How Old Is Jimmy Olsen Supposed To Be?

[Timothy Hunter]

He's been around since Superman 13 in 1941, which makes him at the very youngest, as old as Dick Grayson currently is in the 20 to 30 range. Unlike Dick Grayson however, whose age when first becoming Robin is very well documented, I've never been sure how old Jimmy Olsen was supposed to be at the start of Superman's career. Was he a pre-teen? A teenager? A young adult?

Action Comics 865 claimed he was 22, which seems a bit young for a character who was working at the Daily Planet when Superman first appeared in Metropolis.

[phonogram12]

DC will almost never outright say the ages of most of their characters (especially one's who are supposed to eternally be youthful like Jimmy), but even with a somewhat condensed nu52-like timeline, if you do the math, he'd probably be somewhere around 28. That said, unless set in some ten years in the future, DC will likely never age him past 25.

[Frontier]

18-25 in my opinion.

[Mutant God]

Is he the same age as Dick Grayson or older?

[Jim Kelly]

It's impossible to answer, because there are so many continuities to choose from and even within each continuity there are many contradictions.

In SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN 111 (June 1968)--1st story, "Jimmy Olsen, Boy Wonder" by Cary Bates and Pete Costanza--Jimmy tries out for the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City and is turned down. He then meets with his pal Robin, the Boy Wonder, who is also known as Dick Grayson, at their Eyrie secret H.Q., where Olsen is taught how to impersonate Grayson. Jim then goes to high school as Dick and his thought balloons make it clear that he's like David Cassidy or Johnny Depp pretending to be a teen-ager but already older than high school age (DAVID CASSIDY: MAN UNDERCOVER and 21 JUMP STREET, respectively). But later, Kaye Daye explains to Jimmy that the reason he can't join the M.A.G.C. is because he's not yet twenty-five.

In the early Superman comics, the character that's assumed to be Jimmy is very young--if he's the office boy that appears in ACTION COMICS 6 (November 1938)--maybe twelve years old???

In any future movie, T.V. show or comic book reboot, I'd like Jimmy to be as young as possible at the beginning. He could be the kid in dailies 127 – 162--June 12th - July 22nd, 1939, by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (layouts: Shuster; finished art: Dennis Neville)--where Lane and Kent investigate a cruel orphanage, reprinted in SUPERMAN 3 (Winter 1940). I know the kid in that story is named Frankie--but I like to re-imagine this as Jimmy's origin story and how he first met Clark and Lois. I think it's one of the finest stories from the Man of Steel's early days.

[Jon Clark]

Jiimmy always struck me as late teens to no more than 22 for most of his Pre-Crisis life (back when Clark was eternally 29). He might have aged a bit during the Bronze Age to maybe 25 by the time of Crisis. There was a Silver-age story where Superman adopted him which seems to say he was under 18 at that point.

Post Crisis I got the impression that Jimmy was still a kid when Superman debuted (he seemed to still be living at home in the early Byrne/Wolfman era. And something led me to believe Jimmy might have gotten an early start at the Planet- freelance teen photographer to cub reporter to rookie all between Superman's public debut and Crisis.

[PCN24454]

Younger than Superman and Lois.

[bretmaverick2]

I’d say his age would be 12 to 15 yrs younger than Clark Kent.

But it hard to say as it seems, as noted above, it seems to fluctuate by era / creators.

Early appearances, I’d say 18 - 22. For the ‘Mr. Action’ era, late 20s. Then he seemed to de-age.

[Jon-El]

Right before the Crisis, I remember a new character being introduced that Jimmy mentored a bit. I can’t think of the character’s name but he had curly hair. Anyway, his introduction made me think he was the new young kid at the Planet & Jimmy had matured some.

Edit: Justin Moore
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[bat39]

Its difficult to say. I see him as being in his late teens when Superman first showed up. Clark was supposed to be around 25 at the time and Lois more or less the same age, give or take a couple of years. So at a baseline, I see Jimmy as being around 5-7 years younger than Superman.

