This is a review of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen written and drawn by Jack Kirby. When people discuss Mr. Kirby’s DC work, they will usually talk about Kamandi or The Demon, reviewed here and here. I’ve never heard a word about this graphic novel, which is a shame. This book, which showcases Superman alongside an ensemble cast, is first-rate science fiction.
What about that ensemble cast, anyway? We have Clark Kent, the Newsboy Legion, the Golden Guardian, who is a clone – no, not of Captain America – as well as that freckled young cub reporter, Jimmy Olsen himself. The Newsboy Legion features five kids who have a vehicle called the Whiz Wagon, based on the Fantasti-Car, that can fly and is also amphibious. The kids are interchangeable, except for the one who dresses in scuba gear all the time, which won’t bode well after he hits puberty.
The plot revolves around The Hairies, a secret group of super-intelligent vat grown humans who live inside a mountain and drive around in a missile carrier disguised as a monster. They’re guarded by a biker gang and are doing top secret experiments on the human genome, backed by the U.S. government and Superman. In the 1970’s, that wasn’t considered unethical; today, there would be collective apoplexy.
Jimmy Olsen and the annoying – I mean youthful – members of the Newsboy Legion investigate. They tangle with the biker gang, and Jimmy automatically becomes head honcho when he punches out their leader. Jimmy Olsen, Biker, is only one of the many startling transformations in store for the reader. We also have Rampaging Jimmy Olsen, transformed by science into a mean green killing machine that doesn’t resemble the Incredible Hulk – NO, NOT AT ALL – and Neanderthal Jimmy Olsen.
Sound weird? Wait until the scene where everyone drops acid, including Superman, that Head Square Himself. Oh, Kirby gives us some nonsense about a solar phone, but this is his version of an acid trip. Anyway, Olsen and company discover that The Hairies are fiddling with human DNA, making all matters of chimera, including tiny Jimmy Olsens! At one point we look through a microscope to see the tiny Olsens, each wearing a pair of tighty whities.
Darkseid, rightfully deciding the world isn’t ready for that much Jimmy Olsen, sends the most incompetent cat’s paw in the DC Universe to destroy the Hairies. Media mogul Morgan Edge spends all his time trying to kill Jimmy Olsen and the Newsboy Legion. While they are annoying, he could just fire them instead, but I guess I’m missing something.
Other stories include a villain who lives in a volcano, a Scottish Lake Monster, and a miniature planet full of Count Dracula lookalikes that makes TOTAL SENSE when explained. We also have a story starring Don Rickles and his twin, which may have been funny when it was released, but somehow I doubt it.
Nobody in this graphic novel has anything resembling a personality, but that’s my only quibble. Mr. Kirby was a genius, and is allowed a misstep here and there. Highly recommended!
Abandoned Places 