SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN 40, October 1959, was published around August 20, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye, featuring the issue's first of three stories. All three 9 page stories were drawn by the same art team of penciller Curt Swan and inker John Forte, and have been reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN vol. III.
- THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF JIMMY OLSEN was written by Otto Binder.
- JIMMY OLSEN, SUPERGIRL'S PAL was also written by Otto Binder, and reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERGIRL vol. I.
- JIMMY OLSEN, JUVENILE DELINQUENT was written by Robert Bernstein.
Also highlighted in this episode are the issue's ads and other features, including the letter column JIMMY OLSEN'S PEN-PALS.
Next Episode: SUPERMAN COMIC BOOK COVER DATED SEPTEMBER 1962: ACTION COMICS 292!
In 2 Weeks: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOK COVER DATED NOVEMBER 1959 PART I: WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 105!
In 3 Weeks: SUPERMAN FAMILY COMIC BOOK COVER DATED NOVEMBER 1959 PART II: SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE 13!
Adam Dechanel, writer for the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE, is also writer and co-producer of THE JUNGLE BOOK, a play that will be performed at The Lion & The Unicorn Theatre in London, England from December 13, 2013 through January 14, 2014. If you are going to be in Great Britain during this time, and would be interested in attending this play, call 08444-771-000. To learn more about the production go to http://www.thejunglebook.eu/.
Finally, Al Plastino posted a picture of himself on facebook recently, holding his original art for the story, SUPERMAN'S MISSION FOR PRESIDENT KENNEDY. This story was scheduled to be published during the month of November 1963, but was pulled from the publication schedule after his assassination. It would later be published in SUPERMAN 170, which was covered back in Episode 49, December 10, 2008. He had meant for his original art for the story to be donated to the JFK Presidential Library, but recently discovered that it was up for auction. After checking with the JFK Library, which could not find any record that the art had ever been donated to the Library, Mr. Plastino tried to get the art back from Heritage Auction. According to Mr. Plastino, they informed him that he no longer had rights to the art, and would not reveal the identity of the art's consignor.
A spokesman for Heritage Auction replied to someone's facebook post, stating that the art had first been sold at a Sothby's auction in 1993. The consignor Heritage was working with had an excellent track record with them,, and they had no reason to doubt that he had the right to sell the art. The spokesman also explained that the picture showing Mr. Plastino holding the art for the title page was taken at the New York ComiCon. A Heritage employee was talking with Mr. Plastino, and he wanted to look at it, and another Heritage employee took the picture.
If Mr. Plastino is unable to get his art back, let's hope whoever buys the art will honor his original wishes for the original pages and donate them to the JFK Presidential Library.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com/.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit. I make no claims of ownership of these images, nor do I earn any money from this podcast.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of Superman!
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #17, December 1956, was published around October 16, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Mort Weisinger. Curt Swan pencilled the cover, which was inked by Ray Burnley. They were the art team for all three 8 page stories in this issue, which were written by Otto Binder. These stories have been reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.
Jimmy Olsen In The 50th Century began with Superman giving Jimmy a ride in a rocket the Man of Steel had repaired, so that Olsen could do a story about being the first reporter to fly in the stratosphere (about 6 - 30 miles high). A meteor shower began to fall into the atmosphere, and Superman protected the rocket with his fist. Unfortunately, the concussion from Superman's fist propelled Jimmy's rocket fast enough to break the time barrier.
When Jimmy's rocket reentered the atmosphere, he bailed out of the rocket with a parachute, before the spacecraft crashed into the Earth. As Jimmy glided to the ground, he saw a farmer in a field. After he landed, Jimmy approached the farmer to find that he was a robot farmer. Jimmy discovered that he had traveled 3,000 years into the future, to October 10, 4956, to be exact.
After receiving the directions to Metropolis, Jimmy walked to his hometown and discovered that it had a much different skyline. Even the Daily Planet building seemed a mile high. He was rubber necking as he explored this very different Metropolis, and accidentally fell into the open doors of an empty underground elevator that stretched 8,000 miles to China.
Jimmy activated his signal watch, but was saved by a large robot bird, which we never see in this story again. Once he was returned to street level, Jimmy introduced himself and said he was from the 20th Century. One of the pedestrians recognized his name as being Superman's secret identity, and directed him to the Superman Museum. Jimmy was introduced to Professor Xerxes, who introduced himself as an expert on the Man of Steel. He allowed Jimmy to use some of his devices to simulate Superman's powers in a number of rescues. The Professor gave his reasons as protecting the Man of Steel's reputation from a current bestseller, Superman Was A Hoax by John Smyth.
When Jimmy walked by a bookstore, he was exposed by author John Smyth, causing the pedestrians to rush into the bookstore to buy a copy.
In front of the same underground elevator he fell into, Jimmy activated the signal watch again, and the signal traveled through the time barrier, and Superman was able to follow the signal to Jimmy. As it turned out, the reason the signal watch didn't work at the beginning of the story was that the elevator had been lined with lead as a shield against underground radiation.
After demonstrating his super powers in different ways, Superman took Jimmy to the same bookstore, and exposed John Smyth as a disguised Professor Xerxes. The Professor had set up Jimmy in order to boost sales of his book.
With order restored in the 50th Century, Superman and Jimmy returned to the 20th Century, but unfortunately for Olsen, he didn't remember his adventure in the 50th Century, being mistaken for Superman.
This story reminded me a little bit of the Back To The Future movie trilogy that would be released 30 years later.
While it made sense in this silver age story for the concussion from Superman's hit on the meteor to propel the rocket, it would seem that Jimmy would have been crushed by the g-forces from the speed that it would take to break the time barrier.
It was cool to see the Daily Planet still in existence in the 50th Century, and the plot twist of Jimmy simulating the Man of Steel's powers was fun to read. And the Professor's plot to use Jimmy to boost sales of his book was different. It reminded me of the biggest literary hoax from the early 1970's. Writer Christopher Irving had used some forged letters allegedly from Howard Hughes to convince a publisher to release what turned out to be a fake Howard Hughes autobiography. When the reclusive billionaire denounced the book, the fraud was exposed and Irving would spend some time in jail.
