(Clone) Guardian (James Jacob "Jim" Harper and Mal Duncan) are DC Comics superheroes introduced in April 1942 by writer/artist Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby.

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.

[1][2] 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.

[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.

[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.

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.

[17] Following the events of War of the Supermen, Harper abandons his role as the Guardian and takes Jamie (now pregnant with Mon-El's child) off to an unknown destination.

The Harper clone's exact strength level is unknown but has demonstrated the ability to hurt Superboy (who he trained in hand-to-hand combat) and Kryptonians from Kandor.

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.