Lois Lane #18

In the first story, Lois finds herself playing second banana to The Star Reporter of Metropolis. Mary Kenyon, a young college graduate, applies for a job at the Daily Planet. Perry's unimpressed with her clippings and tied up with plans for a major motion picture on the newspaper, so he turns the youngster down.

But Lois demonstrates her occasional admirable side:

Well, you can probably guess how that turns out; in short order Mary Kenyon, aided quite a bit by Superman, has a frequent byline on the front page of the Planet:

And when she coaxes a deaf man down from a ledge using sign language, it looks like Lois is headed for the features section. Then she gets a tip on the location of the most wanted man in the country. You've got to admire her courage, while questioning her common sense:

But Superman shows up in the nick of time to save her. And it turns out that Mary Kenyon's actually:

Yep, it was all a scheme so that Dolly could enact her role as Lois in the Daily Planet movie believably. Incidentally, the cast for the movie included Clark Gable as Perry, Rock Hudson as Clark, and Dwayne (Dobie Gillis) Hickman as Jimmy Olsen.

The second story is The Sleeping Doom. Superman makes his all-too-frequent mistake of giving a friend something from outer space:

Perry drops the jewel a little later and it breaks into three pieces. No problem, now Jimmy and Lois can each have their own fragment. That night, as they are sleeping, Perry and Jimmy are taken over by aliens within the jewel. Lois only escapes because she has to pull an all-nighter in order to finish an article for the paper. The next morning, Perry suggests that she reward herself with a nap, but she overhears him and Jimmy conferring:

So she decides to stay awake until Superman returns from a mission to outer space. Unfortunately, that won't be for ten more days, so she's forced to drink lots of coffee and other desperate measures:

Fortunately Superman returns just as she's about to fall asleep, and foils the alien plot.

The third story is the cover feature. An alien ship lands on Earth and Lois climbs aboard and meets Astounding Man. He's worshiped her from afar for years, in a rather creepy fashion:

We see some of the wonders of his home world:

As it happens, the New York Times reported just the other day on a prototype of just such a vehicle that Google is working on. Eventually Lois agrees to wed Astounding Man, even though he warns her that he has a secret. When she insists she loves him for the inner man, not his outward appearance, he does the big reveal:

Yep, Astounding Man was just an android being controlled by Oogamooga. Since she has given her word, she goes through with the wedding, but it turns out that the Lois who gets married is also an android. Cute ending:

Overall comments: This issue illustrates perfectly many of the continuing themes of the Silver Age Superman: the occasional selflessness of Lois, Superman's frequent mistakes involving objects from space, and the wonders of future technology. Very entertaining!

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What Century Is That?

I don't ordinarily highlight simple and obvious mistakes, but this one is rather amusing and unusual. Consider the cover of Jimmy Olsen #31:

Okay, so Jimmy's going to wake up in the year 2058, or about midway through the 21st century, right? Err, no, not according to the splash page:

Okay, so he's going to sleep for five hundred years and wake up in the 25th century or presumably somewhere around 2458. Got that? Nope, not according to the story itself:

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Jimmy Olsen #94

Jeez, Supes, did you have to rub his face in it by picking a new buddy with red hair and the initials "JO". Of course, these covers hit on common teenage themes of rejection and alienation. Who hasn't had a friend who suddenly becomes enamored of the new guy in town?

The opening story features Jimmy as "Insect Olsen". With Superman away in space, a new criminal named the Bug has begun a crime wave. Lana Lang is worried that he will try to steal her insect ring, and so she gives it to Jimmy for safekeeping. But just then:

Hmmm, Spider-Boy? As it happens, in the letters column of this issue, there's a missive claiming a resemblance between Jimmy and Peter Parker:

Those are pretty flimsy comparisons, and you'd have a hard time convincing me that Jimmy Olsen ever tried to avoid trouble.

At any rate, he saves the window washer, who turns out to actually be a private detective who's got a tape of the Bug discussing his upcoming crimes. Conveniently for plot purposes, the tape is slightly damaged so that Jimmy only gets partial details and has to fill in the blanks. But his deductions always turn out wrong:

Similarly:

But in the finale, Olsen, transformed into a ladybug, foils the gang and captures the Bug himself. Not! Instead, he is saved by the God(ess) in the Machine:

Comments: A more perfect example of the problems with the Jimmy Olsen title would be hard to imagine. Yes, it's somewhat amusing to see Jimmy's problems defeating the Bug. But in the end, he has to do it himself, or else he's not much of a hero. The art, by George Papp is serviceable but nothing special.

