Warning: SPOILERS for Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1
The most vital employee of The Daily Planet was recently revealed to be not Clark Kent, or even Lois Lane... but Jimmy Olsen. While many believe that the ginger-haired photographer's only accomplishment in his long life as a cub reporter is making Perry White's cardiologist extremely rich, the first issue of his new solo maxi-series reveals that Superman's Pal is single-handedly responsible for keeping the lights on at Metropolis' largest independent newspaper.
While considered a vital part of the mythology of Superman today, Jimmy Olsen was a relatively late introduction into the world of Metropolis. Jimmy was originally created as a character for The Adventures of Superman radio show, so that Clark Kent and Superman would have someone to explain things to, rather than talking to himself. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster brought Jimmy into the comics in Superman #13 (November 1941), making him one of the few comic book characters (along with Harley Quinn) to start life in another medium. Despite this, it was not until the character was reintroduced for the 1953 Adventures of Superman television show that Jimmy Olsen became an integral part of Superman's world and was given a comic book devoted to his own wild and wacky escapades.
The first issue of the new Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen maxi-series opens with one of these adventures, as Jimmy jumps from an orbital platform in low orbit while testing an experimental STAR Labs bio-formula as part of a publicity stunt for charity. The formula turns Jimmy into a giant turtle-dragon hybrid, leaving Superman scrambling to save his best friend from being flash fried during reentry, shortly before turning Metropolis Bay into the world's largest bowl of turtle soup. Unfortunately, while Superman saves Jimmy, he does it at the expense of The Metropolis Monarch - a giant lion statue financed by the Luthor family and one of Metropolis' major tourist attractions.
This leaves Jimmy Olsen in hot water with editor Perry White and The Daily Planet's publisher. Ignoring the subscribers threatening to bolt and Metropolis' mayor demanding he be fired, Jimmy's latest stunt has made him completely uninsurable, even at the steep premiums the paper was already paying. This is something of an accomplishment, considering how much danger Lois Lane gets into on a regular basis.
Luckily for Jimmy, his imminent firing is delayed indefinitely by the timely arrival of the website manager for The Daily Planet, who has some astonishing news. While paying for Jimmy Olsen leads to the newspaper's largest expenses, Jimmy is also their single source of income. It seems that the ad revenues tied to all the videos of his exploits Jimmy has posted on TheDailyPlanet.com are the only thing keeping The Daily Planet viable in the slowly dying newspaper industry. More, the hits for the latest video will pay for the damage to the Metropolis Monarch, with money to spare.
While this is all amusing, Matt Fraction's script also speaks to the great divide in modern media. While serious journalists like Lois Lane write Pulitzer Prize winning exposes and serious stories regarding government corruption, the public are clamoring for more videos of an idiot man-child doing things that would put the crew of Jackass to shame. "People like watching the kid break stuff with his ass and hang around with Superman," as the Publisher of The Daily Planet plainly puts it, which is both a harsh commentary of modern news and an explanation for why Jimmy Olsen is still going strong nearly 80 years after his first appearance.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 is now available from DC Comics.