"Who Guards the Guardians?" : Jose Luis / Bob Almond

I've always felt that both of our featured players here -- The Guardian (Jim Harper) and Red Guardian (Tania Belinskaya) -- got short shrift. The Guardian was often forced into playing second fiddle to his school-age sidekicks, the Newsboy Legion. Red Guardian was kind of the fifth or sixth wheel during her brief run in the Defenders. (She later changed her codename to Starlight, but things didn't get much better for her superheroic career.) Pairing them together in power stance feels like a modicum of vindication.

Gorgeously detailed pencils by José Luis, as I'm sure you'll agree. Thanks to Nicholas Bittencourt of Chiaroscuro Studios for managing this commission. The spectacular inks were applied over blueline by the great Bob Almond.

This is Common Elements #175.