Jimmy Olsen
Entry updated 12 May 2025. Tagged: Character, Comics.
DC Comics character (full name James Bartholomew Olsen), long-time close friend of Superman. He merits attention here because, among other reasons, he has occasionally been a Superhero.
Although an unnamed character in a 1938 Comic has been advanced as Olsen's first appearance, he was officially introduced by name in 1940 in the Radio series The Adventures of Superman (1940-1951) (see George Lowther) and was quickly featured in Superman comics as well, working for the newspaper The Daily Planet first as an office boy, later as a cub reporter and eventually a full reporter. The impetuous, red-headed youth was sometimes in conflict with irascible editor Perry White but worked amicably with fellow reporters Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane. Jack Larson's sparkling portrayal of Olsen in the Television programme The Adventures of Superman (1952-1958), praised by Laurence Olivier among others, was popular enough to inspire DC to launch a comic devoted to him, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, in 1954. He was given a "signal watch" that enabled him to summon Superman whenever he needed assistance, a device to ensure that the Man of Steel would make regular appearances in his comic. His occasional girlfriend was Lucy Lane, the blonde younger sister of Lois Lane, whose profession as an airline stewardess conveniently explained why she was usually absent from his stories.
Olsen's adventures as a superhero most prominently involved him periodically drinking a serum that made him into Elastic Lad, who could stretch himself indefinitely in the manner of Plastic Man and Elongated Man; as such, Olsen became an honorary member of the Legion of Super Heroes. On a few occasions, Olsen and Superman shrank themselves (see Miniaturization) to enter the bottled Kryptonian city of Kandor and served there as the costumed heroes Nightwing and Flamebird (identities later assumed by two Kandorians), and Olsen briefly partnered with Batman's sidekick Robin. The character was also noted for undergoing numerous bizarre transformations, such as gaining Superpowers and becoming an invisible man (see Invisibility), a flame-thrower, a man with Aquaman's powers, a genie, a morbidly obese man, a "human porcupine," an advanced human with an enlarged brain and Psi Powers, a man with four extra arms, a Werewolf, and a gorilla. Perhaps his most ludicrous alter ego, the "Giant Turtle Man" (an idea borrowed from an old cover of Thrilling Wonder Stories), has improbably re-emerged in recent comics.
Olsen's other sf exploits include some journeys into outer space (see Space Flight) and trips through space and time (see Time Travel) to visit Superman's home planet Krypton before it was destroyed. There were also several stories in which Olsen, after falling and hitting his head amidst some historical exhibit, fell into a dream about being in the past and interacting with figures resembling Superman, the Supervillain Lex Luthor, and other people in his life.
When Jack Kirby took control of Olsen's comic in 1970, he endeavoured to make him more interesting by introducing characters like the new, more sinister editor of the Daily Planet, Morgan Edge, and the sons of his young heroes from the 1940s, also calling themselves the Newsboy Legion, who assisted Olsen. After Kirby's departure, Olsen was further reimagined as a crusading reporter, "Mr. Action", relying less on Superman to battle injustice; much later, a new version of Mr. Action developed superpowers. Olsen's comic was retitled in 1974 as The Superman Family, now also featuring Lois Lane and Supergirl, with only occasional new stories about Olsen. The renamed comic ended in 1982, but Olsen has continued to be a supporting character in Superman adventures.
In other media, Olsen has regularly appeared in Superman films, television programmes, and Videogames, but no one has been able to equal Larson in making the character appealing, and he usually figures only as a marginal figure, now typically reimagined as a photojournalist. He has also been seen as Elastic Lad in Scooby-Doo cartoons and was referenced in a 1991 song by the Spin Doctors, "Jimmy Olsen's Blues". His diminished stature is perhaps best illustrated by the film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), in which he is killed off almost without being noticed. But Superman needs a friend as well as a girlfriend, and perhaps future films and television programs that are not obsessed with his romance with Lois Lane will more deeply explore his once equally important relationship with Jimmy Olsen. [GW]
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