The Melter is the name of a fictional supervillain 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.
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, eventually encountering Iron Man after Stark is told he could lose his government contracts, though when he first met Stark he succeeded in knocking him out. 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 master villain 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 were defeated with the Melter being jailed after Iron Man drenches him with water, preventing his beam from working. The Radioactive Man was deported back to China, while the Black Knight and Melter are placed in a cell with bars chemically treated so they cannot be melted. The Masters of Evil have a second encounter with the Avengers after the Black Knight and Melter 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 transported them and the Avengers to another dimension, with different scientific laws which meant their weapons rebounded. The villains are bound and returned to Earth. The character upgrades his weaponry and battles Iron Man once again, before reappearing as part of the next version of the Masters of Evil, although the villains are defeated when betrayed by the Black Knight. The Masters of Evil - with the Melter - also accidentally encounter the Avengers during a parade and during the battle are defeated when surprised by the superheroines the Lady Liberators.
The Melter has several battles with Iron Man: at the direction of other-dimensional villain the Black Lama, the Melter joins fellow villains Whiplash and the Man-Bull to form the team the Death Squad and attempt to kill the hero; upgrades once again and attack before being defeated; and reappears, with many other villains, as an employee of criminal mastermind Justin Hammer. At Hammer's direction the Melter and fellow villains have a series of encounters with Iron Man in an unsuccessful attempt to neutralize the hero. After another attempt to sabotage the company Stark International the character makes a brief appearance with other villains in an unsuccessful attempt to kill the Thing.
Eventually, the Melter manages to augment his melting ray's power to its peak, but before he can employ it, he is murdered by the Scourge of the Underworld.
