and escapes in the sewer system. Apparently the Melter's beam had no effect on Iron Man because Stark redesigned his suit and made the armor out of tough extruded aluminum.

Weapons & Abilities
The Melter originally used a magnetic induction field device that only iron responded to. The iron would melt when the device injected energy at a specific frequency that loosened the binding forces of iron. Horgan is later coerced to redesign his weapon and allowed other materials like wood, stone and even flesh to melt. However, the Melter's beam can only affect one material at a time. The Melter's device had a range of 300 yards and could operate for several hours. The original device was designed to shoot the beam from his chest but the weapon and its design has changed on a few occasions. The Melter created a ray gun at one point and even had the ability to fire his beam from his belt weapon and helmet.