Of course, this means that at a time when Superman is chronologically maybe pushing 40 or 45, Jimmy would have to be in his thirties, if not pushing 40 himself! Which feels 'wrong' because we're so conditioned to seeing him as a 'young' guy and a 'kid' reporter. Its easier to image Clark or even Lois as being in their forties than it is to imagine Jimmy as being in his thirties...

But I've been watching CW's Supergirl lately which does have an older Jimmy who was likely in his thirties (at least the actor was) at a time when Clark and Lois would have been in their late thirties/early forties. So now I'm kinda conditioned to be able to see Jimmy as a bit older than we're used to.

Anyway, I think Dick Grayson is pushing 30, and I see Jimmy as being a few years older than him, so it all fits together!

[Adekis]

I think read in a comic once that Jimmy is 24, and in the absence of a stricter timeline, I think he can stay 24 until the cows come home as far as I'm concerned, barring a few discrepancies like his earliest of appearances where he's clearly a child.

[Restingvoice]

He's been around since Superman 13 in 1941, which makes him at the very youngest, as old as Dick Grayson currently is in the 20 to 30 range. Unlike Dick Grayson however, whose age when first becoming Robin is very well documented, I've never been sure how old Jimmy Olsen was supposed to be at the start of Superman's career. Was he a pre-teen? A teenager? A young adult?

Action Comics 865 claimed he was 22, which seems a bit young for a character who was working at the Daily Planet when Superman first appeared in Metropolis.

Action Comics #6 in Comixology refer to an unammed office boy as Jimmy, and I often hear him referred as a cub reporter, if I'm not mistaken, so he sounds like an intern, or someone who works freelance or part time, so if Lois and Clark are 25 at the start, he'd be in the college age range. 18 to 22.

In the early Superman comics, the character that's assumed to be Jimmy is very young--if he's the office boy that appears in ACTION COMICS 6 (November 1938)--maybe twelve years old???

This is what I was talking about, except I interpret him older, I guess you can be an office boy that young in the 40s since Dick was also hired as a waiter in a cruise while trying to catch Catwoman, and that was one of his first case

Is he the same age as Dick Grayson or older?

Older. Dick was still a young Robin, age range 8 to 12. While they don't start that way in the golden age, in the modern versions of the origins, Jimmy, Lois and Clark tend to be already a Daily Planet trio by the time Superman's first year ends.

I'm thinking college age at the start, but maybe you can make him a teen freelance photographer like Peter Parker, so 15 at the youngest.

[The World]

Somewhere in Dick Grayson's age bracket. They were once something akin to peers I believe. Might be a little younger or a little older idk.

[Jim Kelly]

I feel like, if Clark and Lois start at the Planet in their early twenties, then Jimmy should just be a kid at that time. It makes better sense that he's this boy who hero-worships Superman. He's inspired by Lane and Kent to get into journalism and gets some kind of training position at the Planet later. This gives Olsen more time to grow as a character and explains why he looks up to Lois and Clark. If he's nearly the same age as them, his adulation comes off as creepy.

It's hard to tell what age Jimmy is supposed to be on the radio (when he first got the name Olsen), but he's living with his mother and clearly a youngster.

[thwhtGuardian]

Personally, I've always seen him as just a bit younger than Lois and Clark. At the time when Clark decides to operate publicly as Superman I'd say he was just a few years out of college and the same for Lois and at that time I'd put Jimmy as a college intern so 20-21 years old as compared to Lois and Clark's 25ish years old.

Original continuity he could be younger as businesses like newspapers frequently did hire kids in high school...but now that isn't the case which is why I think college intern is the only way to make him younger than Lois and Clark. About the only way I could see making a teenage Jimmy work would be to have his parents own the Daily Planet and that Jimmy is allowed on the payroll at their "request" which would actually make his relationship with Perry fit pretty well.