Iron Man (1968 series) #92

Review: I’ve always like the Melter; he had a simple gimmick and it worked well against his chosen nemesis, a dude with a metal suit and really, Tony Stark had reason to be afraid of this guy. Don’t know why everyone else hated him; maybe because his gimmick was too simple, leaving no room for any complex character development. Case in point: this issue where for some unexplained reason he cracks up at the end when he sees two Iron Men. Hmm, that came out of nowhere. My biggest quibble is with how easily he robbed the military convoy; what happened to all the soldiers guarding the nuclear weapon? Melter jumps out, melts several vehicles; when Shellhead arrives there are no soldiers anywhere to be seen. Wouldn’t they have had a hundred guards watching this thing? Where did they all go? Surely it would take only a handful of guys to distract the baddie and shoot him down? Guess they had to make him more formidable as though having a melting ray wasn’t threatening enough for a hero wrapped in metal. Oh well. Best part: the cool montage style page showing Iron Man’s armor being destroyed piece by piece at the bridge confrontation. See? Cooler than everybody thinks.

Comments: Story takes place immediately after GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS #6. Melter was last seen in issue #72 and will return in DEFENDERS #64 and IRON MAN #123-127. When Tony ponders who the saboteur could be he thinks of Mandarin and Midas; why Midas? He was never a major threat and he (apparently) perished in issue #19—seven years earlier.