Who's This? Captain America's cousin.
The facts: When Simon & Kirby left Timely Comics for a better deal at National (DC), they were naturally best known for Captain America. So why not create a new shield-sporting hero at the new company? It could have been a very simple self-rip-off, but their interest in "boy gangs" gave it a fresh spin. Star-Spangled Comics #7 (April 1942) really introduces us to the Newsboy Legion as the stars of a new strip. The Guardian is merely the superhero who acts as their guardian angel (ha!), both in costume and as beat cop Jim Harper. Their adventures would last until #64 of the anthology title (January 1947), though by then, Simon & Kirby were off the strip. Jim Harper and the gang would be back when Kirby returned to DC in the early 70s, all as clones of the originals, created by the Cadmus Project. This strand would be picked up in the post-Crisis Superman books (especially those written and drawn by Jerry Ordway), and Guardian would stand as one of the "Guardians of Metropolis" after Superman's apparent death. He would remain active until 2010's War of the Supermen event, during which he abandons the role. Others have taken on the mantle during his breaks, people like Mal of the Teen Titans and Jake Jordan of the 7 Soldiers of Victory.
How you could have heard of him: In Young Justice, Jim Harper is a clone of ROY Harper (Speedy). He also appears in live action in the Supergirl show (with Jimmy Olsen and his sister also bearing the famous shield).
Example story: Star-Spangled Comics #18 (March 1943) "The Education of Iron-Fist Gookin" by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby and Arturo Cazeneuve
So this story is about Iron-Fist (not THAT Iron Fist), a goon who's made fun of for being dumb and uneducated. After he sees Big Words of the Newsboys talking up a verbose storm while selling war bonds, he makes a deal with the boy: He'll buy the lot if B.W. teaches him some vocabulary. But will that make Iron-Fist more of an underworld concern? Beat cop Jim Harper seems to think so.
As is usual, the Newsboys are convinced Harper is the Guardian and he denies it. My favorite bit is that Scrapper almost brains him with a brick there. Meanwhile, Iron-Fist announces his bid to take over the mob, now that he can talk good. And in a twist, the boss decides to take the heat off him by letting the big lug take his place for a while. After all, the business runs itself with all the stuff they gang has got planned. Almost immediately, the crooks are leaving Iron-Fist behind at crime scenes, and if he weren't so tough, the cops would probably have been able to apprehend him. The crime spree activates our man Guardian:
He's smart enough to know Iron-Fist isn't the top of the food chain, but he wants answers, so he crashes the goon's pad just as Big Words is starting a new lesson:
Someone should tell the Guardian that the shield is for blocking, not punching (though that works too). Ok, he heard me.
But it looks like he couldn't block that last bullet (must've been the confusing page layout) and he's now dead. The Newsboy witnesses are taken to get killed too, inside an empty rooftop reservoir. But Iron-Fist isn't down for moider, so he fights back on their behalf. And gets shot for his trouble. Meanwhile, reports of the Guardian's death have been greatly exaggerated. it's the old "bullet grazed my skull" bit (well, he does wear a helmet), so get ready for another bold SUDDENLY!
A quick fight later, Sharpy and his men are down and Iron-Fist recovers. Guardian leaves them to the cops, still pretending not to be one.
Harper goes to bat for Iron-Fist and a judge agrees to let him off if he'll go to school and turn his life around. Which he does! Or at least, starts to, in a third-grade classroom with little kids. As for the Newsboys, they do wonder how Officer Jim can have bandages on his head where the Guardian was shot, and I'm not sure his "walked into a door" excuse is gonna fly. No wonder the kids keep coming back to this.
These strips are a lot of fun. The kid gang is an excuse to do comedy, but then a superhero shows up to provide some action beats. I like Harper as the "guardian angel" of not just these four kids, but Suicide Slum in general. He seems to know everyone and likes to give a mug a chance. And we know Kirby can do Captain America-style action, so this is a Golden Age winner.
Who's Next? The Green Lanterns' creators.
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