Honor Guard is a hero team in the comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series Astro City

Astro City

Kurt Busiek's Astro City is a comic book series centered on a fictional American city of that name. Written by Kurt Busiek, the series is co-created and illustrated by Brent Anderson with character designs and painted covers by Alex Ross...

, portrayed as the world's most elite or prestigious grouping of superheroes. Created by writer Kurt Busiek

Kurt Busiek

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...

 and artists Brent Anderson

Brent Anderson

Brent Anderson is an American comic book artist known for his work on X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills and the comic book series Astro City.- Early life :...

 and Alex Ross

Alex Ross

Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross is an American comic book painter, illustrator, and plotter. He is praised for his realistic, human depictions of classic comic book characters. Since the 1990s he has done work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics Nelson Alexander "Alex" Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an...

.

Vital Statistics

Status: Active

Members: Black Rapier (chairman), Beautie

Beautie

Beautie is a fictional character in the comic book series Astro City. Created by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, Beautie is a powerful android hero and a member of Astro City's premiere super-hero team, the Honor Guard....

, Cleopatra II, M.P.H., N-Forcer, Quarrel II, Samaritan

Samaritan (comics)

Samaritan is a fictional character in the comic book series Astro City. Created by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, Samaritan is the premier superhero of the world, much in the vein of Superman and Captain Marvel...

.

Former Members include: Cleopatra I, El Hombre

El hombre

El hombre is the tenth album by the folk music artist Rolando Alarcón. On the album he is accompanied by Los Emigrantes.- Track listing :# "El hombre"# "La quebrada de la luna"# "Paloma mía"# "La hierba de los caminos"# "Cuando una tarde salí"...

, Hummingbird, Kitkat, Leopardman, The Living Nightmare, Max O'Millions, Mermaid, Mirage

Mirage (comics)

Mirage is the name of two DC Comics characters. The first was a minor villain of Batman. The second is a heroine who is affiliated with the Teen Titans.-Batman foe:...

, the Silver Agent, Starfighter and Starwoman.

Debuted: 1:1

First appearance: 1959

Base of Operations: A cloaked flying base that, presumably for reasons of security, relocates every month.

But the group usually will go anywhere in the world and even out of this world when there is trouble.

Allies: There have been quite a few heroes who haven't joined the group but have aided the team, including the Bouncing Beatnik, the Old Soldier, Winged Victory

Winged Victory (comics)

Winged Victory is a fictional character in the comic book series Astro City. Created by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, Winged Victory is a prominent superheroine of Astro City, motivated by a powerful desire for social justice and self-sufficiency for...

, the Gentleman, and folktale hero Joe Magarac.

Group history

Honor Guard was founded in 1959 by Max O'Millions to combat the Legions of Midnight. Its original roster also included the Silver Agent, Starwoman, Leopardman and Kitkat, the first N-Forcer, and the first Cleopatra. The Bouncing Beatnik and the Old Soldier assisted Honor Guard on its second case, but did not become members.

Throughout its history, Honor Guard appears to have maintained an active membership of seven members. Kitkat seems to have been replaced by the Mermaid early on, and Max by El Hombre by 1964. During the next few years Hummingbird and Mirage took the places of Leopardman and Starwoman. The Living Nightmare was also a member at some point before November 1972, though it is uncertain whether this was before or during the period of El Hombre's membership. By April 1973, at the time of El Hombre's downfall, the Black Rapier and Starfighter had taken the places of Cleopatra (I) and the Silver Agent. It has not been revealed what new member was brought in to fill the vacancy left by El Hombre's disgrace; possibly the Living Nightmare again, as he was apparently once more a member again sometime in the 1970s and is known to have served on two separate occasions.

The current roster (1995–1998; partial rosters consisting of subsets of the same members are also known from 1991 and 2000) consists of Beautie, the Black Rapier, Cleopatra (II), M.P.H., the N-Forcer, Quarrel (II), and Samaritan. The Black Rapier is the current leader. The modern team has been shown working with Winged Victory and the Gentleman, but these have not become members.

1959

Appearances: 1:2, DA1:0

• Max O'Millions
• Cleopatra I
• Kitkat
• Leopardman
• N-Forcer (costume design 1)
• Silver Agent
• Starwoman

1963?/Early 1960s

Appearances: 2:16

• Silver Agent
• Cleopatra I
• El Hombre (replacing Max O'Millions)
• Leopardman
• Mermaid (replacing Kitkat)
• N-Forcer (costume design 2)
• Starwoman

1964

Appearances: 2:13, 2:16, LH:4

• Silver Agent
• Cleopatra I
• El Hombre
• Hummingbird (replacing Leopardman)
• Mermaid
• Mirage (replacing Starwoman)
• N-Forcer (costume design 2)

1970

Appearances:

• Cleopatra I
• Hummingbird
• Leopardman (returning)
• Mirage
• N-Forcer (costume design 3)
• Starfighter

1973

Appearances: 2:16

• Black Rapier
• El Hombre
• Hummingbird
• Mermaid
• Mirage
• N-Forcer (costume design 3)
• Starfighter

1976

Appearances: DA2:1

• Black Rapier
• Cleopatra I (returning)
• Hummingbird
• The Living Nightmare
• Mirage
• N-Forcer
• Starfighter

1991

Appearances: LH:1

• Black Rapier
• Beautie
• M.P.H.
• N-Forcer (current costume design 4)
• Quarrel II
• Samaritan

1995

Appearances: 1:1, 1:6, 2:6, 2:7, 2:9, 2:19

• Black Rapier
• Beautie
• Cleopatra II
• M.P.H.
• N-Forcer (current costume design 4)
• Quarrel II
• Samaritan

2000-Current Lineup

• Black Rapier
• Cleopatra II
• M.P.H.
• N-Forcer (current costume design 4)
• Quarrel II
• Samaritan
• presumably others who were not shown - possibly the same full line-up as in 1995