Guardian by Jason Copland

Uncanny X-Men #109 Revisted by John Byrne

Uncanny X-Men #109, originally drawn by Dave Cockrum, reimagined 

by John Byrne for Alpha Flight #17 and a recent commission.

1983 - Marvel Age #2 - Alpha Flight Interview with John Byrne

1984 - Anatomy of a Cover - Alpha Flight #17

Vindicator vs. Captain America circa 1970/71

John Byrne explained in The X-Men Companion:

Vindicator goes back to my college days, when he was called the Sentinel, and then the Guardian… I created him in 1970 or 1971… In fact, somewhere Duffy Vohland, I think, has a badly colored page that has Vindicator battling Captain America that dates from those early days.

Tip of the hat to the John Byrne Draws.. Tumblr page.

1978 - The Canadian Shield

On the origins of Alpha Flight from Byrne Robotics:

"It was Chris who came up with the name Alpha Flight. My name for the group, back when they (or some of them, anyway) were fan characters, was the Canadian Shield. This was not a reference to SHIELD, in the Marvel Universe, but to the arc of mountains that curve around Hudson's Bay. (Hudson's Bay also gave Guardian his real name.) 

Obviously, we couldn't use "the Canadian Shield" for the group in X-MEN, so after I gave up trying to come up with something better, Chris used "Alpha Flight", which I have never much cared for.

Guardian went thru something similar. I was told I could not use my original name for him because of the Guardians of the Galaxy. So Chris started calling him "Major Maple Leaf" and I was desperately afraid that would stick. I tried to come up with something else, but nothing worked. It was Chris who dubbed him "Vindicator", naming him after a WW2 fighter plane. When I asked what Canada had to "vindicate" there was no answer. Thus we got the first of many names that had nothing to do with what the character was all about.

By the time Alpha got their own book, I was able to argue in favor of restoring "Guardian", tho many still call the character "Vindicator", unaware of this "behind the scenes" stuff."

1983 - John Byrne's Guardian

1981 - Vindicator by John Byrne

http://www.artofjohnbyrne.com/gallery/sketches/sketch-marvel/sketch-af/sketch-vindicator.jpg.php

1981 - John Byrne's Vindicator

1980 - Wolverine vs. Guardian by John Byrne