This was a fun, futuristic Jimmy Olsen adventure, almost like he met the Jetsons, and I give it 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Case Of The Cartoon Scoops began as Jimmy read a letter from an anonymous admirer, who somehow knew that Jimmy had taken art classes in school. The letter writer encouraged Jimmy to use his talent and draw a series of Superman cartoons for the Daily Planet. Perry White looked at Jimmy's first effort for a good laugh, but liked it enough to make it a regular feature.
Jimmy began to get some phone calls from someone who suggested ideas for his Superman feature, which Jimmy used. The cartoons began to take on a pattern of things that would happen soon after that edition of the Daily Planet was published.
As it turned out, Clark was this anonymous "Swami", disguising his voice when he called Jimmy. Things backfired on Jimmy when the next cartoon "Swami" suggested was Superman smashing Jimmy's Superman souvenir collection. Sure enough, the Man of Steel showed up to destroy the collection, and Jimmy couldn't bear to watch. But much to his surprise, Superman only banged together some pans to create the noise. Then the Man of Steel revealed that he had been Jimmy's "Swami". Then Superman took Jimmy to the original admirer who had written Jimmy at the beginning of this story.
Jimmy's secret admirer had been none other than "Sly" Saunders, who was about to get out of jail. His purpose for suggesting the Superman cartoons was to gradually learn Superman's crime fighting tactics in order to foil the Man of Steel.
Jimmy learned a valuable lesson about checking out his sources, especially when they are anonymous.
Unlike past stories where Clark or Superman played a trick on Jimmy, I liked this one more, for the most part. Jimmy was once again falling into the trap of being gullible. This time, Clark and Superman were keeping a close eye on Jimmy, making sure he wasn't hurt while he learned the hard way not to let his sources manipulate him. The only time I thought that Superman went too far was to threaten to destroy Jimmy's collection. Putting Jimmy through the stress and shock of losing his collection was too much.
That is why I'm giving this story 3 Superman Capes out of 5 instead of 4.
The Radioactive Boy began as Jimmy put evidence for the next day's trial of the Barney Bolton gang in the Daily Planet's safe. Editor Perry White then assigned him to cover Metropolis' new Atomic Plant.
While outside the structure that shielded the atomic pile, Jimmy bumped into another person, which knocked him against the brick structure. Jimmy was worried about being contaminated with radioactivity.
As he walked back to the Daily Planet, some strange things happened that convinced Jimmy that he had become a radioactive menace. Plants wilted at a street vendor's cart, a bird died after flying too close to him, and Jimmy noticed that even his footprints glowed. He was convinced when he saw his glowing reflection in a storefront window.
Jimmy went straight to the roof of the Daily Planet building and flew to a remote area. After landing, Jimmy hid in a cave to wait out his doom. Superman quickly found him after using a geiger counter to follow his trail. The Man of Steel was despondent because there was nothing he could do for his Pal. He agreed to carry out Jimmy's final wishes, follow through on the Bolton Case, after Olsen gave the Man of Steel the combination to the Planet's safe. Then Superman agreed to tell Jimmy his secret identity, Clark Kent.
Outside the cave we were surprised to learn that the Man of Steel was actually crime leader Barney Bolton himself. He had spied on Perry and Jimmy from the Planet's fire escape, and Bolton's gang had been stationed along Jimmy's path, spraying him with a harmless phosphorescent powder to make him glow, as well as tricking Jimmy into thinking he was radioactive. Bolton had hidden aboard the Flying Newsroom, and flew the helicopter back to the Daily Planet building.
When Bolton, still disguised as Superman, approached the safe, he was surprised to find the real Superman waiting for him, along with Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy had summoned the real Superman with his signal watch after the disguised Bolton left. What tipped Jimmy off was when Bolton gave his secret identity as the most unlikely person to be Superman, Clark Kent. Also, as Jimmy's eyes adjusted to the dim light which back lit the fake Man of Steel, Olsen noticed the mask like look of Superman's face.
After Bolton had been taken to prison, Jimmy relayed the entire story to Clark, who was shocked that the revelation of his true identity had made Jimmy suspect the situation was a hoax. I guess Clark covered his tracks a little too well.
One thing I didn't understand about this story was that Superman was in the same room when Jimmy exposed Bolton's ruse by pulling off his mask. But Superman wasn't shown in the background when Olsen explained to Bolton how he deduced that the situation was a fake. It's not made clear if Superman left the building or not. If he didn't, I don't understand Clark's reaction. Also, I don't understand what Jimmy was doing with evidence for a trial the next day. Wouldn't the police have it already, for both the prosecution and defense to use in preparation for the trial?
These are minor quibbles with this story, which was my favorite of the issue. Jimmy was fooled in the beginning, but his quick wits allowed him to get to the bottom of the ruse. I like these stories better than Superman or Clark playing a trick on Jimmy. When Jimmy enters the cave, there's nothing to indicate that he isn't radioactive and waiting to die alone, without exposing anyone else to radiation. The ways that Bolton's gang went about convincing Jimmy he was a danger were cleverly done in a short amount of space.
I have to give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
NOTE: The results of DC Comics' 5,000 Prize Slogan Contest will be revealed in the issues with the March 1957 cover date.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 31 titles carried the December or December 1956/January 1957 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated February 1960: Superman #135 & Action Comics #261!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated January/February 1957: World's Finest Comics #86!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #16, October 1956, was published around August 23, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye. All three stories, the first two of which were eight pages long and the final one six pages long, were all done by the same creative team, writer Otto Binder, penciller Curt Swan and inker Ray Burnley.
The Three Lives Of Jimmy Olsen began with Clark and Jimmy checking the safe at the Daily Planet building. They were ensuring the lead container filled with radium was still safe. It was worth $25,000.00, and had been entrusted to the Daily Planet to distribute to needy hospitals in the area.
While Clark left the building to check which hospitals needed the radium the most, Jimmy searched for news stories. He was met by Swami Rami, who asked Jimmy if they had met in a past life. Swami took Jimmy to his studio and hooked him up to a machine that would allow Olsen to relive past lives. Jimmy went into a trance induced sleep.
