Melter's melting ray

The Melter's melting ray is a fictional item featured in comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is an energy weapon used by the character of Bruno Horgan, aka, the Melter and first appeared in Tales of Suspense #47 in November, 1963. An upgraded version of the melting ray was seen in Tales of Suspense #89 in May, 1967. A third melting ray was once again developed and included as part of the Melter's costume. This version made it's first appearance in Iron Man, Volume 1 #92 in November, 1976.

The original melting ray emitted a beam of concentrated microwave energy, which could be used to... well, melt stuff. The Melter had it installed into a harness on his costume, with the projection aperture centered on his chest. It was this device that he used when he first fought Iron Man, who was wearing the Iron Man armor MK II at the time. The Melting ray was capable of breaking down the molecular bonds of Iron Man's titanium steel alloy.

The second melting ray was fitted into a handgun, which is the device that Horgan used throughout most of his career. This too was a powerful weapon, even more so than the original chest harness and was capable of melting the shell of Iron Man's Mark V armor.