Out of all the supporting characters in the Superman mythos,
Cub reporter Jimmy Olsen owes the most
to non-comics media. Arguably debuting as a nameless "office
boy" in Action Comics #6 (Nov 1938) it wasn't until
radio's Adventures of Superman that the red-haired
boy wonder got his name. While he made only sporadic appearances
in the comics through the forties, he had a big role in
the Columbia serials Superman ('48) and Atom
Man Vs. Superman (50), played with pugilistic gusto
by ex-Our Gang member Tommy Bond.
It
was on television, however, that Jimmy found his greatest
fame, embodied by the talented and charismatic Jack
Larson, who made Jimmy a super-loyal chum with
a heart as big as all outdoors and a brain...well, considerably
smaller. The popularity of the show and Larson's portrayal
led directly to the 1954 launch of Superman's Pal, Jimmy
Olsen, marking the first time a superhero's civilian
sidekick was awarded a title of his own.
For years, the comic book Jimmy mirrored his TV counterpart:
worshipful of his super-powered pal, with a knack for landing
in hot water, nearly boundless gullibility and a charming
if largely unfounded confidence in his own talents. His
comics were full of lame-brained hijinks and frequent transformations
into bizarre new creatures, all related with the kind of
"hip lingo" and insight into American teenage
life you could only get from the forty- and fifty-something
stuffed shirts at DC Comics.
In the early 70s, Jimmy would get a radical overhaul at
the hands of Jack
Kirby, who evolved Olsen from "cub reporter"
to man of adventure, and paved the way for the "Mr
Action" persona he would adopt for the balance
of the 70s and 80s. Still, it's "goofy" Jimmy
that always interested me most, so those are the stories
I focus on here:
