Jimmy Olsen

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Superman Character
Jimmy Olsen

Publisher	DC Comics
Gender	Male
Species	Human
Creator(s)	Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster
First Appearance	Action Comics #6 1938
Profession	Copy boy, photographer, cub reporter, reporter in different versions
Affiliations	Daily Planet
Special Features	Wears a Superman Signal Watch that can summon the Man of Steel in a pinch.

James Bartholomew Olsen better known as Jimmy is a fictional character from DC Comics Superman stories created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. Jimmy first appeared as a copy boy in Action Comics #6 in 1938. He was given his full name in 1941 in Superman #13. He did not gain full and prominent part of the Superman legend until the Superman Radio Series featured him as a regular character. When The Superman TV Show starring George Reeves continued this tradition, it insured that Jimmy would become as an important part of the Superman mythology as Lois Lane and Perry White.

He is typically portrayed as an ambitious and naive junior employee at The Daily Planet, who would like to be involved, possibly becoming a full reporter or a photographer. He is known to be a friend of Superman's, which sometimes gets him into trouble. He sometimes uses a special "signal watch" that would make a sound inaudible to Earthlings, but that can summon Superman.

In the Silver Age of Comics, Jimmy had his own comic called Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen. There, he developed his own mythology, which is mostly not in the continuity of the current DC Comics universe. The original formula for a Jimmy Olsen story was that Jimmy would get into trouble and summon Superman with his "signal watch" to save him in the nick of time. His girlfriend was Lucy Lane, who was Lois Lane's sister. Jimmy Olsen was the closest thing that Superman has to a teen sidekick, and he would sometimes team up with Robin (as Superman would team up with Batman) to assert this status. Also, he would sometimes take a special serum that would enable him to stretch his body, and become "Elastic Lad" who was an honorary member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. In other adventures, Superman and Jimmy would visit the bottle city of Kandor, where Superman has no powers, and the two friends would become costumed heroes known as Nightwing (Superman) and Flamebird (Jimmy). Dick Grayson used the name Nightwing when he decided to leave his Robin identity behind and find a more adult persona.

In The Bronze Age of Comics Jimmy's comic was, for a while, taken over by comics legend Jack Kirby. As a result, Jimmy became one of the first characters in the DC Universe to come in contact with The New Gods characters, and other Kirby creations.

In the Modern Age of Comics, Jimmy continues as a supporting character in Superman comics. Since the continuity of the DC Universe changed again after the crossover limited series Infinite Crisis (2005), Jimmy has been portrayed a bit younger than he has up until now in the Modern Age. He is shown employed at the Daily Planet as a photographer and a reporter in training.

The first issue.

1 Character Origin
2 Popular Culture
3 Jimmy Olsen Portrayals
4 External Links

Character Origin

In Superman #665 (2007), Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi retell Jimmy's origin.

The story takes place during Clark Kent's first weeks as a Daily Planet reporter. Jimmy's mother is Dr. Sarah Olsen, a noted archaeologist. When she disappears somewhere in the Amazon, Jimmy's father leaves him with a neighbor Tess Haslip and goes to search for her. When Tess, an accountant, stumbles across irregularities in the books of an organized crime group called "The Ten," Jimmy witnesses them kill her from the fire escape window. Afraid of going "into the system," Jimmy supports himself with three newspaper routes, helping out on the Daily Planet loading dock, and by sleeping in a tiny alcove amongst the Daily Planet's giant presses. When Perry White notices the boy around a lot, he has Clark check it out. When he finds out the truth, Superman helps him deal with the mobsters. Perry White, impressed with the boy's tenacity, gives him a job as copyboy. Superman himself realizes he is feeling a bit lonely. As he explains to his adopted parents, Clark Kent is basically an act. Superman is "all business" with people. Superman sees Jimmy as someone he can be himself with, and the two become pals.

In Action Comics #852 (2007), the origin of Jimmy's special watch is told by Kurt Busiek and Brad Walker.

Early in his relationship with Superman, Jimmy finds himself captive of a gang of strange robots called the Rude Mechanicals. Left alone in a room of radio equipment, Jimmy recalls his time helping his Dad tinker with his Ham Radio setup. Jimmy fashions a device that emits a high pitched sound that cannot be heard by human ears, but was bound to get Superman's attention. The device works, and he is soon rescued by the Man of Steel. Superman is impressed with the device, and suggests, "Maybe we could miniaturize a gadget like this so that you could always have it with you just in case. Fit it in, say, a watch..." And so, Jimmy's "Superman Signal Watch" is born.

Popular Culture

In the Vote by Mail Instructions for the June 3, 2008 California election, one example School Board candidate shown was Jimmy Olson. While misspelled, he appears in the company of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne