Does anyone have a favorite canonical love interest for Jimmy?

[Will Evans]

I do like the pairing of Linda and Jimmy, because of that what-if story when they were married, and also another story where Linda worked at the Daily Planet. But Supergirl has so many other options--Brainiac 5 for instance--and Jimmy shouldn't be her ball and chain. However, Lucy and Supergirl did look alike back in the day. And Jimmy did wish Supergirl into existence. So maybe he has a type. Has he ever met Power Girl?

Yes he met Powergirl in her limited series near Infinite Crisis.

Karen caught him starring at the “twins.”

[magha_regulus]

Talia Al ghul lol no; I like him with Lucy. I like Supergirl with Brainiac 5. I like it because it adds more personal interconnectedness between Jimmy and Lois' lives. Jimmy and Lois have a special relationship and Jimmy being in a relationship with her sister adds some fun and nuanced elements to it. Lucy is a character i wish they'd do more with. She really shouldn't be relegated just to being Jimmy's girlfriend. I like her as a foil and a chaotic element for Lois.

[Jim Kelly]

There's this trend with second tier characters--especially minorities and women--that they start out at the worker bee level and over the decades are elevated to queen bee status. If a female supporting character was a secretary in the 1960s, by the 1990s she's an office manager, and by the 2010s she's a C.E.O. Thomas Kalmaku starts out as a mechanic but then becomes an aircraft engineer and then a corporate head. Jimmy starts out as a copy boy, then a cub reporter, then a photo journalist--and maybe even the publisher of his own news app. Lucy starts out as a stewardess, then a pilot and then a J.A.G. officer.

Thing is, while I understand they're trying to give these characters a higher profile, as someone who was always blue collar, it's essentially saying you don't really matter in the world unless you have a prestige position and you're making a generous income. As if we can't have respect for honest, hard working citizens.

With Jimmy and Lucy, I like them best as young people--either in their teens or early twenities. They are young enough that they shouldn't have to have a major position. It's all right for Jimmy to be a copy boy or cub reporter and for Lucy to be a flight attendant--because they have their whole lives ahead of them. Why should someone at twenty need to be in a high ranking position at their work? I'd rather the supporting cast of characters was fleshed out with more grunts, who do their job and are just fine with themselves in those positions.

[Vordan]

Because that’s boring to read. Jimmy is interesting because of all the crazy bullshit he gets up to. Nobody cares about Jimmy in the “grounded” takes because he doesn’t get to really do anything. He hasn’t been an important member of the supporting cast in Superman comics for years, and him just being the guy who fetches coffee is part of the reason why. If you de power Supes to his early New 52 power levels then sure, Jimmy Olsen copyboy has a place to fit in, he fits the more grounded take. But if we’re at the level we are now, where Superman is founding the United Planets and the JL is fighting to save the Multiverse, why not let Jimmy be Jimmy and put him in crazy situations? All his best moments have been the stuff like being head of PROJECT for a day in All-Star or this series where he’s running wild all over the DCU.

[Tzigone]

Thing is, while I understand they're trying to give these characters a higher profile, as someone who was always blue collar, it's essentially saying you don't really matter in the world unless you have a prestige position and you're making a generous income. As if we can't have respect for honest, hard working citizens.

While I can't speak to Jimmy, I'd say in the other two cases (Lucy and Tom), it's very much that women and minorities were in subordinate positions/careers in the past (many, many reporters, also, due to Lois, but even she was on the bottom of the totem pole at first, with several indications it was because of her sex), and now they want them to be more like the Jim Gordons and Perry Whites and other white guys of the supporting cast world - bosses and equals - instead of reinforcing that white men belong in high-paid, high-prestige, high-authority careers, whereas women and minorities don't.

With Jimmy and Lucy, I like them best as young people--either in their teens or early twenities. They are young enough that they shouldn't have to have a major position. It's all right for Jimmy to be a copy boy or cub reporter and for Lucy to be a flight attendant--because they have their whole lives ahead of them. Why should someone at twenty need to be in a high ranking position at their work? I'd rather the supporting cast of characters was fleshed out with more grunts, who do their job and are just fine with themselves in those positions.

