Source: Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #66 (1963)
Type: Transformation
The last Saturday of 2015 brings us the last of Jimmy's Snapshots, appropriately a Christmas story AND a tale of Jimmy as he would look at the end of his life. "The Cabinet of Krypton" takes place during one of Mr. Mxyzptlk's mischievous rampages in Metropolis, so Superman is too busy to go with Jimmy on his deep-sea dredging adventure. And yet, the expedition does coincidentally find a Kryptonian artifact which was, we learn later, thrown into deep space in Krypton's glory days. (It must have been really really close by, and we were just their landfill.) Though Jimmy can read Kryptonese, just enough of the inscription is corroded that we don't know what the cabinet does:
It's brought back to the Daily Planet until Superman can explain it, and Perry White tells Jimmy not to tamper with it. Jimmy's reaction is that 1) Perry shouldn't treat him like a CHILD, and 2) maybe he ought to fiddle around with it anyway in case it might impress Lucy Lane with whom he has a date tonight. So not a child, but at most a teenager. Okay. Ham-handed irony, do your thing.
Rumpelstiltsjim comes out of the cabinet an old man, and his first anxiety isn't about a premature death, but about having Perry say "told you so". Thankfully, he's been well trained in Silver Age shenanigans, and can dress up as Santa Claus to cover up the fact that he's been supernaturally aged. He tells Perry the disguise is so he can better investigate fur traffickers and quickly heads for the exit, but Perry notices Jimmy left his notes in the cabinet, bends down to grab them, and is turned into a baby (see top pic). Now Jimmy is forced to babysit, and let's just say it's not one of his strengths.
After Lois refuses to take care of the baby, Jimmy decides to grab the office carriage and bring L'il Perry along while he covers his fur story and goes on a date with Lucy.
A most mystifying panel on a dialog level, but it leads into one of the worst dates these two have ever had. And that's really saying something.
Gonna have to file this one with the other Dating Lucy Lane articles on the blog. From what we've seen, Lucy does like older (and presumably richer) men, but this is way out of bounds. She puts an end to the dinner so she can go to the Planet before Lois gets herself transformed (well at least she knows her sister well). When they get there, Lois is fine, but when Jimmy is preoccupied with baby Perry trying to jump out a window, Lucy decides the story doesn't make sense and goes for the cabinet. Lois walks in and tries to stop her, falling head first into it herself. (Everybody's being very stupid and clumsy; it really DOES take place around the Holidays.) And...
Mee-ow. Not in a good way. Well, now that Superman's on hand, let's find out what the rest of the inscription says. Ah yes, this was an irresponsible Kryptonian scientist's invention and its effects are irreversible. When Mxyzptlk shows up to see why Superman isn't giving him his undivided attention, Superman tells him even HE couldn't undo the cabinet's effects. And the Imp is sooooooo easy to manipulate that...
Yay! Everybody's back to normal! All that's required is for Mxy to read his name in reverse on the cabinet to find out who he just "defeated", etched there just now by Superman - you know how it goes - and for Perry to learn the many indignities that have befallen him in the past few pages. His reaction: To fire everyone. On Christmas. Bad form, Perry. Bad form.
Hey, there's one page left in Jimmy's photo album. How will I ever fill it? Come back Monday for the big finale to our year-long look at Jimmy Olsen, and a special announcement about what we're going to be doing with our weekends next!
Type: Transformation
Hey, there's one page left in Jimmy's photo album. How will I ever fill it? Come back Monday for the big finale to our year-long look at Jimmy Olsen, and a special announcement about what we're going to be doing with our weekends next!
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