James Gunn’s Superman is unequivocally a hit, and a big reason for that is the cues it took from the comics. David Corenswet’s Superman/Clark Kent was amazing, but the new movie did something that the DCEU didn’t really do, building up the supporting cast of The Daily Planet, especially Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy Olsen has always been a very important part of the Superman mythos; Olsen was the best friend of both Superman and Clark Kent. He was basically the Robin of the Superman comics, and even got his own comic — Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen. Fans loved Skylar Gisondo’s Jimmy, and DC is giving them what they want with Kal-El-Fornia Love #1, a Superman family anthology book that includes a Jimmy Olsen story.
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Olsen’s history is one of the most interesting of all of the sidekick characters, which is why his role in Superman (2025) is so great. He’s often helped both Clark and Superman in their various missions, and his role in “The Gorilla Ex-Wife of Jimmy Olsen” plays off both Olsen’s long history of solo adventures and how he’s an integral part of The Daily Planet. It also digs into his history, revealing that a story that took place in DC’s Silver Age is actually canon. DC’s wonky continuity has always been of its charm, and this issue is a perfect example of why it’s great the publisher has been revisiting that past.
Jimmy Olsen Is a Cross-Species Lady Man
Superman comics in the Silver Age were wild. Superman and his related books went in every direction you can imagine. Covers of these books would sell readers on some kind of insane thing happening, and it would make people want to pick up the book. One of the most prevalent type of covers from this period were the ones where Superman would basically be tormenting everyone around him, whether it be setting Lois Lane and Lana Lang against each other, gaslighting everyone about his secret identity, and the ones where he’s mean to Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy was the reader insert, and DC Comics had an especially young reader base, so these kids were used to adults in their life being mean to them. It made sense to put out books with these covers, because kids would empathize with Jimmy, pick up the book, and then get a story that was often pretty different from what was in the inside. Comics had a lot more competition on the newsstands, and had to grab people right away. So, Superman being a jerk to Jimmy Olsen was the perfect way to get the young readers to pick up the book.
This brings us to Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #98. This book hit the sweet spot of Silver Age Superman covers — mean Superman and apes. Apes were another big Silver Age DC trope, with books with apes on the cover selling more. The cover had Jimmy Olsen marrying a gorilla with Superman officiating the ceremony. The story on the inside, “The Bride of Jungle Jimmy”, saw Jimmy and Clark Kent on the the set of a movie in Africa, near Gorilla City where the star of the movie, a gorilla named Bruna fell in love with him, which led to the two of them marrying in a scene for the movie. However, Superman being there makes it official. Shenanigans ensue, and the marriage is annulled, with Olsen leaving Africa with Lucy Lane, the younger sister of Lois, who was Jimmy’s main love interest at the time.
This is exactly the kind of story that young readers got out of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, and it’s became legendary among younger fans because of that wild cover. It’s also the kind of story that most people would assume is no longer canon, thanks to Crisis on Infinite Earths. For those who don’t know, this story did away with the older, sillier DC Multiverse. Most of Jimmy Olsen’s old adventures were rendered non-canon, so Kal-El-Fornia Love #1 bringing back Bruna is a surprise to everyone. It also leads to a fun little story that pits Jimmy Olsen and Gorilla Grodd. The story sees Jimmy and Clark in Hollywood at a premiere party, trying to get a picture of the star of the movie, Bruna. Jimmy can’t place her name right away, but when he sees her walk in with her new agent Gorilla Grodd, he panics. Instead of just asking her for a photo, he decides to challenge Grodd to Gorilla Games in order to win a chance for a photo. Jimmy is found to be cheating, using a Phantom Zone portal in his watch to win a banana eating contest. That leads to the best part of the story.
Jimmy Decides to Be an Adult
Jimmy Olsen realizes that the actual solution to the problem wasn’t trying to beat Grodd with Silver Age style trickery, but to actually treat Bruna like a person and apologize to her for leaving her behind and never checking on her. He shows a measure of maturity, realizing that he actually hurt Bruna immensely when he left because she actually loved him. Bruna gives Jimmy the photo, and the two of them leave on good terms.
There’s an interesting parallel with Superman about all of this. In the movie, Jimmy uses his former relationship with Eve Tessmacher to get Lois the information she needs to figure out what Lex is doing and prove it. At the end of the movie, Eve runs to him and hugs Jimmy, and at first he looks regretful about the whole thing because he found her somewhat annoying. However, as the hug goes on, his expression changes to acceptance. In my opinion, he finally sees her as human being with feelings and accepts her affection. He used her and realizes that he needs to treat her with respect. This same thing happened in “The Gorilla Ex-Wife of Jimmy Olsen”. It’s great and if you love Skylar Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, you pick up this comic.
Kal-El-Fornia Love #1 is on sale now.
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Image Credit: Marvel Comics