Problem is that they have to grow up if time is going to pass in the comics (and if Jimmy is around in the start and Clark's been here 10 years now...). Hell, Jimmy grew up in the radio show. And, as I've said before, flight attendant was a glamorous job in the 1960s, and it has a totally different flavor/reputation now. So the feel/perception/status isn't the same as it would have been then. Also, Lucy'd be gone a lot, but that's okay if you don't want her around all the time, I guess. I'm not sure Lucy has ever been in her teens in the comics. Frankly, I sometimes think Jimmy suffers in much the same way as Kara or Gar or Raven - they won't let him grow up. Okay, he's a supporting character, and not main one. But sometimes if feels like they want him acting/being 20 forever, even as other characters age, and it's irritating.

I'd prefer some newer blue collar heroes, honestly. But not constantly suffering (even financially), because I'm over the constant angst of so many heroes. Just like I'm sick of their personal life going to crap every other storyline. Some lasting happiness would be great. But new heroes are very a hard sell, and we all know that. Especially non-spin-offs. I'd like more "normal" supporting characters in comics in general. But I don't want Lucy set up as the screwup to Lois' success story (very peeved with that, as previously discussed, and making her evil is even worse). And, frankly, if the DP stays a really fantastic/prominent paper then, realistically, it would be staffed with higher paid reporters. More run-of-the-mill career-folk would work better for Barry and some other heroes, I think.

Because that’s boring to read. Jimmy is interesting because of all the crazy bullshit he gets up to. Nobody cares about Jimmy in the “grounded” takes because he doesn’t get to really do anything. He hasn’t been an important member of the supporting cast in Superman comics for years, and him just being the guy who fetches coffee is part of the reason why. If you de power Supes to his early New 52 power levels then sure, Jimmy Olsen copyboy has a place to fit in, he fits the more grounded take. But if we’re at the level we are now, where Superman is founding the United Planets and the JL is fighting to save the Multiverse, why not let Jimmy be Jimmy and put him in crazy situations? All his best moments have been the stuff like being head of PROJECT for a day in All-Star or this series where he’s running wild all over the DCU.

That I strongly disagree with. While in the minority, I hate buttmonkey Jimmy and silver-age hijinks. I much prefer him as the character that was created for the radio show. Starts and a copyboy (which, really, are adults these days and even back in the late 1940s - don't know about before that), who becomes a very capable cub reporter and would, in time, be an absolutely awesome experienced reporter, just like Lois and Clark. I do think being a reporter, rather than a photographer, gives him a lot more story material. He can be off chasing his stories, and we can see that.

EDIT: Jim Gordon, on the other hand, seems to be widely regarded as much more blue collar these days than he originally was, though I'm unsure on the degree of canon v. fanon there. Still, he'd likely be a very well-paid blue collar.

[Restingvoice]

but seriously, it's Kara Zor-El or bust for Jimmy IMO.

Wait... how old is both party?

[Adekis]

Yeah, I also always wanted Jimmy to be bisexual. Maybe a little genderfluid in there. That'd sure be consistent with what we know about his predilection for crossdressing over the years - and as for being bi - I would just like it, that's all.

[witchboy]

That does bring to mind, if Jimmy were bi or gay, what men would he date? There's not really a lot of established gay/bi men in DC, never mind Metropolis to pair him with.
Bring in Lois's cousin Louis Lane would be a fun call back to the past.

[Jim Kelly]

This is probably evidence that I'm not an evolved person, but the funny thing about Bugs dressing up as a female (rabbit) and flirting with Elmer Fudd or Jimmy dressing up as a woman and being proud when he gets wolf whistles from other men, is that they never cop to any kind of 21st century self-reflection on gender fluidity. If they did, all the air would go out of the funny, like popping a balloon.

[bretmaverick2]

Anyone else remember when Jimmy was being tracked by an old woman in back up stories near the end of his solo run? And *SPOILER* the old woman turned out to be Lucy Lane that had been presumed dead???

I always that would lead to a stable Jimmy / Lucy coupling but I was incorrect.

[Jim Kelly]

Anyone else remember when Jimmy was being tracked by an old woman in back up stories near the end of his solo run? And *SPOILER* the old woman turned out to be Lucy Lane that had been presumed dead???

I always that would lead to a stable Jimmy / Lucy coupling but I was incorrect.

You mean in the 1970s when she came back from the dead as an old woman with white hair, then she got young again but still had the white hair? No, I don't remember that.

[witchboy]

I do remember old lady Lucy, that was a big shock and her keeping the white hair was an interesting lasting touch. You would think after all that thay Jimmy and Lucy would've worked out as a couple.