In late 1940, Dr. August Ringstrom, a renowned scientist working for the US Army, discovered a way to enhance the physical abilities of some people far beyond the normal human limits. The Army was uncertain how to use the technology, as only a few people were compatible with the secret process. It appeared unlikely that even a single platoon of such super-soldiers could be produced.

But even as the first successful subject, called Candidate A, underwent testing, and Dr. Ringstrom developed a blood test to identify potential future candidates, a lowly Private assigned to the project as a guard showed a fateful comic book to his commanding officer: Captain America.

The details of the fictional character's transformation were just too close to the actual secret process, and G-men were dispatched to the offices of Timely Comics to arrest the creators of the character as spies. A young employee of Timely, a man named Stanley Lieber, convinced the investigators that the whole thing was a coincidence. But the success of the comic gave the commander, General Fawcett, an idea.

The Nazis were famous for their propaganda, in particular their claim to be a "super-race" of men, and General Fawcett realized the super-soldiers under his command could be made into a powerful source of propaganda against them. He ordered the creation of a costume for Candidate A, now called Captain America, and he allowed Timely Comics to continue producing their comic. Timely changed the character in the comics to resemble the new Captain America, and the first real superhero was created.

Captain America made several public appearances on behalf of the Army, and they were masterpieces of propaganda and showmanship, with the "hero" promoting patriotic and pro-Army themes. Soon two more candidates, B and C, appeared. Candidate B's treatment appeared unsuccessful (more about this later), but C made up for it, becoming even more powerful than Captain America. Clad in metal armor to protect him from his own strength, he was called Dynamo Joe.

The attack on Pearl Harbor came just as Candidates D and E were receiving their treatments. Candidate D received enhanced strength, nearly as great as Captain America's, but in addition became superhumanly fast. He received the codename Sergeant Thunder.

Candidate E developed levels of power similar to Captain America, and acquired a gold-colored costume and the codename Lieutenant Liberty.

Even though the United States was now in the war, the mission of the Super-Soldier Corps (as it was now called) didn't change for a while. They continued to make public appearances, demonstrating their superhuman abilities and delivering their patriotic message. But this would change...

Candidate F was not revealed to the public until after the war; General Fawcett was unwilling to present a woman as a "super soldier." She was only identified due to a lab technician's mistake, as the blood test was supposed to be given to men only. Dr. Ringstrom was curious about the treatment's effects on a woman, and insisted she be allowed into the program after she volunteered.

It was during Candidate F's treatment that the truth about Candidate B became clear: rather than receiving physical enhancement from the treatment, he had received enhanced intelligence. Jealous of his "comrades," he sold out to the Nazis, becoming a double agent. During F's treatment, B broke into Dr. Ringstrom's office and stole something, then fled the country. Though he was pursued both by Captain America and by a number of G-men, his enhanced intelligence allowed him to out-think them all and escape.

Whatever he stole was obviously critical to the Super-Soldier Project, since no further American super-soldiers appeared after this point. In 1943, the Nazis fielded their first super-agent, Oberster Soldat (Supreme Soldier); he displayed superior strength and reflexes, and many now believe he received his power from the same source as the American super-soldiers. Of course, the successful theft of technology from the Super-Soldier Project was kept secret as long as possible, but when Oberster Soldat appeared, the Army admitted that "crucial secrets were stolen by a German secret agent." The real story was kept secret until the 1960's.

The German super-soldiers, led by Candidate B (called Hauptgemut, which in English is "Mastermind"), began taking direct action in the war, leading several successful attacks against Allied positions. This led to the first change in the mission of the Super-Soldier Corps, as they found themselves deployed to Europe. Travelling in the advanced Hummingbird flyer, Captain America and Dynamo Joe began actively hunting Mastermind and his small team of super-soldiers, while Lieutenant Liberty and Sergeant Thunder were deployed with a variety of regular Army units to assist in combat operations. Despite battling toe-to-toe several times, the American and German super-soldiers were never able to gain a significant victory over each other.

At the end of the war, the Nazi super-soldiers all went underground; some of them turned up years later in the service of the Soviet Union, while others became free agents or went into hiding in various foreign countries. The American Super-Soldier Corps continued to fight for the U.S. Army, and shortly were deployed to Korea to assist in resolving the conflict there.