His first past life was in ancient Egypt, where Chief Perri of the Weekly Hieroglyphic sent him in search of the rogue thief Pyramid Petrus. After Jhimmie found Petrus' hideout, he summoned Samson with his signal horn. Samson demolished the hideout, and only found two stone chests and a note left by Petrus, If you open the wrong chest, a nest of poisonous serpents will spring forth. Which chest am I in? Jhimmie flipped a coin to decide which one to open, but he woke up before he could decide. (Isn't that always the case when you dream?)
Jimmy's second past life was in ancient Greece, where Chief Whiteus sent Jymius to capture a giant lion which was roaming the nearby hills, for a news report for the scrolls. Jymius tracked the giant lion to a cliff, but it was too wide for him to jump over. He used his signal flute to summon Hercules, who uprooted a tree to use it as a bridge. Once across, Hercules was able to find the giant lion and quickly subdue it. They had become lost, and Jymius flipped a coin to decide the correct path to take. Jimmy awoke before he found the right one.
His third and final past life adventure took place in Scandinavia during the era of the Vikings. The Chief sent Jimmy the Red to find the Viking Pirate treasure. Jimmy used his signal gong to summon Thor, who used his hammer to smash through icebergs to clear their path. Jimmy flipped a coin to find the right course to avoid the whirlpool fjord, but he awoke before he could find the treasure.
Swami Rami informed Jimmy that he would need more radium in order for him to explore his past lives fully. Jimmy returned to the Daily Planet to borrow the lead container of radium, intending to return it. Clark happened to be using his telescopic vision to keep an eye on the radium, and saw Jimmy removing it. When it became obvious to Clark that Jimmy was taking it to the Swami, he sprang into action as Superman.
Swami hooked Jimmy to the machine again, and intended to leave with the stolen radium as soon as Jimmy had been put into a hypnotic trance. Superman spoiled his plans by crashing into his studio and smashing the machine. The Man of Steel exposed the Swami as "Con" Conners, and explained to Jimmy Conners' scam, without explaining how he had discovered it.
After Superman returned to his apartment as Clark Kent, he thought to himself how Conners had tried the same scam on him. Clark wondered how he could have had past lives on Earth if he had been born on Krypton?
My first question about this story was, if Clark was aware of Conners' scam, why didn't he set up a sting with the police to nab Conners before Jimmy fell victim to the same scam? I guess writer Otto Binder would then have had to write another story to meet his deadline instead of this one.
In this story, Jimmy was extremely gullible, reminding me a little bit of Jack Larson's portrayal of Olsen in the 1950's Adventures Of Superman TV show. I thought he became very misguided, willing to borrow the radium in an obsessive search for knowledge about past lives. He could have been fired by Perry White for "borrowing" the radium.
Jimmy's dreams seemed to indicate a fixation about Superman. While, as the end of the story showed, the Swami's machine suggested Jimmy's adventures of past lives, it's unclear if the appearance of a powerful hero came from hypnotic suggestion or Jimmy's own relationship with Superman. These adventures were humorous, showing Jimmy in much the same job he had in real life.
While "Swami" Conners appeared in a golden or orangish skin tone in most of the story, beginning on page six of the story, his skin tone was colored green. After Superman exposed Conner, he looked funny with his face painted a different color than his normal skin tone exposed after Superman removed his turban.
I did a brief search on Wikipedia about radium, and discovered that it is a very radioactive element. Since it's chemical structure is similar to calcium, the human body metabolizes it into bone, causing bone related illnesses. While it does have scientific and medical applications, it would be very unlikely that a newspaper would be entrusted to distribute such a dangerous element to needy hospitals, if only for liability reasons. Another internet search revealed that $25,000 in 1956 is worth $203,458.02 in 2011.
Overall, this was a good average silver age story, but because of Jimmy's selfish actions with the valuable radium, I have to give this story 2 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Boy Of Steel began with Lois performing her usual morning ritual of making everyone in the office hot cocoa (which we see for the first time in this story). She accidentally spilled the cup she made for Jimmy on the back of his shirt, but he acted as if he didn't notice. He continued typing his latest news report while eating some space berries Superman had brought from an alien planet. Lois tried cutting a lock of his hair, with no success, then tried the ultimate test of invulnerability by hitting him on the back of the head with her shoe.
Lois shared her suspicion with a skeptical Clark that Jimmy had somehow become invulnerable. Clark got a surprise of his own when an ash from someone else's cigarette caused a fire in Kent's trashcan, while his foot was resting on it. Clark had also been eating some of the space berries, and for once Lois suspected the space berries of giving someone invulnerability, instead of suspecting Clark was Superman, much to his belief.
After Jimmy left the building, Clark changed into Superman to follow him and attempt to solve this mystery. Superman arrived on the scene after Jimmy had been knocked into a light pole by a car. Jimmy was unhurt, but the car and pole were damaged. Jimmy tested his new found invulnerability by attempting to stab himself in the hand with a knife, breaking the blade, and smashing a brick on top of his head.
Jimmy began using his new ability for the public good, rescuing someone from a fire, moving a fallen power line away from people and taking the brunt of a falling cornice on top of his head.
In an ironic twist, Clark covered Jimmy's super deeds, instead of the other way around. As he followed Jimmy, he noticed that Olsen had a faint glow around his body, after Jimmy walked into the shadow of a building. After returning to the Daily Planet building to research his theory, Clark confirmed that Jimmy's invulnerability was caused from the atomic bomb test he witnessed with Superman (using safety goggles of course).
Clark saw Lois pigging out on the space berries, and when she was about to stick herself with a pin, he used his x-ray vision to soften it so that it bent against her skin. Convinced she was now invulnerable also, Lois left to use her new power to find scoop some breaking news.
This presented Clark with a new problem, having to keep an eye on both of his friends. It was definitely a job for Superman. He followed Lois to the scene of an emergency, a truck carrying explosives had overturned and was on fire. Lucky for Superman, Jimmy had run to the same scene as well, so the Man of Steel was able to grab both Planet reporters and fly them to safety before the truck exploded. Superman then stepped on the feet of both of his friends to sow that they had lost their invulnerability.
Back at the Daily Planet offices, Lois and Jimmy were sad because the space berries were all gone, and they would not have super powers again, much to Clark's relief.
