posted April 29, 2003 12:39 AM               

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Jimmy Olsen: Adventures by Jack Kirby 12:18 PM
As mentioned back on the old news from me, DC Comics is bringing out the first of two volumes reprinting Jack Kirby's brief but memorable tenure on Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen. It was an odd stint -- not quite a DC comic, not quite a Marvel, with art that was not quite Jack's, and stories that no one could quite describe. As I recount in the foreword of the book, Jack never much liked handling other folks' characters. On the other hand, he was newly-arrived at DC, having fled a situation he deemed intolerable at Marvel. He was eager to cooperate with his new employer and eager to become its most important creator. To this end, he accepted the notion not only that he should do something in the Superman area but that he should also revamp the Man of Steel, whose sales were dropping and whose long-time editor had just been shown the door. That character's pal's comic, which was then without a steady writer or artist, looked like a dandy place to begin to do some of that.

As others have found over the years with a classic icon, it's one thing for the copyright holder to say they want it updated and retooled, and quite another for them (anyone, not just DC then) to actually alter a property with a lucrative merchandising franchise. I am reminded of a time when a writer I know described a new assignment as, "Make it new, make it fresh, make it different, but for God's sake, don't change anything!"

What Jack did with Jimmy Olsen came to rest somewhere in the middle of that directive: Different enough from the DC norm to horrify several of the company's longtime staffers (including the nominal editor of the comic, Murray Boltinoff) but so much like a DC Comic that Jack felt distanced from the work and generally handicapped. Nothing that he did was without interest, and some of what you'll see in this collection -- and the subsequent second volume, which will reprint the balance of his Olsen material -- is quite wonderful. This is a 192 page paperback that comes out on July 23. Yes, it's in color. No, the retouches that were done at the time on Jack's drawings of Jimmy Olsen and Superman have not been undone. The cover is Steve Rude's reinterpretation of an unused cover drawing Jack did. You can see a small version of it at the left and a larger one by clicking here. I think. I'm still learning how to embed pictures in this new software, so don't be surprised if you click that link and wind up at some porn site.

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posted April 29, 2003 07:47 PM            

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Originally posted by friend:
Wow! Great link! Btw - what's Don Rickles doin' on a cover???

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I was curious too...a quick Google search on "Jimmy Olsen 141" gave me this page with a complete synopsis (although with a missing cover-image).

Ah, the internet....