It was in Korea that Captain America died, poisoned by a Chinese agent; Dynamo Joe was also poisoned, but was able to resist the poison. He subsequently brought the Chinese agent to justice. Lieutenant Liberty and Sergeant Thunder both chose to resign from the Army when the opportunity arose, but Dynamo Joe continued in service to the Army until he died of unknown (or unrevealed) causes in 1959.

The 1960's brought social changes in the United States, and at the forefront of these changes were Candidates D and F. Candidate D, codenamed Sergeant Thunder, appeared in 1961 in a new costume that revealed his secret: Sergeant Thunder was black. His commanders during the war were unhappy that he received the treatment; only at the insistence of Dr. Ringstrom were black troops tested, and only Candidate D tested positive. Calling himself Black Thunder, he revealed that the Army elected to keep him a sergeant, even though Dynamo Joe received a field promotion from Corporal to First Lieutenant upon successfully being treated. Initially angry and defiant, Black Thunder came to believe in the nonviolent approach advocated by Dr. King, and became his bodyguard. This, unfortunately, did not prevent his assassination; Black Thunder discovered that he was not actually faster than a speeding bullet.

Black Thunder found James Earl Ray within a minute, and in a fit of rage killed him. He then surrendered and was tried and sentenced to twenty years in prison; he was paroled in 1979 and, despite his age, resumed his superhero career. Black Thunder was killed in action in 1983 while fighting against the neo-Nazi supervillain White Lightning. Lieutenant Liberty, long since retired, returned to active duty and apprehended White Lightning, who was subsequently sentenced to death. White Lightning was executed in November 1991.

The Guardians were formed by Vigilante, Iron Knight and Lightning Bolt in 1985. In 1987, Vigilante was badly injured in a battle with the Fourth Reich, and worse, his secret identity was revealed. While he lay in a hospital bed recovering, several Franks International board members brought suit against him for engaging in dangerous activities and lying to the board (they didn't like it that he was "playing superhero" when he was supposed to be running the company, and he also appropriated technology his company was building for the US Army and got it destroyed in the battle). The settlement left Franks with less than a controlling interest in his own company.

However, the Guardians were backed by a nonprofit organization, the Guardian Foundation, and the finances of the Foundation were unaffected. The new leadership of Franks International, irritated that they couldn't evict the Guardians from the building, moved the corporate offices to the World Trade Center.

The Guardians' membership dwindled over the next several years as members moved on to other areas or even other worlds. By 1992, the only remaining Guardians member was Micron, a former villain who turned hero after repeated battles with Iron Knight. At that time, a new influx of heros into the New York area led to the reformation of the team, under the guidance of Micron.

The new Guardians served with honor for several years, though they never faced a super-threat as significant as the opponents fought by the original Guardians. That all changed on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center was attacked.

Almost all the superheros in the New York area, as well as several from other areas who were able to arrive in time, were inside the towers when the first one fell. The Guardians were all within the first tower, and all were killed.

Of course, the Franks International offices were destroyed in the attack. Fortunately for the employees of the company, the offices were located in the lower floors of the World Trade Center, and almost all of the employees thus survived.

The upheaval in the aftermath of the attack allowed Franks to finally reacquire controlling interest in his company (by means of private stock deals with some of his former rivals). He moved the corporate offices back into the Franks building, and immediately submitted bids on several newly-created homeland security projects. His special genius building powered armor made Franks and his company very interesting to those government and military organizations trying to build up defenses against terrorism.

The irony of the situation, with respect to the Guardians' headquarters, is that Franks, as administrator of the Foundation, had arranged for renovation of the headquarters and significant upgrades to the computer (known then as the G1000 computer). The main HQ was closed almost completely in July 2001, and was slated to reopen September 15th. The Guardians never got to see their renovated headquarters.

The Department of Homeland Security took over control of the Iron Man armor originally created by Jonathon Franks for the US Army, and began creating squads of the newly formed Iron Man Brigade. The first squad approached Avenger, a well-known superhero of the Washington, DC area; they fought, after which Avenger decided to move to New York. In the absence of the Guardians, the citizens of the Big Apple welcomed him.

In 2006 a few new superheros turned up in New York. After careful study of the new crop of heros, Jonathon Franks chose to approach ?, a former astronaut who developed psionic powers after exposure to cosmic radiation. He invited her, along with the mystical Avatar of Ganesh (called "White Elephant" by the newspapers) and Speedgirl, to form a new group of Guardians.