Next up for the month is the Daily Planet’s photographer,
James “Jimmy” Bartholomew Olsen. He’s been a supporting character for Superman
for the longest time. While some say he showed up in Action Comics #6, he officially
made his first appearance in the Superman radio show. Jimmy then made his way
to the comics then disappeared for a bit. When Jack Larson played the character
on the George Reeves’ Superman TV show, Jimmy was brought back to the comics
and he even got his own book called Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen. Yes, Jimmy had
a book and that thing lasted for years. Even Jack Kirby wrote on it when he
came to DC! Since then, Jimmy has been a constant supporting character in the
books. Whether he’s a reporter, photographer, being “Peter Parkered”, a man of
action, an annoyance, or a cool black dude, Jimmy’s been around.
Today, I thought I’d look at something from the New 52 era
of DC. Yes, it wasn’t all that bad, guys. Don’t let the trunkless era scare you
off like that! The “Big G” himself, Geoff Johns, returned to the Superman books
for a small period during that time. He was accompanied by John Romita Jr., a
Marvel legend, and Klaus Janson. I’d say it was a match made in heaven, but it wasn’t.
Still, their arc. “Men of Tomorrow,” was fine and it ended with today’s issue,
Superman #39. This was Johns’ last issue for on the book while the other two
would continue on for a bit. So, what happens when Superman is powerless? Not
much but that’s not bad.
Superman #39
Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: John Romita Jr.
Inks: Klaus Janson
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Colors: Hi-Fi
Editors: Eddie Berganza and Rickey Purdin
“24 Hours”
Previously in this run, Superman had met a figure that was
similar to him named Ulysses. He too had powers but he was the vanguard for an
alien invasion. He was able to defeat Ulysses with the help of a new power
called the Solar Flare. Unfortunately, this new ability has drained him of all
his powers for a day. So, Clark takes the time to tell his friend and
co-worker, Jimmy, that he’s Superman. He just comes out and says it with a
newer costume on. Jimmy even sees how Clark has been able to go under the radar
for years.
Ugh...
Even though Clark has told him this, Jimmy’s excitement goes
down when Clark reveals that he’s powerless for now. They head off to the Daily
Planet and and talk about how Clark being out in public without his powers.
When Clark sees a kid fall from a tree, he catches him but is scratched in the
process. They get to the Planet and have the usual office banter. That doesn’t
last long since we find out that there’s a hostage standoff downtown. Lois and
Jimmy go to get the story. As for the powerless Clark, he switches into
costume.
Okay, this was a cool moment... even though the artwork isn't that good.
Superman shows up to the hostage situation and (in a pretty
awesome way) is able to talk down the person holding the hostage. After the
incident, he and Jimmy converse some more until it’s revealed that Clark’s
powers are back. The two then get some food end the day on the roof of the Daily
Planet talking about how Clark handles his powers. The story ends with Clark
heading back to his work desk and finding a package. At the start of the issue,
a lady was delivering something at the request of who’s ultimately revealed to
be Mr. Oz. The package turns out to be a blank book with the House of El symbol
on the cover.
………………………………………………………..
I thought this was a pretty nice issue of Superman. The
writing is pretty good on Clark’s and Jimmy’s end. We get to see this version of Superman deal
with not having his abilities for what seems to be the first time. I thought it
was cool that he opened up to Jimmy since we really hadn’t seen that happen. The
issue serves as both an epilogue and a final issue to Johns’ short stint on the
book. Instead of some big action-fest, it’s Clark talking to one of his closest
friends. We even get a pretty awesome Superman moment. It may be a little sparse (as with most modern comics), but
the writing for this is good on the whole.
I wonder when we'll ultimately see Johns tackle more of "Mr Oz."
Then, we get to the artwork.
You know, I’ve been reading some of JMS’s Amazing Spider-Man run
recently and I ran into some Romita work. I guess my question would be the
following: where’s that guy because I don’t see him here? The artwork just
looks weird in not in a nice way either. Superman’s suit just looks bad in
places. I don’t know if it’s the combination of Romita’s pencils and Janson’s
inks or if it’s just rushed art. I’ve see some of Romita’s other DC work and it
varies from book to book. I will say that the layouts and colors are quite
good. Also, that image of Jimmy and Superman on the roof is good. Too bad it’s
a horizontal shot that you have to turn on the side to see. So, I’m mixed on
the artwork as a whole.
Overall, this is a good story with mixed artwork. I also
liked how Jimmy was used here. Even though he’s a mainstay of the comics media,
I think Jimmy’s a fine character. I’m not a big fan of the dude but he has his good
moments. I think I tend not to like him much when they play the annoying side
up and he can get annoying sometimes. Well, that’s all I got for the red-headed
man of action. Next time, I’ll get to the big man at the Daily Planet. Until
then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there. Now, I’m off to bed since I'm back on days.
NEXT TIME: PERRY WHITE VS. THE WANNA-BE KKK!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment