Who would’ve thought that a Golden Age character would become the poster-boy for “pivot to video”? Well, in Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s newest maxi-series, anything’s possible. Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 is a hilarious collection of four related short stories provide a “bizarre tour of the underbelly of the DC Universe.”
The series opens with a family history of the Luthor and Olsen families, focusing on their role in shaping Metropolis. In a hilarious death sequence, Jimmy’s “great-great-grand-something” falls to his death after getting whacked with a shovel while disputing over the land that would be Metropolis. After this brief history, we see a standard day in the life for Jimmy Olsen: falling from outer space with nothing to break his fall…while metamorphosing into a giant turtle, thanks to a biomedical experiment. Though Superman tries to save his life and prevent major damage to Metropolis, he shatters The Monarch of Metropolis — a massive lion monument/tourist attraction erected by the Luthor family.
These shenanigans are fun, but the story really hits its stride in the second half. Jimmy’s space turtle fiasco costs the city and the Daily Planet, but the video of his fall is the only thing bringing money in for the publication. He’s too much of a liability for Metropolis, but he’s good for business, so Daily Planet’s publisher relocates him to Gotham. After moving in to his crappy new digs, it’s revealed that the Daily Planet published a front-page fake news story about Jimmy Olsen getting murdered!
For me, this was a comical story about the “long, slow death spiral” of print media, as the comic puts it. The “pivot to video” and clickbait trends are central themes to this story filled with wacky plot points. Fraction uses puns, witty wordplay, and slick sarcasm in a measured way that complements the strange subject matter. Steve Lieber’s art is just cartoony enough to match the funny script, and the colors heighten the Golden Age nostalgia while remaining crisp.
Rating 9/10
I need to learn more about the DC Universe, and this comic seems like an amusing tour de force. As a writer, I’m delighted to see comic creators working in a print-based medium address the challenges of the twentieth century. Although comics have adapted to the digital medium (with Comixology), the silver screen (MCU movies), and smaller screens (YouTube reviewers), it’s nice to see a traditionally print-based medium address its own reckoning in such a lighthearted way.
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