Guardian was most interesting...

...when writers weren't killing themselves trying to make him interesting.

In an effort to accurately fill the "Appearances" page, I've been marathon-reading Guardian's various incarnations.  While I don't hold John Byrne in quite the same high regard as many fellow Alpha Flight fans, it's easy to recognize that the team was at its best in his hands, Guardian included (Well...Killing him aside, of course...).  It's even more glaring when you read the material in quick succession.

Subsequent writers seemed to bend over backwards to give Guardian some quirk to make him more interesting, or unique.  Fabian Nicieza brought him back as a cyborg, only to have him "die" again less than two years later.  Simon Furman has him brought back as the Antiguard...

Whatever an Antiguard is, it's pretty chatty.

...then next thing we know, Steven Seagle has de-evolved him to a 19-year old as the second volume begins.

So note to future writers: There's no need for all crap. It might seem cool on the surface, but Guardian is not that type of character.  From his early X-Men appearances to his apparent death in #12, he progressed from a reluctant government agent to a more confidant leader who grew to enjoy his position as defender of the country.  This page from issue #6 underscores that very well.

Of course, in hindsight, he sounds like the "perfect partner" in the cop movies who is two days away from  retirement and gets blown away on his last assignment.

Still, it was far easier for the reader to relate to Guardian as someone out of his element growing into the role than it was to relate to whatever the hell an Antiguard was supposed to be.  Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente got that in the most recent mini-series.  Hopefully the next person to handle the character does too.