In your ideal world, how would the relationship dynamic with Clark andJimmy work

[Tzigone]

I was thinking about it recently. They've had a variety of relationships. In the radio show, Jimmy starts off as a kid (as he does in the golden age). Clark was a mentor figure that Jimmy really looked up to. In the silver age you even had some "dadish" versions (in Lois & Clark 90s show, this pretty much replaced by a Perry/Jimmy parental relationship). Also some silver-age crack with them doing zany things to each other, and I really haven't read a lot of that, so I can't speak as to the distinction between Jimmy's relationship to Clark v. his relationship to Superman, from his perspective. In the bronze age, they still play the "different generations" sometimes. Like when Jimmy's hanging with the Newsboy Legion. He's grown later (not really sure when the transition took place). And time continues to pass, but like Kara (though far less extreme), there does seem to some resistance to Jimmy being out of the "youth" phase. And there was good period of time where we just didn't get much interaction between them.

I actually like Clark in the mentor role quite a bit (I enjoyed the radio-show version of the relationship). But then Jimmy should outgrow it within a few years, at most. I mean, if he's around when Jon is born, then 10 years later they should be well into peers (and Jimmy at least late 20s and a Pulitzer winner), rather than mentor/student dynamic. And that's even discounting the versions where Jimmy is an adult employee when Clark starts at the DP (often in his 20s). So what sort of things should be done to illustrate their friendship at that stage? Besides life-saving.

[Kuwagaton]

Clark and Jimmy actually doesn't really interest me, I guess I've always liked exploring his friendship with Superman while Lois gets Clark.

Basically Jimmy to me is a guy who can call in Superman immediately... but still chooses his own peril over that. Instead of a hero friend who pokes his nose into those heroic adventures, he's the guy who hangs out with the hero between their respective adventures.

[Superlad93]

Matt Fraction more or less has the final word on how Clark and Jimmy should function as far as I go. As a very big fan of Jimmy and of their dynamic, I genuinely can't think of a better realized version of the dynamic. Literal perfection.

[manwhohaseverything]

Jimmy would be the tintin of dc. Jimmy would be the sleuth out for a mystery. Superman will be the strongman who comes to his rescue when he is physically in trouble. I would even give jimmy a krypto.

[SuperCrab]

Clark would be 28-30, Jimmy would be 23. I think that puts them close enough in age to be drinking buddies. Clark refers to him as Jim, but everyone else calls him Jimmy, a nickname that really pisses him off, but which he only confides pisses him off to Clark. The editors would have to watch like hawks to make sure that Clark/Superman never calls him Jimmy, and no one else ever calls him Jim (In fact, if they ever did a doppelganger storyline, Jim could say he started to get suspicious because the fake Clark/Superman called him Jimmy and not Jim).

One way to do this while preserving the idea that Clark is very entrenched in the business and Jimmy is the greenhorn would be to preserve the typical history of Clark that has him come to Meteopolis straight out of high school, so he's got 10-12 years in the newspaper biz and is an established investigative reporter (Superman is a great anonymous source He's known for his hard hitting investigations into slumlords, big banks, and big corporations, generally advocating for workers and social justice by implication- and it is an investigation into Lex Corps that triggers a rivalry with Lex Luthor on multiple fronts), while Jimmy did go to college, which he kind of barely got through while goofing off and going to frat parties (His parents were big donors), possibly with a degree in photography rather than journalism, and that makes him a rookie newspaper photographer at 23 (Clark at that age would have been 5 years in since he didn't go to college).

Jim is sort of the wacky womanizing hard partying friend and Clark is the more responsible of the pair, but I think I'd make Jim a tad more mature than usual and Clark a tad less uptight than usual. Clark will have a beer or two, but Jim is the one getting him to the bar, staying after Clark goes to bed, and claiming to have hooked up with a girl and come straight from her place to the paper the next day, which Clark is generally good naturedly mock dubious about.

Jim is the first person Clark reveals his secret identity to. Ironically, Jim figures out Clark is in love with Lois, but Clark won't admit that to either Jim, Lois, or himself for a while.

Gradually, towards the end of the cycle between reboots, Jim gets pulled into the orbit of Clark's superhero friends, with the two of them hanging out with Bruce Wayne and other Justice League characters and Jim knowing most of their superhero identities, etc. and Jim winds up the best man at Lois and Clark's wedding (Which is about a year before the next reboot).

