Guardians of the Universe: Bio, Origin & History

Name: Guardians of the Universe

Founding Members: Maltusians

First Appearance: Green Lantern Vol. 2 #1 (July, 1960)

Created By: John Broome and Gil Kane

Did You Know: The Guardians are the result of genetic engineering

A Little History

Originating from a planet called Maltus, the Guardians of the Universe were the first living beings in existence. As history has shown, single cell organisms gave way to multi-cell organisms and the same thing happened on Maltus. These organism are known as micro-colonies and in their beginning, appeared to form some sort of relationship with other beings on the planet.

With the aid of the micro-colonies, the planets animals grew into humanoid creatures. These creatures, over time, began to establish organization within their own colony and eventually, made dramatic advancements in both science and technology.

A plague

Like the Black Plague that devastated Earth all those years ago, the Maltusians also experienced plague-like devastation. The plague wiped out the inhabitants that dwelled within the cities. However, those who lived outside of the city, remained unaffected.

While out exploring, a group scientists came across a group of women. What made these women special was that they had removed themselves from the colony and were living without the presence of men. The scientists quickly learned that these women, like those within the city walls, housed the plague but because they didn’t come into contact with men, it remained dormant.

What this meant was that for the plague to live, man and woman had to come into contact with one another. Or in other words, for the plague to remain dormant, man had to stay away from woman.

While this may seem like a simple task, the Maltusians still wanted to procreate as a means of expanding their race. This led to the less traditional method of procreation, engineered children. As the years passed, the way in which the children were engineered became more and more advanced. This was so much that eventually the offspring were near immortal.

While this may seem like a simple task, the Maltusians still wanted to procreate as a means of expanding their race. This led to the less traditional method of procreation, engineered children. As the years passed, the way in which the children were engineered became more and more advanced. This was so much that eventually the offspring were near immortal.

Due to their perceived immortality, there was no longer a need for creation. This resulted in the Maltusians ceasing creation. 

Krona

While most of the race was happy with this, a being called Krona was not. He wanted to see the origin of the universe. As such, he set out on a path to find it. As a product of his meddling, he inadvertently created evil.

Due to the creation of evil, the Maltusians left their world and set their course for Oa. With evil now in existence, the Guardians created the Manhunters, or the first intergalactic police force. The Manhunters, for all they did, were flawed and therefore malfunctioned. The malfunctioning caused the Guardians to use the Central Battery to create the Green Power Ring.

And the rest, as they say, is history.