Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from SeptemberâÂÂOctober 1954 until March 1974, spanning a total of 163 issues. Featuring the adventures of Superman supporting character Jimmy Olsen, it contains stories often of a humorous nature.
A second Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen series, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Steve Lieber, was published between 2019 and 2020.
The 1952 television series Adventures of Superman co-starred actor Jack Larson, who appeared regularly as Jimmy Olsen. Largely because of the popularity of Larson and his portrayal of the character, National Comics Publications (DC Comics) decided to create a regular title featuring Jimmy as the leading character, which debuted with a SeptemberâÂÂOctober 1954 cover date. Curt Swan was the main artist on the series for its first decade.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen saw strong sales, selling an average of 498,000 copies of each issue in 1960, which was well behind top-selling series such as Uncle Scrooge and Superman but ahead of other widely recognized series such as Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, and even Action Comics, which starred Superman himself. The series's success prompted DC to introduce a second title which revolves around a supporting character, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, in 1958.
Lucy Lane was introduced in issue #36 (April 1959) and became the primary romantic interest of Jimmy Olsen for the run of the series. In an "Imaginary Story" seen in issue #57, he marries Supergirl (Kara Zor-El/Linda Lee Danvers) after she loses both her powers and memories of being Supergirl, only for her to recover her powers and memories after their marriage; once she lets him know that she is Supergirl, he is perfectly happy with it. She was also the anonymous "Miss X" whom Jimmy kissed in issue #44 to break the spell that turned him into a werewolf.
Early issues of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen had few fantasy elements and typically focused on Jimmy trying to do his job as a reporter, but towards the end of the 1950s most of the stories used bizarre premises and frequently involved Jimmy undergoing supernatural transformations. Jimmy acting like a jerk and turning on his friends was a common motif, to the extent that DC published an 80-page giant size issue (Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #113) which consisted of reprints of the best "Jimmy Olsen betrays Superman" stories.
When Jack Kirby began working at DC in 1970, he insisted on taking on this title since it was the lowest-selling in the publishing line and without assigned talent at the time, so he would not cost someone their job. Kirby's first issue was #133 (August 1970), and made a very clear break between the old style and the new.
During his run, Kirby introduced the Fourth World's New Gods, Darkseid, Project Cadmus and Transilvane. He also reintroduced the Newsboy Legion and the Guardian. The faces of the Superman and Jimmy Olsen figures drawn by Kirby were redrawn by Al Plastino or Murphy Anderson. Comedian Don Rickles guest starred in a two-part story by Kirby in issues #139 and #141. Kirby left the series with issue #148 (April 1972).
Lucy Lane was believed to have died in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #120 (March 1972) but was revived in a story in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #160 (October 1973). Nick Cardy was the cover artist for Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen for issues #154-163.
Following Kirby's departure from the series, sales floundered slightly. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane and the short-lived Supergirl title (launched in 1972) ended in 1974 by merging into the new omnibus title The Superman Family. The new series continued the numbering from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. Superman Family was canceled in 1982, ending with issue #222.
A Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen special one-shot was published in December 2008, following on from the "Atlas" storyline, and leading into '.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen was revived for a well-received 12-issue maxiseries beginning in September 2019.
Many of the issues include Jimmy undergoing some form of transformation. These include:
In 1959, the producers of the action/adventure series Adventures of Superman were hit by a snag as to how to continue the series after series star George Reeves had died that summer from a gunshot wound. Jack Larson, who played Jimmy in the series, was approached with the idea of continuing the franchise as a spin-off for two new seasons of 26 episodes each to begin airing in 1960. Titled Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, it would focus on a more serious angle of Olsen's rising career as a reporter and journalist with Larson reprising his role. In place of Reeves, stock footage of Superman flying and a look-alike stunt double would be used to play the Man of Steel. Larson rejected the proposal, and the project went unmade.