My first thought about this story was that DC's use of radiation to grant super powers was not as dynamic as Marvel would do just a few years later. Future Jimmy Olsen stories will have him undergo strange transformations and have various super powers. I liked how having powers didn't go to Jimmy's head, as in some past stories, but he used his new ability to follow Superman's example and protect the public.
For once, Lois found another reason for Clark not to have singed feet, other than suspecting him of being Superman. If I were Clark, I'd keep some space berries hidden in his drawer for emergencies. Clark certainly milked it in this story.
One of the few concerns about this story was about how Clark had to fool his friends to protect his secret identity. It's one of the hallmarks of silver age Superman stories, one of the staples that editor Mort Weisinger went to time and again.
Finally, when Superman saved Lois and Jimmy from the exploding truck, I couldn't help but think about the collateral damage. The two Planet reporters weren't the only people in the area, and wouldn't the explosion cause extensive property damage in the block. Couldn't Superman have saved everyone just as well by flying the truck high into the air so that it would explode harmlessly above the city?
Otherwise, I thought this was a good silver age story about a heroic Jimmy, and I give it 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Super Liar Of Metropolis began with Jimmy Olsen in the lobby of the Daily Planet, buying a candy bar at a store. He overheard a conversation in a phone booth next to the store. The man on the phone was telling someone to set up the lie detector for Jimmy Olsen.
Jimmy rushed to his office and took a lie serum that, according to its label, would last for three hours. Superman had captured it from a crook who had created the formula so that fellow criminals could foil police lie detector tests. Jimmy found that it worked all too well.
When Perry asked Jimmy if his latest story was good, he responded that it was one of the worst he ever wrote. White ripped it up without even reading it, causing Jimmy to write another one.
Later, Jimmy turned down tickets to a game from Lois, and a date from a famous actress. When Superman flew to the Daily Planet offices and noticed a sad looking Olsen, Jimmy said nothing was wrong. He then told the Man of Steel that the midtown bridge was collapsing.
Superman immediately flew there, only to find the bridge was undamaged, but he did save a painter who fell from his scaffolding on the bridge.
As Jimmy left the building, he was kidnapped by gangsters, who took him to their hideout and hooked him up to a lie detector machine. The crooks grilled him about Superman's secret identity. Jimmy gave the name of the last person he would ever suspect of being the Man of Steel, Clark Kent.
Jimmy was released and he returned to the Daily Planet offices. The lie serum kept him from telling Clark he was in danger. Gangsters barged into Clark's officer, ready to test Jimmy's claim by shooting Kent. Speaking of Jimmy, he happened to be behind the door of Clark's office. A quick thinking Clark used his x-ray vision to melt the wire to a fan on his desk, causing a fire. He used his super breath to spread the smoke, obscuring the gunmen's aim, making it seem that the gunmen had started the fire themselves.
Olsen disarmed the gunmen by hitting their gun arms with an atlas, and the crooks were captured and arrested by the police. They were disgusted that they had suspected a weakling like Kent of being Superman, as he acted as if he was ready to faint after the excitement was over.
After the police took the crooks into custody, Clark had no hard feelings toward Jimmy. He realized his Pal had good motives in trying to protect Superman's true identity. Jimmy tossed the empty bottle of lie serum in the trash, having gotten a good lesson how lying was more trouble than it was worth.
This story had an interesting premise of Jimmy trying to foil a lie detector test conducted by criminals. In an ironic twist, he revealed Superman's true secret identity. A quick thinking Clark was able to cover his secret identity by starting a desk fire.
I did think it was unrealistic for Perry to rip up Jimmy's report without reading it, but maybe he was making a point to his cub reporter.
Using the lie serum created some humorous complications in Jimmy's life, losing out on game tickets and spending time with a Hollywood actress.
One unforeseen consequence of Jimmy's actions with the serum was endangering an innocent person of being suspected as Superman. Fortunately Jimmy guessed Clark, who was able to save the day and keep his secret safe.
This was another good average silver age Superman story, and I give it 3 Superman Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 35 titles carried the October or October/November 1956 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Book Cover Dated December 1959: Action Comics #259!
In 2 weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated November/December 1956: World's Finest Comics #85!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://www.clockworkcomics.co.uk/. It will begin November 2011.
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
You can join the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and MY PULL LIST groups or pages on facebook, and follow both the podcast and blog on twitter @supermanpodcast.
The theme of this podcast is PLANS IN MOTION, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any art shown on this podcast is for entertainment purposes only, and not for profit.
Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #15, September 1956, was published around July 17, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the price of 10¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Stan Kaye, the art team for all three stories written by Otto Binder. The first two stories were 8 pages long, while the issue's final story was only 6 pages long. They were reprinted in Showcase Presents: Superman Family vol. I.
The Mystery Of The Canine Champ was the issue's first story. Perry White finally had enough of Jimmy Olsen's typos in his stories' headlines, and demoted him to pet editor until he could find a scoop about animals. A very bored Jimmy covered a dog show and animal acts, then watched Superman introduce Cal Crane and his dog Rollo, a German Shepherd. Paul Orton and his German Shepherd King muscled onto the stage as well. Jimmy snapped a close up photo of King, and noticed a gold filling in a back tooth.
Olsen didn't care for Orton's boasting, but still asked him to take another photo of King. Orton was caught off guard by the fact that Jimmy noticed King's gold filling. But before Jimmy could snap the photo, someone threw a brick into a puddle on the curb, splashing water on the lens. That gave Orton time to change his mind and jump into a waiting car.
In the following days Crane and Rollo appear on TV, while Orton and King appear on a rival TV station. Orton and King garner better ratings due to the variety of tricks King performed. Jimmy covered Orton and King, and found it odd that a large truck was parked outside King's dressing room. Inside the studio, Jimmy was about to take another picture of King, when someone opened the door to the stairs and threw dust on his lens. Jimmy noticed that the dust was dog biscuit crumbs. That made Jimmy suspicious.
At home, Jimmy disguised himself and pretended to be a dog biscuit salesman when he approached King's training facility. Once inside, he snuck into the training room and discovered that King was actually four dogs, each trained for a separate trick. Before he could snap a picture, he was discovered by Orton and his gang. To buy some time, Jimmy threw a bunch of dog biscuits to the dogs, creating enough chaos to allow him to alert Superman with his signal watch.
