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Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #2 — Matt Fraction, Writer; Steve Lieber, Artist; Nathan Fairbairn, Colorist
Ratings: Ray — 9/10
Ray: Matt Fraction is a writer who always manages to surprise, and he can be an acquired taste given how offbeat and non-linear many of his books are. Superman’s Pal JImmy Olsen #1, a comic tale of Superman’s best friend was surprisingly straightforward, so I should have known to expect a zigzag at some point.
Superman’s Pal JImmy Olsen #2 has four plots, not all of which connect smoothly, and yet they still manage to come together into a wildly entertaining but thoroughly chaotic whole. We don’t pick up with Jimmy in Gotham where we ended last issue, but rather back in Metropolis where (after a brief flashback showing the origin of the Olsen fortune) we learn more about Jimmy’s cold-blooded older brother Julian. The two have a tense relationship with Julian seeing Jimmy as a loose cannon that wrecks everything he touches, but the reveal that Julian is an anti-gentrification activist and rival of Lex Luthor’s adds some interesting layers to the character and gives me hope he won’t be a one-dimensional antagonist to his brother.
