Who is Jimmy Olsen?

[John Venus]

I just realized I don't really much about Jimmy as a character in his own right.

He's often a supplement to other characters story line whether its Clark, Lois, Lucy or the Silver Banshee and certainly a lot of shit happens to him whether it's all the bizarre transformations or finding a petri dish containing hundreds of tiny clones of himself wearing calvin klein but I don't really know much of Jimmy as a character in his own right.

If you told me tomorrow that Jimmy Olsen is actually an 7th dimensional imp spontaneously formed from Clark, Lois and Perry's collective desires to have a friend, I would be half way tempted to go along with it.

Does Jimmy even have a family? What makes him interesting? Does he have a life outside of being Clark's best friend and Lucy's boyfriend?

[Digifiend]

He was created just as a photographer for the Planet. But then he got his own book in the silver age, and he became a weirdness magnet. That remains part of his characterisation to this day.

[Filbert]

Office boy. Photographer comes from the 1978 movie.

[Filbert]

Jimmy Olsen originates in the Adventures of Superman radio. He was a young (maybe 12 years-old) office boy, who lived with his widowed mother who owned a candy store in a tough neighborhood. He was added so Superman had somebody to talk to (same reason Robin was added to Batman; they actually debuted the same month) and, from 1940-42 (the first incarnation of the radio show, which took some liberties from the source material, such as Superman coming to earth as an adult) Jimmy was the only regular cast member who met and talked to Superman. This is the origin of the "Superman's pal" moniker.
The old Superman comics were never strong on supporting characters. Perry White and Jimmy Olsen might have joined the comics in 1941, but they were mostly in the background. Only after Siegel and Shuster left in 1949 and the Adventures of Superman TV show (which was produced by the radio show's producer and followed its characterizations) premiered did the familiar Jimmy Olsen emerge, now a cub, that is, junior reporter. But, again, he didn't fit the Superman formula, so he got his own-weird science reporter, so he got his own title. (Same reason Supergirl had her own feature from the start). Jimmy now had a signal watch to contact Superman. Lois' younger sister was introduced as his love interest. Jimmy was now an orphan; his archeologist parents had died in an accident (his father later was revealed to be alive) and he was raised by an aunt in the suburbs of Metropolis. The chacacterization in the Silver Age boiled down to Clark=afraid, Lois-curious, Jimmy-impulsive. He also knew Batman and Robin's secret identities (but not Superman's, because you'd expect that. Seriously, that was the reason.)
Then was Jack Kirby's run 1970-74. This introduced STAR LABS and the Fourth World characters. 1974-86, he was a full-fledged crime reporter who called himself Mr. Action, with less Superman and his own cub reporters to deal with.
For some reason they made him a photographer in the 1978 movie, that's what John Byrne made him in the 1986 reboot. He was back to being a Metropolis kid living with his mother, though now in a nicer neighborhood, and he made the signal watch himself. He was the young reporter who wanted to be treated with respect.
After Infinite Crisis, Silver Age things started coming back and Jimmy became a weirdness magnet again.
The New 52 made him rich, and only a few years younger than Lois and Clark, instead of 10+ years. Post-Rebirth, he is the owner of the Daily Planet, after the comedic Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Vol 2.

[TaliaJoy]

Great write-up by Filbert. Just to be clear, Jimmy was a young adult, not a boy, in the Adventures of Superman TV show. That's also how he's usually been depicted since then. Also, this isn't very important, but in the first season of the Adventures of Superman TV show, he was usually called Jim.

In Post-Crisis, they played with the idea of Jimmy being a computer whiz or good with technology in general. That's how he was able to make the signal watch himself. It came up in Lois & Clark once or twice. However, it's generally not a big part of his character and I think after a while they just gave up on it.

I generally think of Jimmy as just an all-around good guy who's pretty brave and gets a lot done in terms of journalism (usually in a supporting role to Clark, Lois, or both rather than being the center of things himself), and is good friends with Clark, Superman, and Lois, but who is also used for humor. Sometimes that means him lacking common sense or making various mistakes, sometimes it means he just gets a bunch of weird transformations and other bizarre things happen to him, and sometimes it means he's a funny guy, or some combination of the above. He usually feels a bit unimpressive compared to his closest friends, and that's a part of his charm for me. Superman is not only pals with him, but respects him, even though he's a pretty ordinary fella.

[Digifiend]

Office boy. Photographer comes from the 1978 movie.

What? That means they basically adapted him as a version of Spider-Man (Peter Parker, of course, was also a newspaper photographer back then) instead of his own comic self!

[The Frog Bros]

In my mind, he’s Clark’s true best friend (other than Lois). While him not knowing the secret identity allows for some nice plots, humor, etc., I’m okay with him being on a very (very!) short list of people who are in the know.

[Vordan]

Have I got a book for you!



Not only is it one of the funniest books you will ever read, but it will answer all of your questions. It explores Jimmy’s family, his relationship with Clark, Lois, and Lex, why Superman is friends with him, etc.

[Adekis]

Have I got a book for you!

Not only is it one of the funniest books you will ever read, but it will answer all of your questions. It explores Jimmy’s family, his relationship with Clark, Lois, and Lex, why Superman is friends with him, etc.

Problem with this book is that it answers any questions you might hypothetically have about Olsen - but a lot of the answers about the Olsen family are unique to this book. Like, here he has a ton of siblings, but I'm pretty sure every previous version of Jim was an only child, or else it just didn't come up. It really is funny though.

Anyway, Filbert's write-up is awesome.

I also really like Tommy Bond's Olsen from the Alyn serials. I'm not 100% sure how the serials tie in to the radio show but since they clearly have a relationship with the TV series, I think it's safe to assume that they do? Interesting to me that Bond is not a boy like Jimmy is in the radio show - in fact he comes across to me as a little older than Larsen's Olsen does. Interesting middle point.

[phonogram12]

Have I got a book for you!



Not only is it one of the funniest books you will ever read, but it will answer all of your questions. It explores Jimmy’s family, his relationship with Clark, Lois, and Lex, why Superman is friends with him, etc.

This was probably my favorite Superman-related story that year. It really is fantastic.

[exile001]

Have I got a book for you!



Not only is it one of the funniest books you will ever read, but it will answer all of your questions. It explores Jimmy’s family, his relationship with Clark, Lois, and Lex, why Superman is friends with him, etc.

Just here to echo that this book is phenomenal!

[The Frog Bros]

Just here to echo that this book is phenomenal!

An echo chamber we should all be proud to be a part of.