The closest I've seen to this was the New52, but it wasn't really quite the ideal dynamic I describe, and not consistsntly.

Another thing that they could consider, if Kara is in her 20s, is having Jimmy and her date and Clark NOT approve because he knows in detail about Jim's attitudes toward and history with women, and is protective of his cousin. However, the swerve would be that Jim turns out to be in love and committed and Clark sees Kara not taking the relationship seriously, flirting with other guys, etc., and has to have a talk with *her* about being considerate of Jim's feelings, despite initially thinking he'd be having that talk with Jim about Kara's feelings. Then you see where you want to go with that- I am guessing Kara dumps Jim and Jim's crushed, but it would depend on how it goes over with fans in the long run after they get used to the idea. Maybe Kara dumps him, he's devastated but eventually bounces back, and years later right before the next reboot, Kara does a long winded apology and talks about how wrong she was and how she's grown to see how much she meant to him and how much he offered her that others did not (made her smile, whatever), and asks for a second chance, and then they are dating again with an implication that it will lead to marriage eventually that second time around ("Hey, Clark, you never know, someday we could be brothers in law", cue Clark groaning, and Jim doing the trademark Superman wink at rhe readers), but with the big reboot happening within a few months after they get back together, so it never actually gets to a proposal or a marriage. Lucy Lane is someone Jim dates at some point, but they don't click and wind up just friends pretty quickly without much drama.

[Jon Clark]

I'd have Jimmy be in a position where he is younger than Clark and Lois but has been at the Planet longer than either of them. For some reason he got hooked on a career at the Planet early on. Maybe his parents liked the paper and he saw a job there as something they'd be proud of. Maybe he looked up to some reporter there as a child. But whatever the reason he managed to worm his way in while still in high school. Probably not in an official capacity, but more of "he's always underfoot let's put him to use" role that grew into a paid internship and eventually to a gig like Peter Parker's where Perry would buy any decent shots Olsen could take to go with a story.

So when Clark arrives in Metropolis, Jimmy is the kid who knows the ropes. Everyone else at the Planet is protective of their knowledge (even Lois). Jimmy is the one to clue Clark in on which cops will talk to reporters "off the record" and how to approach them. But while Jimmy is willing to tell Clark all about Metropolis, he sees Clark as a worldly guy. Jimmy has spent his whole life in one city (even if it is a major one) and hasn't even gotten to see Gotham, which is only a bridge away, let alone the West Coast, Europe or Africa like Clark.

The two guys are also the only ones at the Planet on the same level. Clark treats Jimmy as something other than a kid. Jimmy sees the mild mannered Clark as a person from day one and not as a rival (Lois), a pushover (Lombard), a probational employee (Perry), etc. Sure, Clark manages to gain respect from others at the Planet, maybe even within a few weeks, but Jimmy is already there before anyone else.

[Flash Gordon]

Matt Fraction/Steve Lieber have the character all mapped out for 2020. It's perfection.

[Ascended]

Well, I like the idea of Clark and Jimmy being best friends more than Superman and Jimmy.

In my head Clark Kent is socially invisible. He's not unpopular, he's not the office oaf or the office punchline, he's the guy everyone forgets is even in the room. I think, of the Planet staff, only three of Clark's coworkers notice him (at first). Lois notices him because game recognizes game, and the fact that this quiet, shy nerd pulls out such excellent journalism intrigues her and she wants to keep an eye on the competition. Lombard notices Clark because he *does* think Clark's the office punching bag. But Jimmy notices Clark for Clark. And I like the idea that, in this building full of observant people, Jim is the first one to see Clark as a person, not a target for office pranks or as a surprising rival.

They make for a fun odd couple; Jimmy is extroverted and super chill, and just rolls with all the crazy stuff life throws at him. Clark's quiet and introverted and always a bit nervous. They compliment each other well.

If Batman is Superman's best friend, Jimmy Olsen is Clark's. Not counting Lois of course; she's his real bestie.

On the "Superman" side of the axis, I tend to think of Superman as being friendly with everyone but keeping everyone at arm's length. But Clark's friendship with Jimmy is so legit that Superman can't help but be a little friendlier with him (same thing happens with Lois). While Jimmy and Clark are real, genuine friends that play video games together and grab beers, Superman and Jimmy are more like "office besties;" they have good conversations around the water cooler (so to speak) but Jimmy's not heading to the Fortress to watch the Super Bowl.