The Man of Steel rounded up Orton's gang, which made Crane very grateful. Jimmy got a front page story out of it, only to face Perry's wrath again for misspelling the headline of his report when he turned it in.
This is the kind of Jimmy Olsen story I like. He dug himself out of the hole he had made for himself because of his bade spelling. His sharp instincts led him on the trail of Orton's scam. What Jimmy Olsen would it be without him getting in over his head and needing to be rescued by the Man of Steel. After all, Superman needs something to do.
When Jimmy noticed King's gold filling, I wondered why someone would put a gold filling in a dog's tooth? At the end of the story, part of me wondered why Superman arrested him? The only thing that made sense was that he had a paid sponsor. If Orton led that sponsor to believe that one dog did all of those tricks, then that would be fraud.
This story was a simple, down to earth story, that was still interesting. I enjoyed reading about Jimmy noticing something fishy about Orton and King, and uncovering the mystery, and give it 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Jimmy Olsen, Speed Demon, the story featured on the cover, began when Clark received a package from a Professor Claude, a vial containing what the scientist claimed was a super speed serum, in an enclosed note. Clark didn't take it seriously, but Jimmy took the opportunity to interview the possibly crackpot scientist.
Prof. Claude was eating lunch, and invited Jimmy to join him. As Claude showed Jimmy the super fast squirrel in his test cage, Olsen drank what he thought was a glass of milk. It was actually another batch of the super speed serum, and Jimmy discovered that he now had super speed as well.
He tested out his new super power by running back to the Daily Planet offices. Jimmy performed his duties at super speed, but Clark was concerned that Jimmy wasn't as experienced enough in using his power effectively as Olsen thought.
Clark's concerns were right, when Jimmy sped through traffic on his bicycle at super speed. He created enough turbulence to scatter a man's money out of his hand. Superman was keeping an eye on Jimmy from the air, and was able to retrieve the man's cash. Jimmy rode up on a getaway car during a shootout with the police, and crashed into the vehicle's rear bumper. Jimmy flew into the air and his jacket hung up on a second story flag pole.
Superman caught the gang and retrieved Jimmy. They visited the Professor, and Superman urged him to discover the antidote before Jimmy hurt himself or others. The Man of Steel returned Jimmy to the Planet offices, and urged him to stay put until Claude could invent the antidote.
A bored Jimmy discovered a notice about an unsolved Acme jewelry robber. Olsen remembered that Don "Diamond" Dirk had been a suspect. While keeping his word to Superman, Jimmy called Dirk's bookshop, which was a cover for his criminal enterprises, and ordered some dictionaries. After ushering Clark and Lois into the next office, Jimmy goaded Dirk with a false claim of having proof in an envelope of his involvement in the Acme robbery. His plan was to dodge the bullet at super speed, and compare that bullet with others recovered at the scene of the robbery.
In the next office, Clark received a call from Professor Claude, who informed Kent that the squirrel had lost its super speed, and the serum's effects would wear off on Jimmy at any time. Dirk pulled a gun and fired, and Jimmy discovered too late that he had, indeed, lost his super speed. But Clark burst out of the office in a flash, using an envelope opener to deflect the bullet at the last minute, and disarmed Dirk.
Lois thought that this proved Clark was Superman, but he showed her the empty vial he had received from Prof. Claude. Clark had really poured out the serum, but used the vial to cover hos use of super speed, and allow Jimmy to earn another byline for revealing the criminal behind the Acme jewelry robbery.
The first lesson to be learned from this story was, when eating lunch with an absent minded professor, be careful what you drink out of.
As usual, Jimmy got a little reckless and overconfident. When Jimmy sped through traffic on his bicycle, I couldn't help but think tat any police officer who gave him a ticket for speeding would remember Jimmy for a very long time.
While Jimmy set up a clever sting to entrap Dirk, recent news reports of public shootings made it very clear what a dangerous game Olsen was playing. Not only was he endangering himself, but the rest of the Daily Planet staff also. I would find Perry White very justified in firing Olsen if things had gone wrong, if not for knowingly bringing a dangerous gunman to the office.
This one concern aside, this was a fun story of Jimmy struggling with a super power and finding a clever way to catch a criminal, and I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Unwanted Superman Souvenirs was the final story of this issue. It began with Jimmy showing Clark the latest souvenir Superman brought him, a large crystal from another world.
After Clark left, he found a secluded spot to change into Superman. He noticed Jimmy throwing one of his mementos into the garbage can. This upset the Man of Steel.
In the following days, Superman noticed Jimmy throwing other souvenirs away in various places around Metropolis. It upset him enough that, as Clark Kent, he asked Jimmy if he was still friends with Superman. Jimmy thought that was a silly question, which relieved Clark for a while, until he saw Jimmy discard other souvenirs.
But Superman began noticing a pattern. Jimmy only discard three souvenirs a day, and never in the same place. Using the first letters of the places Olsen discarded the mementos, Superman was able to discover a hidden message, Alive Help.
Superman was able to deduce that the alien crystal was somehow alive, and was using Jimmy to alert Superman. After explaining things to Jimmy, Superman enclosed the crystal brain in a clear container. Using his telescopic vision, the Man of Steel threw the crystal on a trajectory that would return it to its home planet. Superman also returned all of the discarded souvenirs to Jimmy.
My first thought about this story was where was the parachute for the crystal brain. I hope its planet had low gravity, or the crystal brain was invulnerable.
ON first reading I thought this was a fair, if not great story. But as I began organizing my notes for this story, the plot holes became very apparent. If the crystal brain was able to hypnotize Jimmy to throw away his souvenirs in order to get Superman's attention, why not send a mental message to the Man of Steel instead, if not alert him to not remove it from its home world in the first place. Then there wouldn't be enough story to stretch over six pages, and the plot was thin enough already. I had to settle for a rating of 2 Superman Capes out of 5.
DC's 5,000 Prize Slogan Contest rules were published in the issues with a September 1956 cover date. In a full page ad, DC published the rules and an entry coupon. A valid entry had to include 5 coupons, although a prospective slogan only needed to be written on one of them. A second slogan required 5 more coupons, so the main focus of this contest appeared to be a marketing ploy to encourage readers to buy more titles. The deadline for the contest was the end of October, 1956, so if you want to enter, you'll need to fly through the time barrier or borrow a Legion time bubble to get your entry in on time. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed after reading the contest rules. Future episodes will cover the contest results.
