Blastfurnace

Origin

In order to deal with the mutant right's activist Reverend William Conover, Simon Trask, head of the anti-mutant organization known as Humanity's Last Stand, formed his own version of the Mutant Liberation Front, allowing him to capture Conover and discredit mutants at the same time. Blastfurnace was constructed by Shaw Industries to serve as a member of this MLF.

Creation

Blastfurnace was created by John Ostrander, Tom Lyle, and Robert Jones.

Major Story Arcs

Total X-Tinction

Friend Or Foe?

Blastfurnace was first sent by the MLF to dispose of the body of Deadeye, one of their previous agents who'd been killed by the Punisher, in order to prevent an autopsy from being performed on him. Afterwards, he teleported into the soup kitchen of the Glory Day Ministry where he killed fellow agent Corpus Derelicti after he'd been gravely injured by the Punisher. Blastfurnace then took up his mission to capture Conover by and was forced to face off against his bodyguards: the Punisher, SHIELD agent Kymberly Taylor, and FBI agent Carl Denti, better known as the X-Cutioner.

Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down

Blastfurnace appeared to be immune to most of his opponent's weapons and had the upper hand until the X-Cutioner was able to blow a hole through his body with with the use of his Shi'ar power lance. The Punisher then used a fireman's hose to shoot water into Blastfurnace's armor, with the build-up of steam eventually causing him to explode.

Unmasked

As the remains of Blastfurnace were being examined by some investigators, a new Blastfurnace appeared, killed them, and destroyed his predecessor's remains. Blastfurnace later accompanied various members of the MLF in capturing Denti after he claimed to have proof that they were not actually mutants. The MLF were forced to battle the Punisher and Taylor, but they proved victorious in the end and made off with Denti to the Humanity's Last Stand compound, unaware that it was part of the Punisher's plan.

Dead to Rights

Escaping the compound, Denti was able to lead the Punisher and Taylor to it, and together they battled the MLF once again. Blastfurnace faced off against the Punisher again, but he was able to destroy Blastfurnace by throwing a grenade down his throat.

Powers and Abilities

Blastfurnace was a remote-controlled robot with a immensely durable outer shell that gave it a high degree of invulnerability to most physical and energy-based attacks. It could generate flames from its wrists and "mouth" which could reduce a human body to ashes within seconds. As a robot, Blastfurnace could be easily rebuilt and replaced.

Like all of Trask's MLF members, Blastfurnace also had a teleportation device incorporated into its armor.