[Adekis]

Well, I like the idea of Clark and Jimmy being best friends more than Superman and Jimmy.

In my head Clark Kent is socially invisible. He's not unpopular, he's not the office oaf or the office punchline, he's the guy everyone forgets is even in the room. I think, of the Planet staff, only three of Clark's coworkers notice him (at first). Lois notices him because game recognizes game, and the fact that this quiet, shy nerd pulls out such excellent journalism intrigues her and she wants to keep an eye on the competition. Lombard notices Clark because he *does* think Clark's the office punching bag. But Jimmy notices Clark for Clark. And I like the idea that, in this building full of observant people, Jim is the first one to see Clark as a person, not a target for office pranks or as a surprising rival.

They make for a fun odd couple; Jimmy is extroverted and super chill, and just rolls with all the crazy stuff life throws at him. Clark's quiet and introverted and always a bit nervous. They compliment each other well.

I really like that flavor, Ascended. The early New 52 did some good stuff with Jim and Clark hanging out and playing video games, and I was loving it. Jimmy even describes Clark as his best friend at one point, and I really dig it.

That said, because the first Superman comic I ever really fell into was a "Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen" book where Kal and Jim went into the Bottle City of Kandor, I also have a lot invested in the relationship between Jimmy and Superman, as well as Jimmy and Clark Kent. And maybe as an extension, I like the New 52 arc where Jim learns Clark's secret identity. Too bad the potential for Jimmy being the only civilian to know that Clark Kent is Superman was cut dramatically short by "Truth" outting him to everyone, not to **** on "Truth" too much...

I think if I was Boss of the World for Superman comics, I'd have Clark and Jimmy be best friends in pretty much the way Ascended described above. Jimmy would be in on Kal's secret identity, and they'd hang out in that guise occasionally too, but just owing to the nature of their free time, Jim would be more likely to hang out with Clark than with Kal. He could effortlessly code-switch between Superman's two names, depending on what he's wearing. And they'd just play video games, hang out, and occasionally dive into the Bottle City of Kandor together or some other Silver Agey thing.



As for Fraction, I don't know. I like the series a lot, I love his voice for Jimmy, but there's one inescapable thing I just don't really have any time for, and it's basically the central idea of Fraction's Jimmy series: I hate the idea that Jimmy comes from Old Money. I don't like the family rivalry with the Luthors, I don't like Julian, I don't like the fact that the Olsens were responsible for founding Metropolis hundreds of years ago. I do like Jim's sister. I like the prank war with Batman, even though I don't necessarily love Batman's characterization. And I love the endless variations on Jimmy's name, such as Jimberly, Jimmington, Jimphony, and Jimchiminee Jimchiminee Jimjim Cheree, the last of which had me in stitches. But ultimately, while I hope Jimmy stays in the spotlight once the mini concludes, I hope this version of Jimmy's family history doesn't become the new norm for him. There's been a lot of inconsistency across Jimmy's family history over the decades, and most versions are irreconcilable with each other and largely forgotten. I kind of hope that happens to this one over time as well.

[Ascended]

Yeah, Morrison really did a lot to inform how I see the Clark-Superman-Jim dynamic. Honestly, before that I never really understood why Clark would hang out with someone so much younger, beyond not really having anyone else at the Planet willing to talk to him (excluding Lois and Perry). Making them closer in age and making them friends outside of work solved so many problems I slapped myself for not thinking of it!

As for Jimmy going on crazy adventures with Superman, I think you can still do that under the setup I suggested. The fun thing with Jimmy is that he's a normal guy living on the edge of the superhuman world and he's constantly getting swept up in those currents. That doesn't have to stop if Jimmy is better friends with Clark than Superman.

[KC]

For me, Clark and Jimmy should be work friends. With Jimmy as a cub reporter who looks up to both Clark and Lois and Clark and Lois helping Jimmy as a reporter at the Planet.

Superman and Jimmy should be friends. Not close friends, but still friends and I think they should get into infrequent hijinks together.

Or Jimmy should be close friends with Clark and he should know he is Superman. Either of these would be good for me and I can't decide which one I like more.

[Rod G]

Clark would be 28-30, Jimmy would be 23. I think that puts them close enough in age to be drinking buddies. Clark refers to him as Jim, but everyone else calls him Jimmy, a nickname that really pisses him off, but which he only confides pisses him off to Clark. The editors would have to watch like hawks to make sure that Clark/Superman never calls him Jimmy, and no one else ever calls him Jim (In fact, if they ever did a doppelganger storyline, Jim could say he started to get suspicious because the fake Clark/Superman called him Jimmy and not Jim).

