I know there were DC Direct figures, but I've always been super-annoyed Mattel didn't make figures for Superman's supporting cast. Lois Lane seems like a given, but this issue makes a strong case for his pal, too. From 2019,
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1, written by Matt Fraction, art by Steve Lieber.
This one's a lot more cheery and fun than the last
Jimmy Olsen book we saw here, even though it opens with Jimmy's great-great-grand-something Joachim Olsson cheated and murdered by an ancestor of Lex Luthor's, in the settlement that would eventually become Metropolis. In the present, Jimmy is up to his usual ratings-grabbing hijinks, with a daring attempt to skydive from orbit without a parachute, using genetic engineering and Metamorpho cells. (Metamorpho makes a cameo, looking like Jimmy absolutely talked him into a trainwreck of an idea.) This naturally involves Jimmy turning into the traditional giant turtle monster, as Lex Luthor has manipulated this one to destroy local landmark "the Monarch of Metropolis." (Traditionally that sort of thing would be repaired by Superman in one panel on the last page of the story, but does anyone fix anything anymore?)
Perry White has had more than enough of Jimmy's nonsense, and is on the verge of firing him yet again, when an I.T. guy points out the punchline: Jimmy's nonsense is the only part of the
Daily Planet that makes any money, even after a staggering amount of expenses. With the insurance adding up, the publisher suggests embedding Jimmy "somewhere far far far
far away." How about across the bridge in Gotham? That might as well be China. In a horrible, bat-infested apartment, Jimmy wonders how it came to this...as he tacks up the front page of the
Planet asking "Who Killed Jimmy Olsen?"
I feel like I usually pick up the fun books that DC puts out and no one buys, like
Bat-Mite or the last
Bizarro series (that also featured Jimmy) but slept on this one.
3 comments:
To be fair doesn't Rex look like he usually has to be talked into just getting out of bed these days? Ok maybe not now since he has a sweet gig as a member of the Fantastic F-, uh I mean Terrifics. But back then? Probably. Especially if it meant waking up in the same house as evil, asshole father-in-law Simon Stagg.
Speaking of Rex, it really sucks that there's a serious lack of decent scale DC Metamorpho figures. I really wish I had the DCUC one, but try tracking that fucker down.
Back to Olsen, you know, that wasn't a particularly bad idea linking him & Luthor together through that whole ancestor thing which ended up with both having to share ownership of Metropolis. You can definitely build on that.
Hey, I bought Bat-Mite and Bizarro too! Despite the mess that was going on in the main titles, there were some good books in DC You. Doctor Fate was a particular favorite of mine among the ongoing titles.
Not a big fan of this series, though. It felt like it was trying too hard to be too many things. Subplots don't really suit Jimmy.
I know James Robinson kinda leaned into making Jimmy a big-boy reporter, sure; but it's just when Jimmy gets involved whatever conspiracy he was investigating turns out to be dinosaur people or disgruntled clones or something: yes, it's still a problem, and good work digging it up, but the Pulitzer voting is probably not gonna go his way...
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