World's Finest Comics #84, September/October 1956, was published around July 31, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. The editor was Jack Schiff, and the cover was drawn by Dick Sprang and inked by Stan Kaye, the art team for the Superman/Batman story in this issue. It was the 12 page long story titled The Super-Mystery Of Metropolis, written by Edmond Hamilton, and reprinted in World's Finest Archives vol. I and Showcase Presents: World's Finest vol. I.
After returning from a mission to Metropolis, Superman recognized Thad Linnis, who threatened to expose the Man of Steel's secret identity unless he left the city for two weeks. Superman reluctantly agreed. As Clark Kent, he got Perry to approve his 2 week vacation.
The next day, an ocean liner was about to crash into a bridge, when a current seemed to swing it around to avoid a collision. On the following day, an unexpected rain storm doused a penthouse fire that was out of reach of the Metropolis Fire Department.
The Daily Planet published a front page headline, Where's Superman?, and Batman and Robin were called to Metropolis to investigate. The Dynamic Duo discovered that the river had no currents capable of swinging a large ship as the ocean liner had been. They also learned that the Weather Bureau had not forecast a rain on the day of the fire. They found Superman when, as they flew in the Batplane, the Man of Steel shielded them from a lightning strike.
After landing outside of Metropolis, Superman told Batman and Robin the whole story. In a flashback to Smallville, Superboy noticed Linnis following him. It seemed to the Boy of Steel that Linnis had a teen boy accomplice (who, to me, resembled a young Bruce Wayne).
Superboy noticed the boy following him on a number of super deeds. While flying antique planes in an Air Show, in order to safeguard pilots from danger, Superboy noticed a map of Smallville the boy had marked his flight paths on. Afterwards, Superboy burrowed a tunnel from the Kent's basement to a secluded area to disguise his flight paths over town. When the boy asked about Clark at the Kent home, Clark emerged from the basement, and later noticed that he still had dirt in his hair. Later, the boy would go to the Kent store and buy a tire for his bike from Clark.
After saving a small building from a fire, Superboy noticed that his charred fingerprints had been cut out of the corner of the building where he had held the building. The boy didn't have the evidence, and, when Superboy confronted Linnis, he only said that he didn't have them, but might use them later.
Batman informed Superman that he was that boy. His parents had vacationed in Smallville, and young Bruce wanted to test his detective skills in an attempt to learn Superboy's identity, in hopes of becoming a great detective as an adult.
Bruce refused Linnis' request to join his effort to blackmail Superboy with his secret identity. He did notice the dirt in Clark's hair, and his suspicions about young Clark were confirmed when Kent gave Bruce the right sized tire without measuring the wheel. Bruce had cut out the fingerprints from the building, but threw them into the fire when Linnis wanted them. Wayne kept his knowledge secret in order to not crush Superboy's self confidence.
Superman realized that Linnis had bluffed him. The World's Finest heroes returned to Metropolis. Superman shook Linnis and his gang out of the giant tank they planned to use to rob the city's banks. While Batman and Robin rounded up the crooks, Superman demolished the tank.
After Lois thanked Batman for the great detective work in finding the Man of Steel, Superman thought to himself that she didn't realize what a great detective Bruce was as a teen.
This story was a vast improvement from the previous issue. While Bruce and Clark didn't team up in the flashback, it did remind me of a later issue of World's Finest, issue #172, where the Kents also adopted Bruce in an "imaginary story."
Someone from Superman's past returned to haunt him, and struck at the Man of Steel's greatest fear, the discovery of his secret identity. For a while, Linnis out thought Superman.
I loved Perry's response when Clark asked for a vacation, "Take your vacation. I can always spare you."
Even though he was supposed to leave Metropolis, Superman found clever ways to protect the city, underwater with the ship, and in the clouds above Metropolis creating the rain storms.
Young Bruce Wayne also messed with Superboy's head, and it turned out that Clark hadn't perfected his ability to protect his secret identity just yet. Bruce showed the potential for the detective he would become as a teen. The trick with the bicycle tire was a clever trick to pull on Clark. Bruce's flashback made it as much of a Bruce story as a Clark story.
Superman was put through the full gamut of emotion, from the threat of the exposure of his secret identity to the thrill of victory when he captured the crooks once again, and I give this story 5 Superman Capes out of 5.
Green Arrow starred in the second, 6 page story in this issue, The Mystery Of 1,000 Masks, written by Dave Wood and drawn by George Papp.
Tomahawk starred in the final story of the issue, The Frontier Braggart, written by Dave Wood and drawn by Bob Brown.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 33 titles carried the September or September/October 1956 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated November 1959: Superman #133 & Action Comics #258!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Book Cover Dated October 1956: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #16!
Check out SLIPSTREAM, a new web comic book written by jeffrey Taylor, co-host of the FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS podcast, and drawn by yours truly. Thanks to SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE .com contributor Adam Deschanel for putting the website together. http://clockworkcomicsslipstream.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post.html
Also, if you know the original publication information for a Superman story involving his alien zoo at his Fortress of Solitude, reprinted in the 1970 SUPERMAN BUMPER BOOK, a UK Superman hardcover anthology, post it in comments or through the contact information below.
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MY PULL LIST is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
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Thanks for listening to the SUPERMAN FAN PODCAST and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #14, August 1956, was published around June 7, 1956. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan and pencilled by Ray Burnley. They were the art team for all three stories. Mike's Amazing World Of DC Comics lists Otto Binder as the writer of the first and third stories in this issue, and leaves the author of the second story unknown. The Grand Comic Book Databaselists Otto Binder as the writer of the second story also. DC's slogan contest for 5,000 prizes was promoted on the cover, as well as most of their other titles this month.
The first story of the issue was 8 pages long, with the very non-PC title The Feats Of Chief Super-Duper. It began with Clark and Jimmy doing research at the Metropolis Indian Museum, for a Sunday feature on a legendary Lost Tribe. They were struck by the resemblance to Jimmy on one of the totem poles, created by the Ravensfoot tribe about Chief Super-Duper.
