8 DC Characters Shamelessly Ripped-Off From Marvel

6. Guardian Is Another Patriot With A Shield

Captain America is far and away the most important and iconic hero of the Second World War. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941 for Timely Comics, Steve Rogers would develop into a pivotal figure in the Marvel Universe, and an icon of the genre more generally too.

Things could've been different though. Just a year after Cap made had made his first attempt at punching Hitler, Simon and Kirby had left for National Comics (later to be named DC Comics). With their arrival came the creation of Guardian, a blatant analogue to their original Cap concept.

Going by the name Jim Harper, Guardian was a police officer by day and a vigilante by night, pursuing the criminals that the long arm of the law had failed to apprehend. He rode around in something called the Whiz Wagon, and commanded the respect of The Newsboy Legion, both concepts that somehow failed to usurp the Quinjet and the Avengers in terms of popularity, somewhat bizarrely.

Guardian has since gone on to appear in a whole host of comics, TV series and more, with different characters under the mantle. He might pale in comparison to the star-spangled man with a plan, but - as far as rip-offs go - he's a pretty innocuous one.