Tales of Suspense #89
The Monsterous Menace of the Mysterious Melter!
Following the destruction of his old facility, Tony Stark is overseeing the construction of a new building for Stark Industries.[1] He is visited on-site by Senator Harrington Byrd, who has decided to end his campaign to have Stark reveal Iron Man’s true identity and secrets.[2] He has decided to be satisfied with Stark Industries providing America was weapons and Iron Man being on call when needed. He is also visited by Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan who reveal that they eloped together. Tony is happy to hear that the pair have finally gotten married even though it hurts to lose Pepper, whom he loved deeply. When a crane accidentally drops its load of dirt over the newlyweds, Tony leaps in and shoves Pepper out of harm’s way. Happy gets hurt and Pepper rushes to his side, quashing any doubt Tony might have had about who Pepper truly loved. Luckily, Happy wasn’t seriously hurrt.
In the coming days, Tony tries to bury the pain he feels about losing Pepper by living up the playboy lifestyle. He spends every evening going out on different dates living up the highlife. Although he begins having trouble telling the different women apart, there appears to be no end in sight for Tony’s wild nights and gorgeous dates.
Meanwhile, Bruno Horgan — aka the Melter — has gotten the final components needed to build a new melting gun, thanks to his cellmate who works in the prison machine shop.[3] The Melter uses his improvised melting gun to melt through the bars of their cell. Although he promised to help his cellmate escape as well, the Melter knocks him out and escapes alone. Wearing a new costume, the Melter soon arrives at the Stark Industries construction site.[4] There he hopes to force Tony Stark to build him a new melting gun that is small enough to fit in his pocket.
There he is spotted and confronted by Iron Man. This time the Melter is prepared for the hero and has studded his hood with melting rays as well. Worse, the Melter has also altered his weapon so that it can melt substances other than metal. With his armor more vulnerable than ever, Iron Man decides to make a strategic retreat after saving some imperiled construction workers. Retreating to his lab, Tony Stark quickly changes out of his Iron Man costume and waits for the Melter. Held at gunpoint, Tony Stark is forced to work on a smaller version of the melting gun, leaving the inventor to wonder how he is going to get himself out of this situation.
Recurring Characters
Iron Man, Melter, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Harrington Byrd
Continuity Notes
The original building was sunk into Subterrantea where it was destroyed in a nuclear explosion. See Tales of Suspense #87-88.
Senator Byrd had been pressing Tony Stark to reveal Iron Man’s identity and secrets since Tales of Suspense #72.
The Melter’s appearance in this story is somewhat complicated. He was last arrested in Avengers #16, but appeared after in Fantastic Four Annual #3 as one of the villains who crashed the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Presumably, when Reed uses a device given to him by the Watcher to banish all the villains the Melter ended up back in prison.
It’s at this point, according to the Marvel Chronology Project, that the Melter was pulled forward in time by Zarrko the Tomorrow Man to battle the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #405. While the MCP says this takes place between pages 8 and 9 (in the middle of Iron Man fight with the Melter) this makes little sense to me. I’d say that it happens between pages 7 and 8 when the Melter escaped from prison but before he arrives at Stark Industries.
Topical References
The Melter states here that he had been prison for a year. This should be considered a topical reference as it measures the length of time between publications. Per the Sliding Timescale, he had only been in prison for a few months at most.
The revolutionary technology of Starktech in this story is, apparently, transistors. This is dated because transistors are common in all electronics.
Back From the Dead!
Answering a distress signal that seemed to come from Bucky Barnes, his former partner from World War II, Captain America has stepped into a trap set by the Red Skull.[1] Captain America is shocked to learn that the Red Skull is still alive, as he believes the Skull had drowned after their last encounter. The Red Skull explains how he survived when he fell into the ocean wearing a suit of golden armor. Although he was separated from the Cosmic Cube, he still had enough influence over the device to have it provide him with air and the strength to swim to shore.[2]
Now, in this hideout left over from the war, the Red Skull intends to have his final revenge against Captain America. First, the Red Skull unleashes both a robot and a tiny missile against the Avenger. However, these are just attempts at toy with Captain America until the main event. Cap is then confronted by what appears to be an adult Bucky Barnes. This man claims to have survived World War II and was “saved” by the Red Skull, who convinced him that Captain America did not care about him. Cap tries to explain to Bucky that this is not the case. However, he explanations fall on deaf ears when he is attacked by Bucky. At first, Captain America thinks that his former partner was brainwashed. However, when he tosses “Bucky” into a nearby wall he shatters into pieces, revealing that this was just a sophisticated robot.
Even though his ploy has been exposed, the Red Skull still believes he has the upper hand. He then activates a trap which causes the walls to close in around Captain America, threatening to crush him.
Recurring Characters
Captain America, Red Skull
Continuity Notes
Bucky is stated to have died during the war. For the longest time, Captain America thought Bucky died trying to disarm a bomb, as seen in Avengers #4. However, Cap will learn years later that Bucky is still alive and was reprogrammed into becoming the Russian assassin known as the Winter Soldier. See Captain America (vol. 5) #14.
For more on the Red Skull’s failed attempt to rule the world with the Cosmic Cube, see Tales of Suspense #79-81.
Topical References
It is stated that Bucky’s death happened 20 years prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference. The Sliding Timescale causes the length of time between the Modern Age and World War II to grow longer with each passing year. See here for more details on that.
