Use of customized motorcycle and a set of video-cameras
(Clone)
Enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes
Accelerated healing factor
Access to the Whiz Wagon
Guardian (James Jacob "Jim" Harper and Mal Duncan) is the name of different DC Comicssuperheroes introduced in April 1942 by writer/artist Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby.
Guardian resembles the earlier Kirby and Simon character Captain America (first published 13 months earlier by Marvel Comics), as he had no super powers and carried an indestructible shield. When Kirby returned to DC in 1970, he eventually re-established the character as a supporting one in the Superman franchise: as a clone of Jim Harper who was head of security for Project Cadmus.
In the Arrowverse series Supergirl, James Olsen, portrayed by Mehcad Brooks, became the superhero Guardian. Additionally, James Harper appeared in the first season as a marine colonel portrayed by Eddie McClintock. In the sixth season, Olsen’s sister Kelly Olsen (portrayed by Azie Tesfai) became known as the Golden Guardian.
Guardian (Jim Harper) and the Newsboy Legion's debut. Cover of Star-Spangled Comics vol. 1, 7(April 1942DC Comics), art by Jack Kirby, Joe Simon
Jim Harper is a police officer in Metropolis' Suicide Slum who becomes a vigilante to catch crooks that the law could not prosecute, describing himself as guarding society from criminals.[3] He was trained by ex-boxer Joe Morgan, who also trained Wildcat and Atom. He doesn't have superpowers, but he carries a bulletproof shield.[4]
He is aided by a group of boys known as the Newsboy Legion, to whom he is, literally, a guardian, having volunteered to take them in rather than allowing them to be sent to prison; he does so on the grounds that they are good kids who just needed a chance.[5] The Legion grows up to become the heads of the Cadmus Project, subsequently saving Harper's life by transferring his mind into a younger clone of himself.[1]
It is later revealed that Jim Harper is the great-uncle of Roy Harper, who becomes Green Arrow's sidekick under the name of "Speedy".[6]
Other relatives include his niece Roberta "Famous Bobby" Harper, who is briefly a member of the second Newsboy Legion[7] and Jamie Harper, his grandniece working for the Gotham City police. She works as Robin's personal contact in the GCPD, similar to the role Commissioner James Gordon plays for Batman.[8] After helping Robin and Jason Bard expose two dirty cops in the GCPD, Jamie becomes Detective Specialist and transfers to the Metropolis Science Police.[9]
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth" which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Jim Harper was a police officer in the Metropolis Police Department who secretly fought crime as Guardian.[10] His history of operating in World War II remained intact. To keep Jim Harper alive, Project Cadmus were able to place his memories into a cloned body.[11] Guardian was first seen going after Boss Moxie. He managed to beat up Boss Moxie until the super-powered mob enforcer Red Cloud showed up and landed Guardian in a coma.[12]
Clones of Jim Harper
In Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #135 (January 1971), Jack Kirby reintroduces the boys of the now grown-up Newsboy Legion as supporting characters connected with the DNA Project (later Project Cadmus), a genetics research laboratory. One of the Project's experiments is a clone of the late Jim Harper, who takes up his predecessor's role and becomes the Project's Head of Security as the Golden Guardian. In post-Crisis continuity, this character is simply known as the Guardian.
Harper remains Cadmus' head of security even after the former Newsboys leave. Eventually, he too is killed, although another clone is created and rapidly aged to adulthood, retaining all his predecessor's memories. This Guardian disappears along with the rest of Cadmus following an altercation with Amanda Waller and Lex Luthor, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Following Infinite Crisis, the Guardian clone's backstory was retconned. As Dubbilex explains to Jimmy Olsen, Jim Harper was not killed in the line of duty, but shot by Cadmus' first head of security Jonathan Drew upon discovering the clone was already being created.
It is also revealed that the original Guardian clone had left Cadmus early on, and was now living in the town of Warpath on the Mexican border, where he assisted Greg Saunders. Subsequent appearances of the Guardian were new clones, each of which died within a year.[13]
The original Guardian clone moves to Metropolis with Gwen, an adolescent female clone of himself who he rescued.[14] He later becomes the field commander of the Science Police and joins the Justice League.[15][16][17]
Following the events of War of the Supermen, Harper abandons his role as Guardian and takes his grandniece Jamie to an unknown destination.[18]
In Teen Titans #44 (November 1976), Mal Duncan becomes Guardian, wearing the original's outfit and an exoskeleton with strength augmenting abilities. The two Guardians meet in The Superman Family, when Duncan helps rescue Jim Harper from Adam, an evil clone created using genetic material from Harper and Dubbilex.
The Guardian possesses exceptional combat and tactical skills. He was trained in many forms of fighting, and excelled at gymnastics, thinking quickly on his feet, and deduction. His only weapons are his golden helmet and shield. Guardian often used a customized motorcycle equipped with autopilot and a set of video cameras filming from various angles and recorded on videodisc.
The Jim Harper clone possesses enhanced strength and reflexes, and an accelerated healing factor. As an agent of Cadmus, Harper has access to the Whiz Wagon, a multi-terrain vehicle that can fly and travel underwater.
Other clones of Guardian
There have been other clones of Guardian:
Adam is a binary clone of the first Guardian clone and Dubbilex. He made use of a clone army in a plan to destroy the human race before he perished when Lois Lane set a sonic weapon to attack the large brain that controlled his clone army.[19]
Auron is a clone of Guardian created by Paul Westfield who was modified with an indestructible alloy that was bonded to his skin.[20]
Jim Harper (voiced by Crispin Freeman) is a clone of Roy Harper created by the Light to serve their needs.[22][23] Through programming and hypnosis, Jim operates as a superhero who believes he is Roy's uncle while also working for Project Cadmus. After learning of his true nature, Jim spends the second season searching for Roy and taking part in an intervention for fellow clone, Red Arrow, before retiring the Guardian identity. In the third season, Outsiders, Jim forms a familial relationship with Red Arrow and Roy.
Mal Duncan (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), a member of the Team, becomes the Guardian in the second season episode "Cornered".[23]
An alternate reality variant of James Olsen / Guardian appears in "Crisis on Earth-X".[28] This version is a member of the Freedom Fighters from Earth-X who wears a costume patterned after the American flag. He is tasked with protecting a temporal gateway from the New Reichsmen, but is killed by Nazi Führer Oliver Queen.
In the sixth season of Supergirl, James' sister Kelly (portrayed by Azie Tesfu) becomes the new Guardian.[29]
↑ Wallace, Daniel (2010). "1940s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p.41. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took their talents to a second title with Star-Spangled Comics, tackling both the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion in issue #7.
1 2 "Guardian Voices (DC Universe)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved June 4, 2025. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