One way to do this while preserving the idea that Clark is very entrenched in the business and Jimmy is the greenhorn would be to preserve the typical history of Clark that has him come to Meteopolis straight out of high school, so he's got 10-12 years in the newspaper biz and is an established investigative reporter (Superman is a great anonymous source He's known for his hard hitting investigations into slumlords, big banks, and big corporations, generally advocating for workers and social justice by implication- and it is an investigation into Lex Corps that triggers a rivalry with Lex Luthor on multiple fronts), while Jimmy did go to college, which he kind of barely got through while goofing off and going to frat parties (His parents were big donors), possibly with a degree in photography rather than journalism, and that makes him a rookie newspaper photographer at 23 (Clark at that age would have been 5 years in since he didn't go to college).

Jim is sort of the wacky womanizing hard partying friend and Clark is the more responsible of the pair, but I think I'd make Jim a tad more mature than usual and Clark a tad less uptight than usual. Clark will have a beer or two, but Jim is the one getting him to the bar, staying after Clark goes to bed, and claiming to have hooked up with a girl and come straight from her place to the paper the next day, which Clark is generally good naturedly mock dubious about.

Jim is the first person Clark reveals his secret identity to. Ironically, Jim figures out Clark is in love with Lois, but Clark won't admit that to either Jim, Lois, or himself for a while.

Gradually, towards the end of the cycle between reboots, Jim gets pulled into the orbit of Clark's superhero friends, with the two of them hanging out with Bruce Wayne and other Justice League characters and Jim knowing most of their superhero identities, etc. and Jim winds up the best man at Lois and Clark's wedding (Which is about a year before the next reboot).

The closest I've seen to this was the New52, but it wasn't really quite the ideal dynamic I describe, and not consistsntly.

Another thing that they could consider, if Kara is in her 20s, is having Jimmy and her date and Clark NOT approve because he knows in detail about Jim's attitudes toward and history with women, and is protective of his cousin. However, the swerve would be that Jim turns out to be in love and committed and Clark sees Kara not taking the relationship seriously, flirting with other guys, etc., and has to have a talk with *her* about being considerate of Jim's feelings, despite initially thinking he'd be having that talk with Jim about Kara's feelings. Then you see where you want to go with that- I am guessing Kara dumps Jim and Jim's crushed, but it would depend on how it goes over with fans in the long run after they get used to the idea. Maybe Kara dumps him, he's devastated but eventually bounces back, and years later right before the next reboot, Kara does a long winded apology and talks about how wrong she was and how she's grown to see how much she meant to him and how much he offered her that others did not (made her smile, whatever), and asks for a second chance, and then they are dating again with an implication that it will lead to marriage eventually that second time around ("Hey, Clark, you never know, someday we could be brothers in law", cue Clark groaning, and Jim doing the trademark Superman wink at rhe readers), but with the big reboot happening within a few months after they get back together, so it never actually gets to a proposal or a marriage. Lucy Lane is someone Jim dates at some point, but they don't click and wind up just friends pretty quickly without much drama.

I have enjoyed that approach to tell you the truth.

[daBronzeBomma]

I'm taking a totally different track.

Jimmy Olsen should be the Dick Grayson of the Superverse: roughly the same age, been there since the Golden Age, was the face of youth for the franchise (until the Superboys Conner, Chris, and Jon usurped the role).

I would make Jimmy a contemporary of Dick, Donna, Garth, and Roy, (as well as Kara and Babs), who actually knows them personally and hangs out with them, socially if not professionally.

And Clark absolutely TELLS Jimmy his secret in person early on. That's absolutely non-negotiable IMO.

[Kuwagaton]

I've always loved (until recently) Jimmy not knowing. Don't feel there's much depth and there's already Lana, Pete, and Lois.

It means his one "advantage" is just the watch that can be underutilized or taken away. He's just a normal guy and because he's not burdened with a secret he can react as a real POv character. He waltzes into action completely himself, in contrast to Clark. He's not extra by any intention but rolls with some crazy twists and turns.

Don't need him to be old money or Jimmy Bond jr, but that's just how these things go.

[The World]

Similar 1940's fashion sense.