Snapshots of Jimmy Olsen #24: Jungle Jimmy

Source: Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1998 (1966)
Type: The real deal (since retconned)
Jimmy Olsen's short stint as a would-be movie Tarzan is an eventful, ridiculous, and about as sensitive to African people as Tintin in the Congo. It begins with Clark Kent and Jimmy being carried through the African jungles by bare-chested tribesmen. When Jimmy sees armed Africans throwing spears at a blond man, Jim wants to intervene and needs to be told by Clark that their assignment is to cover a jungle film shoot. That's a long trip for Jimmy not to know why he's there. Interviewing the director, Jim further discovers that the indigenous people are being paid with cheap trinkets and private viewings of jungle classics like King Kong. Cue Jimmy Olsen, Ugly American.
That's Bruna walking into the makeshift open-sky cinema, the sacred ape that serves as the tribe's god. Jimmy is threatened by the local witch-doctor, but Bruna doesn't seem to mind. She's just smitten with King Kong in every way artist Pete Costanza ISN'T. He's no fan if he draws Fay Wray with black hair. I mean, come on! The next day, Jimmy begs the director for a small role in the film, because he's done plenty of acting, don't you know. The director agrees despite his crew's misgivings, because there are apparently thousands of Jimmy Olsen fan clubs all over the world. It hasn't helped Jimmy's other movies make money, "Sinister Safari" a particularly costly bomb. Even though he HAS THE ROLE, Jim can't stand to be mocked by a camera man, so he's show them, by George of the Jungle, he will!
Not that this has ANYTHING to do with the film, mind you. I guess Jimmy had this outfit in his luggage somewhere. And the witch-doctor's curse seems to come true a little later when, while building a Tarzan-type tree-house, a branch snaps and he drops into quicksand at the bottom of a pond. Signal-watch time! Except Superman doesn't come to the rescue, Bruna does! And inspired by the movie she just watched, she steals Jimmy away to her mountain cave as her tribal worshipers applaud the fact she's finally found a mate. Well, I don't expect these guys to know what DNA is, but they should still know that's not going to work. Time lapse indicates maybe Jimmy still gave it the old college try.
I'm kidding. He's totally rude to the Goddess Bruna, calling her ugly and accusing her of keeping an untidy home. When she wakes up, she's naturally irate. She knows he's not going to call her! She attacks the movie set and Superman has to take her home. But she comes right back down the mountain to throw a tantrum in the middle of jungle traffic (not kidding). Jimmy, well-used to getting rid of weird girls who have fallen in love with him, asks Superman to fly her back in time to primeval times. Superman can't do that, she's somebody's Goddess. He can't take her away. So he does the only thing he can: He gives her Jimmy and promises to have them married. You know, just until he can find a way out for him. It's not enough that Jimmy is showered (literally) with sloppy kisses, his humiliation is even more complete when Lucy Lane shows up - because there was a layover at the nearby airport, yes, in a jungle where you need to use porters to get from place to place - to help. She lays it on really thick, but then, it's not Lucy Lane if there's no cruelty.
Superman officiates the wedding because OF COURSE he's an official deputy of the witch-doctor's, and Jimmy moves into the cave. AND the director films it (his movie is going to be so disjointed!). Superman then does pretty much nothing to get Jimmy out of this inter-species relationship (as we've seen in Supergirl-Comet stories, he's not one to judge). So Jimmy finds his own way to get a "quickie divorce", and the key is "Sinister Safari".
They say violent movies don't make kids violent, but if a gorilla got married because she saw King Kong, she'll damn well throw a ginger off a cliff because she saw it in a movie that same ginger was terrible in. Good thing Superman always catches Jimmy when he falls.

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