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Countdown #47: "What Lurks In The Apartment Of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen?" BY FREE STEVE CHUNG
Last week in Countdown #47, we saw Jimmy Olsen suffering from a nightmare, and wondering what's happening to him.
If dreaming of being stuck on a living wall is enough to make Jimbo scream, then what would he make of these past Pre-Crisis predicaments?
While aiding Professor Thorne with his telepathy helmet at the Metropolis Zoo, a strange flash of energy causes the cub reporter's mind to trade places with that of a gorilla.
Although trapped for a time, in a gorilla body, Jimmy decides to make the most of it, and becomes "The Gorilla Reporter" in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #24 (October - November, 1957).
When Lucy Lane, Lois' younger sister, rejects the amorous advances of Mr. Mxyzptlk, the fifth dimensional imp decides to pay a visit to her boyfriend in secret.
While Jimmy is looking over some of his trophies at his apartment, the imp spots the wolf-man potion, and gets an idea. The cub reporter is suddenly compelled to take the wolf-man potion bottle down from the shelf, and swallow its contents. He is unaware that Mr. Mxyzptlk has turned the potion into water, and it is his fifth dimensional magic, not the potion which will turn Jimmy into a Wolf-Man.
The cub reporter became "Jimmy Olsen, Wolf-Man" in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #52 (April, 1961).
While dining with Clark Kent and Lucy Lane in his apartment, Jimmy hears a noise coming from his trophy room. Checking through the secret two-way mirror he installed on the wall, they see a strange figure materializing from thin air. The mild-mannered reporter recognizes him as a master burglar from the 31st century.
The burglar's vibration ray makes short work of the safe, but before the cub reporter can use his signal-watch to summon the Man of Steel, the criminal uses a black-out gun on them.
Unbeknownst to the thief, his stun-ray has no affect on the mild-mannered reporter, who changes to Superman, and escorts him back to the 31st century.
For a time, the cub reporter is in possession of "The Burglar Kit From The Future" in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #66 (January, 1963).
In order to better protect the trophies from theft, the Man of Steel constructs a burglarproof vault for his pal.
Among the trophies being arranged in the vault are: duplicate costumes from the Legion of Super-Heroes given to Jimmy when he was made an honorary member, an underwater breathing solution given by Lori the Mermaid, the growing compound given by Colossal Boy to turn himself into a giant, and the elastic fluid which turns the cub reporter into Elastic Lad.
Photographs of Allura, the beautiful giantess from another world, Ilona of the Sunev Galaxy, Rona from another dimension, and Lucy Lane are also on display.
Jimmy received the newer, better vault in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #77 (June, 1964).
While working on a plan to travel to the past and save Krypton, the cub reporter's mind is subjected to posthypnotic suggestion by Jax-Ur and Professor Varox.
The two Phantom Zone prisoners figure that if Olsen is successful in saving the doomed planet, Jor-El will never have sent his son to Earth, and there will never have been a Superman.
Thanks to a miniature transistorized time-machine trophy given to him by the Man of Steel, a genuine Kryptonian outfit given to him from Kandor, a pair of antigravity boots, and some unsuspected "help" from Jax-Ur and Professor Varox, the cub reporter is able to make "Olsen's Time-Trip To Save Krypton" in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #101 (April,1967).
In the post-Crisis/post-Infinite Crisis DCU, we haven't seen a lot of trophies in the cub reporter's apartment -- heck some of the time, Jimmy Olsen didn't even have an apartment. But with big changes seemingly in store for the residents of the DCU in the Countdown ... is all that about to change? Will we see a return of the Silver Age elements that filled Jimmy Olsen's life?
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Countdown #47: "What Lurks In The Apartment Of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen?"
