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H.A.R.D. Corps

fictional superhero team

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ5627886 ↗
Source-derived summary

H.A.R.D. Corps is a fictional superhero team appearing in books published by the American publisher Valiant Comics. The H.A.R.D. Corps team first appeared in Harbinger #10 (Oct. 1992), and were created by Jim Shooter and David Lapham.

Publication history

Original Valiant continuity

The original series ran for a total of 30 issues, from December 1992 – June 1995. Bob Layton explained the style of the series: "When David [Michelinie] and I set out to do H.A.R.D.Corps it was because ... We like light-hearted, hard hitting, bash 'em in the face, sock 'em guys."

The cover of the first issue was pencilled by Jim Lee over a layout by Bob Layton. Lee had initially declined to take on the cover because he was too busy, but eventually did it in return for Valiant president Steven Massarsky getting him two U2 tickets.

2012 Valiant continuity

In the second relaunch/reboot of the Valiant Universe, the HARD Corps was prominently featured in the third volume of Bloodshot, from issues 14 to 21. The further highlight this, the third volume was briefly titled Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps.

Premise

Original Valiant continuity

The acronym stands for Harbinger Active Resistance Division.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “H.A.R.D. Corps” is fictional superhero team. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Corps, fictional and superhero, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1992, 1995, 2012—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Corps, fictional and superhero is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “fictional superhero team” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5627886. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1992, 1995 and 2012.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “H.A.R.D. Corps”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow H.A.R.D. Corps primary sources, H.A.R.D. Corps archive and Corps research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “H.A.R.D. Corps” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.