In June 2011, my "Jack Kirby re-reading project" finally reached the point where Kirby went to DC Comics. I discussed this at GREAT length over at the "Captain Comics" message board... at least, until the entire group of so-called "editors" running that site decided to "permanently ban" me from there. Some deranged lunatic brainwashed comics fans just cannot deal with anyone saying things like... "Jack Kirby wrote his own stories".
JIMMY OLSEN 133
Rejected cover by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer
(alterations by AL PLASTINO)
Someone (?) at DC wanted Jack Kirby to do SUPERMAN-- or at least, A Superman book-- right? Was it that JO was losing its then-regular team, or did it have the lowest sales, and this was a way of showing what Jack could do, take ANY lousy piece of junk and turn it into a success? (He had tried that before with GREEN ARROW, heh.)
I believe the Superman line in general was being, or about to be, revamped about that time. Any knowledge one way or the other? I find it wild that such a MAJOR change as transferring Clark Kent from his NEWSPAPER office to becoming a TV ANCHORMAN should happen first in, of all places, "SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN". Did it never even occur to anybody at DC to change to NAME of that book, at least, to something less unwieldy, like, say... "JIMMY OLSEN"?
I love how Jack had fun with the book's hokey title, plastering "Superman's EX-PAL, Jimmy Olsen" on several covers, and later, on the inside, "Jimmy Olsen's Pal, Superman". THAT's putting big blue in his place!
How likely-- or believable-- was it really, to have a newspaperman suddenly become-- AGAINST HIS WISHES-- a TV anchorman? Was his boss aware of his dual identity? We know he had ulterior motives for much of what he did. After all, in Jack's very 1st issue, the guy tries to have Clark Kent KILLED by having him run down by a car. What kind of management-employee relationship was this?
Morgan Edge-- apparently-- was NOT meant to be a clone (as later revealed), despite all the focus on clones in so many of these issues. He was supposed to be a VILLAIN, period. Why did DC back off from this? In a way, Edge (or whichever real-life person may have inspired him) may have been the inspiration for the villain in the James Bond movie, "TOMORROW NEVER DIES". That title doesn't make any sense, by the way. You can tell because it was originally gonna be "Tomorrow Never LIES", a reference to the name of the newspaper, "Tomorrow".
The Whiz Wagon naturally reminds one of the "next generation" of the Fantasti-Car. While John Buscema was stripping the edges off the vehicle in the FF book (to make it easier to draw-- WHAT OTHER possible reason could there have been?), Jack was unveiling what Johnny Storm PROBABLY would have, if "ye editor" hadn't been so insistent on POINTLESSLY giving him heartbreak by coming up with a totally-contrived reason for Crystal to no longer be able to stay in NYC. Stupid SOAP-OPERA writing!
MY question in all this is... WHAT is the point-- if any-- of The NEW Newsboy Legion? Teaming a "Newsboy Legion" with a reporter like Jimmy sounds like an idea that works when you say it, but not when you try to think it thru. Plus, there's TWO "Newsboy Legions" in this story. The new kids, who, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL, don't sell newspapers-- and the originals, who no longer do that either, as-- against any rational expectations-- they've ALL become genetic scientists. HUH????? Also, is it reasonable at all to call the originals the "fathers" of the younger ones? Maybe I'm putting too much thought into this. After all... it's "just" a JIMMY OLSEN comic!
Now, let's get to the cover. "JIMMY JOINS A BIKER GANG!" might have made a better title. It would have fit in perfect in Uncle Mortie's run, wouldn't it? Meanwhile, while one may "gun" an engine, it would have made more sense for Jimmy to say "RUN him down", as that's what you do to pedestrians. An earlier, unpublished version of the cover had someone HOLDING a gun, and in that case, "GUN him down" would have made sense... but only if it shot energy rays or kryptonite bullets.
I'd also like someone to explain how those bikes are TURNING to the right in mid-air after they leave the take-off ramp.
Annnnnnnnnnnd... WE'RE OFF!
(6-11-2011)
JIMMY OLSEN #133 / Oct’70 -- “Jimmy Olsen Brings Back The Newsboy Legion” (Part 2)
Yesterday, I did an off-the-cuff review of JIMMY OLSEN #133... without actually bothering to RE-READ the thing.
