Creation

The Custodian debuts in Junkyard Joe #2 by Goeff Johns and Gary Frank.

Major Story Arcs

Unit Beta

The Custodian was employed by the US military in the 1960s. He designed a military drone he called Unit Beta. It was given a human disguise with the alias Joe and placed on a platoon in the Vietnam War, called the Junkyard Dogs. Its mission was to analyze the US's potential for victory in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the mission went poorly when the platoon was ambushed and inadvertently caused the death of a young girl. The loss of the girl overwhelmed Joe's programming and caused him to malfunction.

He thought Joe was lost until many decades later when Joe tracked down the only surviving Junkyard Dog, Muddy Davis. The Custodian was able to track his operating system, where he attempted to take Joe in. Joe had a new family thanks to Muddy and his neighbors, The Munns, inspiring the whole town to come to his defense. This forced the government forces to abandon their attempt, taking an injured Custodian with them.

Presidential Advisor

After the Unknown War, the United States was a broken place, but there was still a would-be commander and chief, President Griffin. The Custodian was employed as one of his advisors. He was aiding him in researching some of the fantastical heroes in America, including Geiger, the Glowing Man. After he was spotted in Montana, Custodian joined the President's entourage to find the Glowing Man. The Custodian was excited to find Junkyard Joe had become one of Geiger's traveling companions. He attempted to take possession of Joe but was stabbed by Nate the Nuclear Knight, another of Geiger's friends.

Custodian and his army of Junkyard Joe lookalike robots managed to hunt down Gieger again when he broke out of Coldwater Prison. Geiger was alone this time, so Custodian had him captured and tortured for answers on where Joe is. Eventually, Barney came to Geiger's rescue, biting Custodian's hand off. Soon after, the US Army arrived with President Griffin, who wanted words with Geiger. The two radioactive warriors did battle while the Army and robots tried to hold off Geiger's travelling companions, who finally caught up with him.

Ultimately, Custodian tried to shoot Geiger, only to shoot Dr. Molotov, who stepped in front of the bullet and died. Nate and Geiger wanted to confront him, but Joe beat them to it. Rather than beat his father, he removed his robotic hand and gave it to Custodian as a replacement. Custodian didn't understand, so Nate explained the helping is just what Joe does.

Character Profile

• Height: 5'9"
• Weight: 139 lbs
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: White
• Marital Status: Single
• Known Relatives: None
• Distinguishing Features: Wears a mask designed like Junkyard Joe's faceplate, lost his right hand.