Once again, Tony's weapons are the victim of sabotage, this time by his once competitor Bruno Horgan, who now calls himself the Mysterious Melter. Tony confronts the Melter as Iron Man, only to find out his own armor is not immune to the effects of the Melter's ray. To make matters worse, the government loses faith in Stark's ability to protect his factories and produce quality products. Tony's left with two choices: stop the sabotage, or watch his industrial empire crumble and fall.

Iron Man finds the Melter eventually, but this time has an ace in the hole. When the Melter tries to melt the Iron Man armour, he finds that his beam doesn't work on it. Despite that, he tries to stop him by melting heavy weights and pipes, but is unsuccessful. Fleeing Iron Man, the Melter jumps down into the sewage system, and it is impossible to know whether he is alive or not.

Accompanying comics include: "Shock!" (Lee, Lieber, Bell, Simek)