Later, Superman took Jimmy through the time barrier to the Old West of the 1800's. Superman flew through some salt flats, creating enough turbulence to throw dust into the air and seed the clouds to bring rain to a drought stricken area.
Superman dropped Jimmy off near the Ravensfoot Tribe's village, as he left to search for the Lost Tribe. Jimmy entered the village as a bolt of lightning struck behind him, fulfilling a tribal prophesy of the return of a Great Hero.
Jimmy introduced himself as Chief Super-Duper and attempted to play the role of a hero for the tribe.
When the Black Tomahawk Tribe approached, who had been on the warpath against the Ravensfoot Tribe
in the past. Jimmy quickly made a pair of stilts and approached the Black Tomahawks as the Ravensfoot Giant Warrior. He fell off the stilts when they stuck in the sand. The Black Tomahawks were insulted, because they had planned to trade with the Ravensfoot tribe, and decided to take their trade elsewhere.
Jimmy's second attempt at doing a super deed for the Ravensfoot tribe was to build a pair of giant tom-toms so that the tribe could use them to communicate long range. Unfortunately, the tom-toms were so loud that it made the tribe's babies cry and caused a herd of bison to stampede through the village, destroying it.
His third attempt at a super deed was to have the tribe build a giant canoe which needed100 braves to paddle. It worked fine until the river narrowed between two cliffs and the giant canoe broke apart on the rocks.
Superman finally found the Lost Tribe, trapped in a valley because of an earthquake. He smashed a new path to freedom for them.
The Ravensfoot tribe presented the totem pole with Chief Super-Duper to Jimmy, but instead of a token of appreciation, it was to ward off his evil spirit after the calamities that struck the tribe. It was their way of telling Jimmy to leave and don't let the door hit him in the butt on the way out.
Superman swooped up Jimmy at super speed so that it appeared to the tribe that he vanished in a blink. The Man of Steel and a dejected Jimmy returned to the 20th Century. Later, Clark cheered Jimmy up by presenting him with an award for helping bust up a crime ring with Superman. The award showed Superman and Chief Super-Duper.
While I felt bad for Jimmy, this was a character building story. Jimmy naively assumed that because he was more modern than the tribe in the past, he would automatically be their hero, without knowing their culture or way of life. It was like being a city dweller thinking he knew how to live off the land. Jimmy jumped to conclusions with the Black Tomahawk tribe, and created overly complex solutions of the giant tom-toms and 100 brave canoe. I hope that Jimmy learned that just because he lived in modern times, he didn't know everything. I give this story 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
The Meek Jimmy Olsen was the second, 6 page story in the issue. Jimmy, Clark and Lois walked to work, when they saw a sailboat advertising display blown down the street. Jimmy was about to run to grab it while Clark ran away (to change into Superman, of course), when Lois commented on the difference between the two.
Later, Clark and Jimmy interviewed an eccentric scientist who demonstrated his latest invention, a machine that would switch personality traits between two people.
After Jimmy knocked the scientist's Miniature Disintegrator (?) out the window, Clark climbed out of the window to retrieve it off the top of the sign which hung on the building under the window. He was afraid the sign wouldn't hold Jimmy's weight, so Clark secretly used his flight power to barely float above the sign. Jimmy assumed that the machine worked. As they left the Scientist's lab, Clark decided to use the situation to help protect his secret identity.
Later, Jimmy covered the flight of an experimental aircraft, but the pilot had not appeared yet. Superman was keeping an eye on Jimmy. Since Jimmy also had a pilot's license, Superman crushed a piece of iron and hurled the particles into the back of Jimmy's coat. The Man of Steel then disguised himself with a suit, hat and beard, and held a briefcase with a magnet inside, standing directly behind Jimmy. The iron particles in Jimmy's coat were drawn to the magnet and kept him from stepping forward. Jimmy thought that the personality machine was working on him again.
After Jimmy went to bed, Superman used his x-ray vision to check on Jimmy, and saw that his Pal had jammed a chair under the doorknob.
The next day, Superman saw Jimmy standing next to a water tower at the training facilities of the metropolis Bears. The Man of Steel knew Jimmy was contemplating climbing the water tower to get a peek at a new star athlete the team had signed. Superman chiseled a slab of rock and chiseled a fake Daily Planet headline, Cub Reporter Hurt Climbing Tower. He flew it over Jimmy slow enough for him to see it, but fast enough that it worked as a subliminal message, so that Jimmy thought better of climbing the tower.
Later, Clark and Jimmy covered an exhibition of experimental robots. One of them, which had spinning blades, became out of control and approached the spectators, when Clark ducked under the spinning blades to deactivate the robot.
After that, Clark decided that Jimmy had had enough, and returned to the inventor's lab. The scientist had lost interest in his personality machine and dismantled it. He was working on his next invention, a way to communicate with ants, and was close to a breakthrough. I don't doubt it.
Superman found Jimmy in a marshy area to interview a uranium miner. Jimmy hesitated walking over a narrow wooden pathway. The Man of Steel used his super breath to push Jimmy across the wooden path. Later, after changing into Clark Kent, informed Jimmy that the machine had been dismantled, he was glad to be back to normal.
This seemed to be another pointless story, with Clark needlessly manipulating his friend to protect his secret identity. Crackpot scientists were a common theme in the 1950's Superman TV show. In this story, Jimmy was as naive as Jack Larson portrayed him on the show.
The story had more crazy silver age solutions, like the iron particles in Jimmy's jacket. I would think that either the particles would just leap to the magnet, or else Jimmy would feel the impact of the particles on the back of his jacket, if they were embedded enough to keep him from stepping forward.
I also had to wonder how the rock slab Superman carved into a newspaper headline would keep from breaking, as fast as Superman needed to fly it above Jimmy.
Finally, I didn't understand Clark's thinking. Unless the machine was going to remain in use, how did he think he could use it to protect his secret identity. Once it was dismantled, he was back to square one in protecting his identity. I'm not a big fan of Let's Fool Jimmy stories, and seeing his low self esteem, so I have to give it 1 Superman Cape out of 5.
The third and final story of the issue, The Boy Superman, was 8 pages long.