This morning, before I even put on the TV, I dug out the 1st volume of JIMMY OLSEN ADVENTURES from 2003, and re-read the 1st episode. With help from the list in AMAZING HEROES, I got ahold of most of the Fourth World books back in the early 80's (before NEW GODS was reprinted), but I never quite tracked down several of the books. This included the first 2 JIMMY OLSENs. Most frustrating. Starting to read with the 3rd episode is like walking into a 2-hour movie 40 MINUTES LATE. I finally managed to read the 1st episode when it was reprinted in SUPERMAN IN THE 70's (2000), but they only included the 1st one, not the 2nd.
What a JOLT this must have been. As awkward & stilted as the book's regular logo was, it got worse when the words "EX-" and "THE NEW" were added, making it "SUPERMAN'S EX-PAL, THE NEW JIMMY OLSEN". Of course, that wasn't the REAL name of the book... You know, these 2 JIMMY OLSEN ADVENTURES books actually show how good a JO cover can look when it isn't bogged down by "too much", and when the "SUPERMAN'S PAL" sub-logo is removed.
Jack tosses the readers into the deep end RIGHT from page 1! No prologue, no segue, no symbolic splash, no preparation of any kind. Jimmy's in a garage in a slum neighborhood, where, INEXPLICABLY, he's having a meeting with a group who are-- GET THIS!-- the SONS of THE NEWSBOY LEGION, a group of kids who had adventures in the early 1940's. I suppose in a JIMMY OLSEN book, "unlikely" is NEVER a consideration. I mean, think about it-- 4 guys who are friends, all have kids, and the 4 kids ALL hang out as friends 30 years later. Only in the DC Universe?
It gets stranger, because one of them has designed a vehicle that would give The Fantastic-Car a run for its money-- "THE WHIZ WAGON". It's quickly explained that Jimmy's new boss, media mogul Morgan Edge, on seeing the plans, had the car BUILT, and offers it as a gift to its designer, IF the "story" he sends them & Jimmy out to get works out. Strange-- but not completely inconceivable.
Shock follows shock, as we learn the Daily Planet has been BOUGHT by Edge (yes, the day of "corporate buy-outs" had arrived). Edge is a DEAD RINGER for Kevin McCarthy, and if you've ever seen him in the Weird Al Yankovic film "UHF", you have a good idea what this guy is like. (Funny thing, that movie came out 19 YEARS after this comic.)
In the tradition of Jules Verne's "The Terror", the WHIZ WAGON proves itself capable of operating on land, in the air, and in the water! (I don't believe the Fantasti-Car was ever shown having the latter ability.) It's arrival and immediately being spied upon reminds me a bit of the scene in "RETURN OF THE MOLE MAN" (seen on TV as "MENACE OF THE MOLE MAN") when the F.F. arrive at that island. Quickly, our heroes are under attack, and wind up in a life-or-death struggle. I might take this a bit more seriously, except I'm trying to figure out WHY the BLACK kid goes around wearing a scuba-diving suit-- ALL THE TIME. Maybe he has a super-hero fixation?
It is almost funny when 2 outlandish BIKERS named "Yango" and "Flek" show up, and when Jimmy insists on talking to their leader, he's told it was their leader he just beat the CRAP out of! And so... JIMMY is now their leader. That's right! "JIMMY OLSEN-- BIKER GANG LEADER!" Hey, maybe this isn't so different from all those earlier issues of this book after all?
Clark switches to his Superman identity, and exhibits a talent I've never seen him use in ANY other story-- using his "heat vision" to trace "after-images" of things, like the WHIZ WAGON. Anybody know-- has this talent EVER turned up in ANY other comics, before or since?
Supes discovers an hidden entrance to an underground tunnel (straight out of BUCK ROGERS or THE TIME TUNNEL), and then encounters some very peculiar characters. I'm a bit confused as to the topgraphy, as it seems there's grass and plants underground, but the way the sky is colored, it looks like he's still outside. First there's some "hippie" type who's meditating, then a pair of soldiers hunting hippies, who-- and I find this hilarious-- mistake HIM for one of them, who just happens to be wearing a "Superman" suit.
