GUARDIAN III (Jim Harper III)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Jack Kirby

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Jim Harper III
Occupation: Project Cadmus head of security
Marital Status: Presumed single
Base of Operation: Project Cadmus
Group Affiliation(s): Project Cadmus
Gender: Male
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 203 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
First Appearance: Pre-Crisis: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #135 (January 1971)
Modern: Superman Annual Vol. 2 #2 (1988)
Creators: Jack Kirby

HISTORY

After the original Guardian was killed by Codename: Assassin, a clone was created by the old Newsboy Legion and became head of security of Project Cadmus. This clone left Cadmus early on, and subsequent appearances of the Guardian were new clones, each of which died within a year.

During a takeover of the Project by Sleez, the old Newsboys were cloned as spare parts with the memories of the originals, thus, a new, teenaged, Newsboy Legion was born. Once again, Jim Harper became their Guardian, helping the boys to grow-up and keeping them out of trouble. [Superman Annual Vol. 2 #2]

After Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday, Project Cadmus director Paul Westfield stole his body from its grave and assigned a team to clone a new Superman. Unfortunately, Kryptonian DNA proved unbreakable and Cadmus had to settle for other options. The first functional cloned metahuman was Auron, based on Guardian's genetic makeup. Then, experiments were made with the kinetic aura that surrounded Superman's body. The result was Superboy but the Newsboys helped him to escape. Later, when the Kid came back to Cadmus as a field agent, the Guardian took him under his wing and he became kind of a father-figure to the Teen of Steel.

During the war that opposed Cadmus to Lexcorp, Westfield was killed by Dabney Donovan. The dying Lex Luthor II (in fact Lex I who posed as his own heir in a cloned young body realized by Dabney Donovan) sent a group of Team Luthor enforcers to steal the serum Cadmus had devised from Guardian's blood to cure the clone-plague. The freshly resurrected Superman, along with Superboy opposed them and Luthor's men detonated a bomb in the Project's power core. The resultant explosion totally erased Mount Curtis from the map.

With Westfield deceased and the outside world believing the Project destroyed, Cadmus was ready for a fresh start. Mickey Cannon took Westfield's place as director-in-chief and the old directors (the first Newsboys) along with the young Newsboys (their clones) decided to leave Cadmus. The Guardian remained as head of security but had to share his duties with Adam Winterbourne. Later, Harper became a field agent for the Project and shared an uneasy relation with Cadmus' new recruit, the reformed villain Mick Rory, also known as Heat Wave. In 2001, Jim Harper learned of his family ties with Roy Harper, the hero known as Arsenal (Jim was the uncle of Roy's father).

In the war against Imperiex the Guardian led the D-Company, whose objective was to insert the Human Bomb on site and help him deliver his payload. [Superboy Vol. 3 #91]

The energy being called Shrapnel, able to inhabit and animate scraps of metals, managed to kill the Guardian during a fight. While Jim Harper had, by the past, expressed the vow of not being cloned again after his death, the US government (with Lex Luthor president) had other plans. the army send General Good and the D.N.Angels clones made by the Agenda, to clone a batch of Guardians to fight against Imperiex. Superboy managed to destroy the clones and General Rock put a stop to the operation but the Guardian lived again.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

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 video-disc.

The Harper clone possesses enhanced strength, reflexes and an accelerated healing factor. As an agent of Cadmus, Jim Harper also has access to the wondrous Whiz Wagon. The Hairies (a super-advanced tribe of techno-wizards, originally genetic creations of Donovan, who left Cadmus) built the Whiz Wagon to handle every situation. It can adapt to every terrain, fly and even go underwater. The Wagon can be remote controlled or pre-programmed and is equipped with a set of powerful weapons and various gadgets.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Guardian in chronological order click here