Clark Kent returned from an assignment on the Daily Planet's Flying Newsroom. As he landed on top of the Daily Planet building, he was met by Lois Lane. The problem was that, on his return trip, he had stopped to extinguish a big fire. As he changed into his Superman uniform, the right sleeve of his shirt and coat were burned, exposing the blue sleeve of his Superman uniform. Before leaving the helicopter, Clark hid his Superman uniform on the Flying Newsroom and planned to retrieve it later.
Perry ordered Jimmy to cover a trial in a nearby city. To get there on time, Jimmy piloted the Flying Newsroom. He was hit by fog during his flight, and a helicopter blade clipped a mountain cliff. Jimmy managed to make a safe landing, but discovered that his signal watch malfunctioned again. (Jimmy really needs to have it fixed. When he searched the Flying Newsroom for some warm clothes, he only found the Superman uniform Clark had hidden aboard.
While the Superman uniform didn't fit, being invulnerable it was well insulated. The cape served as a warm hood to keep his head warm. Jimmy made his way down the mountain, and met a mountain family, who thought he was Superman. To show his super strength, they asked Jimmy to pull out a tree stump. Jimmy was happy to oblige, if only to prove that he wasn't the Man of Steel. By coincidence, a boulder rolled down the hill and dislodged the stump, but the mountain family thought that Super Jimmy had done it himself since they didn't see the boulder.
The family Jimmy first met showed him country hospitality by cooking him a big meal. He took a few minutes to fiddle with his signal watch to see if he could fix it. While he had his back turned, a bear reached through a window and ate everything on the table, then ran off. When the lady of the house returned to the kitchen, she thought Jimmy had polished off the meal already. Just so he would fill his empty stomach with something, Jimmy asked for dessert. That only confirmed to her that his super appetite meant that Jimmy was Superman.
The news quickly spread throughout Hogfoot Hollow, or Holler, as we say down here in the South. The Mayor wanted Super Jimmy to marry his daughter, Petunia. But first, scare off a bear that had been stealing their food. This might have been the same bear that stole Jimmy's meal. Jimmy gladly marched into the bear's cave, if only to prove to everyone that he wasn't really Superman. His plan backfired when the bear rushed out of the cave, and didn't stop running. What only Jimmy knew was that a skunk had scared the bear out of the cave, but there was no convincing everyone that he was Superman.
Moose Morton, Petunia's jilted suitor, and the biggest man in Hogfoot Hollow, challenged Superman. Jimmy was glad to see him. Taking a beating was worth the price of getting out of the wedding.
Just then, Clark appeared in the skies over Hogfoot Hollow, following the flight path of the Flying Newsroom under cover of a fog that covered Metropolis. Just as Moose was about to clobber Jimmy with a thick branch, he saw Clark flying behind everyone else and dropped the wood as he fainted.
Petunia's five brothers got Jimmy dressed in his tuxedo. As Jimmy marched to his doom, I mean the wedding, a revived Moose approached behind Jimmy, ready to clobber his rival with a large rock. Jimmy slipped on a banana peel dropped by a boy eating the fruit. Moose said that his rock must by "Kryktynite". A quick thinking Jimmy pretended that it was a made a mad dash for freedom.
Clark Kent had been able to secretly retrieve his uniform, and as Superman carried Jimmy back to the Flying Newsroom and eventually Metropolis. At the Daily Planet offices, Jimmy warned Clark not to be caught dead in Superman's uniform. As he looked at the reader, with Jimmy behind him, Clark agreed, but for a different reason.
This story was almost a Jimmy Olsen meets The Beverly Hillbillies, or the Darling family from The Andy Griffith Show, two comedies from my childhood in the 1960's. The plot of this Jimmy Olsen story had a number of plot devices common to stories about hillbillies or country people.
Someone mistook someone or something as something it wasn't, which was the plot for about three fourths of the episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. In this case, everyone in Hogfoot Hollow thought Jimmy was Superman, since he was wearing his uniform. Check.
The Mayor or the richest man in the area was eager to get his daughter married off, like Mr. Darling of The Andy Griffith Show. The Mayor of Hogfoot Hollow wanted Jimmy to marry his daughter Petunia. Check.
There's always a country boy who's the biggest man around, like Jethro Bodine of The Beverly Hillbillies, and someone who is jealous about someone else marrying the pretty girl. Moose was the biggest man in Hogfoot Hollow, and he was in love with Petunia. Check and Check.
I did have a few nit picks about this story. First of all, if a helicopter blade clipped something, not one blade would be damaged, but all of them. Also, more than likely, Jimmy would have had a hard crash landing, depending on how high he was, and possibly would have faced serious injury.
It didn't make sense that the family would not have heard or seen the boulder roll down the mountain and uproot the tree stump. That was too close for comfort for Jimmy as well. He could have been planted in the ground just as easily as the stump was uprooted.
I did like how Jimmy's plans to prove he wasn't Superman continued to backfire on him , confirming in the minds of everyone in Hogfoot Hollow that he was Superman.
Finally, of course Jimmy never suspected that Clark Kent was Superman, and was more than willing to keep quiet about finding his uniform aboard the Flying Newsroom. I don't think Lois would have been as cooperative.
This was a fun and humorous story, and I give it 4 Superman Capes out of 5.
Elsewhere in DC Comics, 35 titles carried the August or August/September 1956 cover date.
Next Episode: Superman Comic Books Cover Dated October 1959: Superman #132 & Action Comics #257!
In 2 Weeks: Superman Family Comic Books Cover Dated September 1958: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #15 & World's Finest Comics #84!
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Superman Fan Podcast is at http://supermanfanpodcast.mypodcast.com/ . Send e-mail about this podcast to supermanfanpodcast@gmail.com.
The theme of this podcast is Plans In Motion, composed by Kevin MacLeod, and part of the royalty free music library at http://incompetech.com.
My Pull List is my spoiler free comic book review blog of the titles I read every week. It can be found at http://mypulllist.blogspot.com/. Send e-mail about this blog to mypulllist@gmail.com.
Superman and all related characters are trademark and copyright DC Comics. Any cover art displayed with the show notes is done for entertainment and educational purposes only. I post these episodes to share my enjoyment of Superman comics and do not earn any money from this podcast.
Thanks for listening to the Superman Fan Podcast and, as always, thanks to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
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