The second story is the cover one, and it's drawn by Pete Costanza. I like Costanza's art, but it has a cartoonish, old-timey feeling that didn't suit DC's house style in the 1960s. In the story, Jimmy Olsen is being given a big build-up for a new TV show featuring his adventures. As you can see here, even the target audience recognized the problems pointed out above about his characterization:

And we quickly see that stardom has gone to his head, as he refuses to sign autographs for his adoring public. When Life Magazine comes to inteview him at his new penthouse digs, he claims to be bored with his Superman trophies.

Alright, so I'm already guessing that this is some sort of plot by Superman and Jimmy to trap the Collector. This is one of the problems with Weisinger's puzzle covers; they almost always boil down to a plan to catch a crook or fool some aliens.

Jimmy gives Lucy Lane the cold shoulder here:

Of course, the continental dish's name is a combination of Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot, two of the hottest women on the silver screen at the time. Jimmy also snubs his fan club members, resulting in a bit of a bonfire:

Even the girls in his fan club wear bow ties? When rival reporters begin needling Jimmy about his only being famous because he's Superman's pal, he decides to show of his own abilities. First he tries a tight-rope act between two skyscrapers. But the rope breaks and he's only saved by the guy in the cape. And the same thing happens when Jimmy decides to go over Niagara Falls in a plastic bubble. When he jumps out of a plane followed by a parachute, a sudden storm blows it away and he's only saved by, you guessed it.

Jimmy's getting a little tired of the Man of Steel always horning in, and so he announces that he's no longer Superman's pal. There follows the contest to determine a new buddy, and Josh Oberlin is the winner. Meanwhile, Jimmy gets fired from the Daily Planet for always showing up late, and his TV show is canceled due to poor ratings. Desperate for cash, he shows up at the Collector's fortress to sell of his Superman trophies for a million dollars. The criminal is careful to check Jimmy for any microphones or listening devices.

Included are some items that would be very valuable to a crook, like this one:

But when the Collector opens up his lead-lined vault to reveal items he's stolen, Superman bursts in. How did he know the vault was open, with no "bugs" on Olsen or in the trophies?

There follows a needless explanation of how Superman and Jimmy collaborated on all his failed stunts, and a mention that Josh Oberlin will forever after be Jimmy Olsen's backup as Superman's pal. If he ever appeared again, the GCD doesn't have a record of it.

Comments: Overly predictable, but entertaining. Jimmy Olsen would remain a strong-selling title for the next few years, but the silly stories and immature nature of the title character probably ensured the steadily declining sales that the book showed for the next several years, as the Baby Boom turned into the Baby Bust and publishers tried to sell their wares to an older audience.

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Trivia Quiz #37: Answers

1. Why is this happening?

c. It's actually a Bizarro Supergirl.

2. Why is this happening?

b. It's an effect caused by a comet

3. Why is this happening?

b. It's a plot to increase the Daily Planet's circulation
d. It's an effort to save Superman's secret identity

Yep, this is a trick question. Lois had printed up a gag copy of the Daily Planet with the news that Clark was Superman, but through an accident the entire press run got printed that way. Clark decided this would be a good way to scotch the rumors that he was Superman and convinced Perry this was an opportunity to increase circulation.

4. Why is this happening?

c. It's an effect of Red Kryptonite
d. It's a scheme by a saboteur

Another trick question. The Red K was planted by a saboteur, who knew that Superman would become susceptible to suggestions under its influence, and so he had Supes pretend to dance uncontrollably, so he could enter a naval installation to destroy a new ship.

5. Why is this happening?

c. It's a plot to fool some crooks

Jim got #1 and #3 correct, and was the only one to realize that some questions had more than one answer. Tom O got #1, #2 and #5 correct and gets half credit for #3. Daniel scores with #5 and gets half a point for #4. Ed O'Toole gets full marks for #5, and half credit for #3 and #4. Great job, everybody!

