Guardians of the Globe

The Guardians of the Globe are a fictional superhero team in the Image Comics Universe, appearing primarily in the comic Invincible. The original team was based on DC Comics' Justice League of America.

The original Guardians of the Globe

The original Guardians of the Globe was a private organization funded by War Woman and Darkwing. This version of the Guardians was a pastiche of DC Comics' Justice League of America (JLA), with each of the Guardians (with the exception of Black Samson) having an obvious JLA analogue. Robert Kirkman, in his author notes for Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1, explains that he went with these archetypes because he had only 18 pages to get the reader to care for the characters before their brutal deaths.

Along with Black Samson (who is in part based on Doc Samson), the team included: the Immortal (based on Superman); Darkwing (based on Batman); War Woman (based on Wonder Woman); a Russian named Red Rush (based on the Flash); Aquarus, the King of Atlantis (based on Aquaman); Martian Man (based on the Martian Manhunter); and the Green Ghost (based on Green Lantern). Omni-Man, although never an official member of the team, was a trusted associate of the Guardians, and knew the location and password of the Guardians secret headquarters in Utah. This trust let Omni-Man betray and murder the Guardians, after calling them to their headquarters on an emergency. The only member of the Guardians to survive the massacre was Black Samson, who was not actively a member at that time (due to the loss of his powers). The Immortal subsequently returns to life due to the nature of his power.

The new Guardians of the Globe

After the murder of the original team, the United States government re-established the Guardians of the Globe as a state-funded agency. This new team was led by former Teen Team leader Robot, under the direct supervision of Donald, the government's superhuman liaison. Donald was ultimately responsible to Cecil Stedman. Along with Robot, the initial lineup for the new team included Dupli-Kate and Rex Splode from the Teen Team, Monster Girl, Shrinking Ray, and Black Samson, the only surviving member of the old team.

The new team's performance in its first few months did not live up to expectations of its superiors, leading Donald and Cecil to make some changes. Bulletproof was added to the team's roster, and the newly resurrected Immortal was brought in as a consultant to improve standards. After the team continued to under-perform, the Immortal replaced Robot as team leader.

Although not actually a member himself (Robot said he was always welcome if he becomes interested), Invincible reports to the same agency and often helps the team in dire circumstances.

When most of the Guardians' most powerful members were sent into space to thwart a Martian invasion, they were successful, but while they were away, the team's weaker members were required to stop the Lizard League's plot to take command of nuclear warheads. Dupli-Kate and Shrinking Ray were killed by the villain Komodo Dragon; Rex Splode was badly injured in the fight, but survived.

After lashing out at Allen the Alien (who was only looking for Invincible), the Immortal realized just how deeply he had been affected by Dupli-Kate's death and resigned from the Guardians. However, it was revealed that Dupli-Kate was still alive, as she had always left her "Zero" behind on missions.

Parody team and Mini-Series

On March 15, 2010, Image began releasing teaser posters announcing members of a new Guardians of the Globe team as a parody of Marvel's advertisements for the line ups of their revamped Avengers, New Avengers, Secret Avengers and Avengers Academy books. The released posters, in order of appearance, were:

• Invincible from Invincible ^[1]
• Spawn from Spawn ^[2]
• Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead ^[3]
• U.S. President Barack Obama ^[4]
• "Gary" Potter, a parody of Harry Potter ^[5]

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Kirkman explained that although the later images were deliberately farcical, the campaign was intended to announce a six-issue miniseries spinning out of Invincible. The miniseries, he said, would deal with the earthbound characters of the Invincible universe, while that title focused on "The Viltrumite War", an eight-issue storyline that would be set solely in space. The six-issue series, named Guarding the Globe, was launched on August 25, 2010. The Parody Team was featured in a one-page backup in the first issue.^[6][7]

On March 21, 2010, Image began releasing teaser images of the team's real members done in the same style as the parody images. This set of posters, in order appearance, were:

• Brit from Brit ^[8]
• Outrun ^[9]
• Kaboomerang ^[10]
• Yeti ^[11]
• Bulletproof ^[12]

Outrun, Kaboomerang, and Yeti are all new characters created for the series. Issue three of the new bimonthly miniseries also introduced El Chupacabra from Mexico, a washed up superhero who is an alcoholic with razor-sharp claws and other abilities. In issue four, seven additional new characters are added.

Japandroid

A little android girl from Japan.

Cast Iron

A metal-skinned man from Yugoslavia.

Knockout

A boxing heroine from the United States of America. Formerly a Capes, Inc. character.

Best Tiger

A blindfolded gunman from the People's Republic of China.

Le Brusier

A french bulldog from France.

Kid Thor

A mallet-wielding strongman from Canada, also formerly from Capes Inc.

Pegasus

A winged woman from Russia.

Currently most sot of the surviving member of the Guardians of the Globe are the prisoners of Robot who has established a secret world dictatorship with himself as the head.

In Robot's initial attack Black Samson was killed in his barbershop. Knockout was killed by a Robot drone after attempting to revive her husband Kid Thor who had been reduced to a desiccated corpse due to a Robot Drone blasting his hammer free of his grasp. Kid Thor had previously been shown to need to hold his hammer at all times to allow it to keep him alive. Knockout retrieved Kid Thor's hammer and placed d it in his remaining hand. Kid Thor reanimated just in time to see Knockout decapitated by a Robot Drone. Kid Thor attacked the drone but his hammer was swiftly destroyed by the drone implying that Kid Thor died as well. Pegasus managed to escape the initial attack while flying a wounded Yeti to safety.

However Brit, Outrun, Kaboomarang, Le Brusier, Pegasus and Yeti were all later captured by Robot's drones following Bulletproof's betrayal of the remaining Guardians in exchange for his freedom.

Of the Guardians present only Best Tiger escaped. The Immortal and Dupli-Kate remain free and in hiding-attempting to foster a rebellion against Robot.

References