Things get all crazy when the BIKE GANG arrives, and like a scene right out of "THE WILD ONE" with Marlon Brando, they ride in circles around Supes, stopping only to reveal that Jimmy is the one in charge. It's at this point big blue develops a REALLY bad attitude. There's an entire website devoted to the theme of "Superman Is A Dick", showcasing endless examples of how badly the big "S" has treated Jimmy (and just about every other "friend" he's ever had in his long history), and it gives one the impression of some seriously BAD relationships. Presumably, Supes & Jimmy have known each other for HOW long by now? --yet, Supes comes across with the attitude that Jimmy is TOTALLY out of his depth, and ONLY HE (Superman) can handle-- WHATEVER it is they're looking for (even though, at this point, almost nobody seems to have any idea what that might be).
Al Plastino seems to have goofed up on page 18, as Supe's EYES are wide open even though it's clear the guy has been knocked unconscious by Kryptonite gas!
On page 20, we see "The Habitat", a small town built entirely out of GIGANTIC tree trunks. I've always figured Metropolis was on the East Coast, but this would make more sense if it was taking place on the WEST coast. In fact, the whole thing with hippies and bikers feels like a West Coast thing, especially as that's where Jack & Roz were living when he was doing this story. I've actually SEEN a mobile home built into the trunk of a giant redwood tree. THEY EXIST! Kirby took this to further extremes, obviously.
What's interesting is Supes' comment, "I can't conceive of a DROPOUT SOCIETY being THAT industrious!" As "Big Words" explains, it was built by someone else we haven't seen yet, and the bikers just took it over. As Supes leans against the wall and says, "Go on--" you can just SEE the "attitude" on his face. Only Yango has a clue what they're looking for, and this makes Supes exclaim, "I'm more the ever CONVINCED that it's my duty to do everything to STOP you." What a JERK! Or... is it possible he knows MORE than he's letting on???
It took me so long to get my hands on the whole thing, but when I did, I was completely blown away. This story does not read like any normal, average kind of comic-book or comic-book serial. It doesn't feel like anyone else's type of multi-part story. It actually reads like A MOVIE!! But this only becomes obvious when you've read all 6 parts. This wasn't the last time Jack managed something like this, either. I got the same feel of reading a "MOVIE" with the first 5 chapters of the "MADBOMB" story, the first 6 issues of CAPTAIN VICTORY, and the 6 issues of SILVER STAR. In effect, these stories could easily be turned into feature films-- AS IS.
The cover used was re-worked and re-worked, and an earlier, unused version actually turned up as the cover of JIMMY OLSEN ADVENTURES Vol.2 (but would have made more sense on Vol.1!). On that, Yango is pointing a GUN at Superman, so when Jimmy says, "GUN him down!", it makes MORE SENSE. All the changes and endless fix-ups, and somehow, someone at DC let the finished cover go out without fixing that ONE word on the cover so it would read, "RUN him down!" (which is what you DO to pedestrians).
I dug out my Fourth World comics today. It wasn't easy, there was about a 2-foot-high STACK of magazines piled up on top of it that I had to move first before I could open the long box. Anyway, it's free now. It was already several years ago I started a chronological re-reading of ALL the Jack Kirby comics in my entire collection, and after about a 2-YEAR break (not counting the time I spent reading early-70's Marvels AFTER Jack had left the company), I FINALLY got back to Kirby today.
One thing that surprised me, flipping thru a couple issues of JIMMY OLSEN... when the JO ADVENTURES books came out, I said I thought they looked BETTER than the originals. I take it back. The coloring is more intense, but while the line reproduction is VERY good, it's a BIT darker than the originals. So, yes-- the originals DO look better. If you ignore the paper slowly turning yellow.
Most of these comics I have only ever read ONCE, a little under 30 YEARS ago. Having read endlessly about them, in THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, and at the Kirby-L yahoo group (now gone), I'm really looking forward to experiencing these again, now that I'm older and have a much more highly-developed sensibility with regards to art and writing-- especially the latter.
(6-12-2011)
(Continued in November 1970)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) DC Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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