Who's This? Superman's flexible pal.
The facts: Jimmy Olsen's super-powered identity first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #31 (1958), which predates Elongated Man and DC's first use of Plastic Man, which makes him DC's first stretchable hero! He was splashed by liquid kryptonite in that story, but it later became a staple thanks to Professor Potter's elastic serum. As Elastic Lad, Jimmy would even become an honorary Legionnaire. Of course, after the Silver Age, Jim wasn't turning into Elastic Lad quite so often, but from time to time, the Bronze Age and even the post-Crisis DCU indulged (the latter example being Adventures of Superman #458, but also show up in Countdown).
How you could have heard of him: Everyone knows Jimmy Olsen, but the superhero identity would become a staple of non-canon DC Comics like Scooby-Doo! Team-Up, and Tiny Titans. Smallville even turned its Jimmy into "Elastic Man".
Example story: Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #62 (July 1962) "Jimmy Olsen: "Superman's Phantom Pal!" by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Klein
So Jimmy is looking at his collection of souvenirs from Superman adventures, none of which he's labelled or else he might not thrown away a certain empty bottle after sniffing the last of its fumes. Dude, you SHOULD remember the elastic serum, or at least what it smells like. Hell, how many bottles do you have on those shelves. The fumes are, in fact, enough to make him stretchy, as he discovers once at the office.
Silver Age Perry White isn't the hard journalist we remember from the Modern Age, apparently. He has Jimmy don his purple costume and go out on the town to interview people as Elastic Lad. Quite the puff piece. Shenanigans ensue, in part thanks to the Jimmy Olsen Fan Club (yeah, what can I say here?).
At this point, the plot kicks in. Jimmy spots the dastardly Dagger Gang which in true journalist fashion, Jimmy decides to spy on rather than stop.
Well, maybe he CAN interfere, just a little bit.
That's a pretty neat trick to get around the fact that he doesn't really have the strength to take on three armed criminals. I spoke too soon when I mentioned a plot, because it's back to shenanigans as Jimmy visits the Metropolis zoo. And boy, let's just say not all problems are actually problems.
You HAVE to help him? Really?! His solution IS something gross that kids would enjoy, on that I agree. Next, because Superman AND Supergirl are in another galaxy, Jimmy takes it upon himself to go warn a plane of the airport flooding when its radio fritzes out, stretching up above the clouds with a hand-written sign. That's when he spots a "hole" in the sky and decides to squeeze through it. Ah, finally, is THIS the plot?
Jimmy Olsen: Elastic Phantom CREEP! Perry can do his share of the chores. He's not hen-pecked, he's got a good marriage! And nooo, don't spy on the girl you like! Ick! Time for the Phantom Zone villains to show up and set him straight! Or rather, to seduce him with the tantalizing thought of discovering Superman's secret identity! And yep, Jimmy does witness Superman turning into Clark Kent. Jimmy returns to the real world and writes an article about watching Superman from the Phantom Zone. "It's a catastrophe", thinks Clark before having read it. "Where's the low-down I was craving?", asks Lois AFTER having read it. "I closed my eyes", answers Jimmy, ever respectful of his best friend.
Superman's secret identity is safe for another week!
What about Jimmy Olsen "as himself", you ask? Well, if I live long enough, Jimmy does score his own entry, sans super-powers, in one of the Updates. We'll see him again. He's also had a long-running feature on this very blog, exploring his different looks and identities, so anyone looking for more information could look at
Snapshots of Jimmy Olsen!
Who's Next? A big movie star.
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