Writer: Matt Fraction / Penciller: Steve Lieber / Colour Artist: Nathan Fairbairn / Letterer: Clayton Cowles Editors: Jessica Chen, Brian Cunningham / Collects: Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 - #12 / DC Comics
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14th October 2020
The Pitch: Jimmy Olsen must die! Wait, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Jimmy Olsen lives! Superman's best friend and Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen tours the bizarre underbelly of the DC Universe in this new series featuring death, destruction, giant turtles, and more, combining Silver Age energy with a distinctly modern sensibility! It's a centuries-spanning whirlwind of weird that starts in Metropolis and ends in Gotham City. Award-winning writer Matt Fraction (Sex Criminals, Hawkeye) makes his DC debut with Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, an irreverent, hijinks-filled journey across the weirdest and wildest corners of the DCU, illustrated by Eisner Award-winning artist Steve Lieber.
How do you solve a problem like Jimmy Olsen? For Fraction and Lieber, the answer is easy: Kill him! But wait - could we really stand to see Superman's Pal really bite the dust Zack Snyder-style, a bullet to the head and five more to the upper body? For some, the answer would be a fist-pumping yes... but not I. One of the things I love about modern comics is their willingness to embrace their past and the multiple universe nature of their stories. We now look at comics as one divergent continuum, branching out to alternate histories and more importantly, styles. There were other ways this book could have been told, but lucky us, we get Fraction and Lieber, who aren't really interested in the grim n' gritty version of Jimmy Olsen's murder but instead want the screwball comedy version.
Told in short, fast but detail-packed interconnected vignettes that jump back and forth in time, this will probably play better in trade than in singles. I'm not knocking the book as a monthly story, just pointing out that flipping back and forth really will enrich the process for you. We follow Jimmy and his obscenely wealthy family (who knew, huh?) in a series of misadventures that wouldn't be out of place in the bonkers DC Silver Age books. It's a wild ride, taking us from the founding of Metropolis all the way to... well, to Jimmy, breaking the city of tomorrow's most famous monuments because he's become a giant turtle and fallen from a spacecraft high above the earth. It's a nice play, incorporating the transformative nature of Jimmy's previous adventures, whilst keeping the flame alive by having him adopt a variety of guises as his various incarnations for the ever-changing social media landscape. There's a relatable hint here that maybe Olsen's identity shifts so often because he's unhappy with himself, especially when compared to the achievements of his siblings.
THE BOOK FEELS LIKE A WITTY RIPOSTE TO THE BLOODTHIRSTY RUSH TO KILL OFF JASON TODD
On a meta-level, the book also acknowledges a principal flaw of the sidekick: They can be irritating as hell. Remember the landslide rush to kill off Jason Todd? It feels like this book could be a witty riposte to that bloodthirsty phone-in. Sidekicks are annoying... because they're us. We know that in a situation that involved anything resembling a real hero, we'd be desperately outflanked and become the most annoying versions of ourselves. Well, how do you handle that on an everyday basis? At the same time, the comic also speaks to the possibility of elevating the little guy or gal. So much so that background characters become pivotal within the story. It also makes light of our need to have all the imaginary spaces filled in for our heroes these days. The book becomes a Metropolis begins as well as doing the same for some major (and more especially, minor characters). Our thirst for needless details is paid back in spades – the book is a catalogue of quickfire details that may or may not be critical. It's smart, despite appearances. It wants to play like a Sunday funnies but actually has stuff to say about not ignoring the background or the people moving through your life.
Fraction's wit really shines in this. The one-liners and jokes at the expense of superheroes are priceless. In a way, he's not even mocking them. Just poking fun at us for being so in love with the idea of having heroes in the first place. Some of the Batman stuff was a real kick in the nuts for me, I can tell ya. Lieber's art is wonderfully detailed. You get such a sense of the fun he must have had drawing the alternate Olsens on his whistle-stop tour of the Silver Age and beyond, not to mention the contrasting night and day of Metropolis and Gotham. Fairbairn colours it all superbly, giving a nice sheen to the adventures that are in keeping with the tone of the characters' experiences rather than the readers. The light looks real and present. Cowles letters are nicely done, expertly capturing the tones of each scene whilst retaining an even overall feel for the book as a whole as well as peppering the visuals with gorgeous sound effects. This won't be the last book we'll see on sidekicks, but it might just be the last one we ever need.
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