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Jimmy Olsen's Dos and Don'ts of Dating

Chicks don't dig monsters:


Extra hands is not a turn-on:


Always wear attire appropriate for the situation:


Don't doubt the leprechaun:


Never let your girlfriend see you getting slapped around by the fat lady from the circus:


As a general rule, you should not let her see the snake in your trousers while dancing:


The robot body just makes her think of all the oil you'll need over the next few decades:


Don't date beatniks:


Don't insult her favorite singer:


But have no fear, if you follow Jimmy Olsen's tips, you'll have the hottest tomatoes battling for your attention:


And even that one special dame will finally appreciate you:

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Single Issue Review: Jimmy Olsen #64

Everything a youngster needed to know about relationships back in the early 1960s, he could learn from Mr Sensitive himself, Jimmy Olsen.

The first story is Jimmy Olsen, Hollywood Star. The splash shows Jimmy about to drown in a pool of quicksand as the camera rolls, but the text box at the side informs us that this is really happening, and that we should prepare ourselves for a surprise ending.

The story begins with Jimmy falling off a high-rise office building under construction. Fortunately he calls Superman with his signal watch and is saved in the nick of time. We discover that it's actually a stunt for a movie on Superman's life and that Jimmy's sticking around in LA, which in typically demure DC fashion is referred to as "the television city on the coast". Jimmy encounters some of the biggest stars of the time:



What follows are some bizarre short gags, which really don't fit Jimmy Olsen. He encounters a Bizarro, who does some weird stuff. But it's not a Bizarro, it's:



Bizarro Bob Hope!

And then a parrot escapes on a set to the top of a mast. Jimmy has the elastic formula with him and saves the bird which results in him getting some attention from the starlets:



I get the feeling that Jimmy's a Maxim kind of guy, maybe some of that Axe body wash, I mean class all the way.

But then we get one of the classic dun-dun-DUH panels of all time:



Quicksand? Did you say quicksand?

I decry the appalling tendency for liberal judges in Metropolis to permit obvious gangsters out on bail to murder red-headed cub reporters:



But with Jimmy in the quicksand he doesn't even have to fire his gun. As the bow-tied boy reporter is about to drown an unknown person comes in to rescue him:



Who is Jimmy's mysterious savior? Well, to spoil the 46-year-old suspense, it's Boris Karloff although even Jimmy never finds out.

Mort gives the identities of the Hollywood celebrities in the commissary shot:



Note: Although the idea of a story featuring some famed characters was not new, it was interesting that their names were given in the comic, especially Karloff's; I think kids back then would have seen it as something different and surprising

I don't know who "Margie" is; it does not appear to be the gal from My Little Margie. Anybody?

Update: Michael Rebain points to the TV show called Margie which aired around those years, and I was able to find this promo pic for the show with the lead actress (Cynthia Pepper):



As you can see, it looks like somebody's idea of what college was like in the 1920s.

Story #2 (yes, we've barely cracked this classic) is summarized here:



Could this be a story exposing Lois' irrational prejudice against fiery beings? As it turns out, Lois and Jimmy are assigned to cover the story of an exploding volcano in the South Seas, as is another familiar redhead, who gets just a little too honest with Lois:



The locals, a bunch of ignorant savages despite the suits, are talking about fire gods emerging from the volcano. The sophisticates from Metropolis yuk it up a bit:



A few seconds later they are on the run themselves as they encounter the fiery beings, who appear to be following Lana and Jimmy:



Because of their fiery hair. At first the story seems like a classic, "How can we kill these monsters?" tale, but Jimmy proves protective of the little creatures and coaxes them back into the volcano and gets a scoop.

Comments: The mediocre story is aided by the lack of Superman other than as a statue in the town, so that it's a question of whether Jimmy can save the lava beings.

The letters page starts off with a request for Jimmy to give it to Lucy Lane "good and rough".



And indeed given Lucy's treatment of Jimmy in the cover story we can see where Joanne got that sentiment:



But Jimmy goes home with a friend's shortwave radio set, and a few modifications later he's talking to intergalactic babes who want to meet him:



She helps him make a bracelet that gives him super-smarts. But does he use it for the good of humanity? Does he find a cure for cancer?

Well, first he busts Lucy's twisting pilot buddy as a spy. But then he puts some poor carnival operator out of business to impress her:



But Lucy still doesn't consider Jimmy #1 on her hit parade, so when Allura calls again he agrees to be transported to her planet.



Unfortunately they prove unable to overcome their prejudiced size-ism despite the fact that they are perfect for each other.

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