MELTER

 

MELTER

Real Name: Bruno Horgan

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense (Vol. 1) #47, November 1963

Powers: Bruno Horgan was a baseline human with no superhuman powers. He was a leading munitions manufacturer for the United States federal government. His career was ruined when a government safety inspection team discovered that he was using inferior materials to build tanks, thereby risking soldiers' lives. His company went bankrupt and his defense contracts were awarded to his foremost business rival, industrialist Tony Stark. During the dismantling of one of his factories, he observed a malfunctioning radar device projecting an energy beam which dissolved iron. Studying the device, he discovered the principle behind its melting beam and used it create a weapon he could strap to his chest, adopting the costumed criminal identity of the Melter.

The Melter's trademark weapon was his melting device, which caused solid matter to liquefy. Rather than generating heat, the Melter's device projected an unidentified form of energy which loosened the bonding forces between the atoms and molecules of solid substance, causing it to dissolve. The Melter's original weapons, including the projector he wore on his chest and his first melting gun, were magnetic-induction field devices that projected energy at a specific frequency that only affected iron.

Later, the Melter forced Tony Stark to make improvements on his melting gun, which he incorporated into his subsequent weaponry. The redesigned gun used a combination of various microwave emissions and magnetic induction fields to liquefy flesh, wood, stone, and any metallic substance depending on which of the four frequencies were fired. To liquefy wood, he utilized a frequency that affected cellulose. To liquefy flesh, he utilized a frequency that affected collagen. Both the Stark melting gun and the Melter's later weapons each had an effective range of 300 yards and could operate for several hours, melting about 20 cubic feet of material before battery depletion.

Originally, the Melter wore a projector on his chest. Later, he used a melting gun and even incorporated small melting beam projectors onto the front of his helmet. The helmet's beams were only effective at close range, up to 3 feet. He also wore a melting beam projector on his belt.

Bruno Horgan held a Master of Business Administration degree. He was a highly talented inventor, engineer, and businessman. He had no known skill as a hand-to-hand combatant.