Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen?

I read a lot of insane, wacky stuff. I love The Tick, Madman, Deadpool, Harley Quinn, Tales From Bizarro World. Oddball stuff just seems my nature. But I don't think I've ever rad anything so off-the-wall, strange and sometimes down right silly as the 12-issue Jimmy Olsen miniseries from Matt Fraction!

After accidentally destroying a giant lion statue erected by one of Lex Luthor's ancestors, the whole city of Metropolis has it out for Jimmy Olsen. Perry White would fire him if it wasn't for all the revenue generated by Olsen's online reporting. Still, the high ups at the Daily Planet advise Olsen to lay low for a while. So when someone makes a hit on Jimmy's apartment, Superman's pal must fake his own death and go into hiding to find out who did it!

It was Luthor! WE all know it was Luthor, right? 

Actually, Lex Luthor might be trying to keep Jimmy Olsen alive. Now why would he want to do that?

And why did Olsen steal one of the wheels off the Batmobile and it's not even the holiday season? 

And why is the feline Red Lantern Dexx-Starr and his acidic blood vomits involved in all this?

There is so much going on in this story and none of it is in order. It's like Matt Fraction (Hawkeye) decided to make a Quentin Tarantino Superman story. Oh, my God! This book should be Tarantino's final film! It's got nostalgia. It's got mystery. It's kinda noirish but silly. And there's a lot of blood, death and mayhem. 

You don't have to be a fan of the old Jimmy Olsen books from the 50s, 60s and 70s. But it helps! What you do need is to be someone who looks at the world a little askew. Like me! Or Fred Hembeck. This is not a serious Superman story. But it is very much a Superman Family tale told with love.

The only thing I wasn't a fan of were the variant covers by Ben Oliver. I mostly didn't like Jimmy Olsen's face. Oliver makes Superman's pal look like a SAWK (scary-ass white kid. See: Village of the Damned). But the inks, color palette and tributes to the Saturday Evening Post covers of Norman Rockwell were really cool. Though I must warn you- stay away from the cover gallery until you finish the story. The alternate cover for issue #12 is in my opinion a real spoiler to the very end of Fraction's yarn.

Be ready for anything with this one!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Hal Jordan #1

   Hal Jordan- Green Lantern of Sector 2814. He's been so hit-and-miss with me. As a child I loved his costume and above all else, his power ring and all the funky things that he could create with it led to the character being such a favorite of mine. For quite some time, he was in my top-5 superheroes. Then when I started collecting comics again 10 years ago, I bought up a fair share of Green Lantern books and I was completely unimpressed. Then I discovered Darwyn Cooke's tribute to the DC Silver Age, The Final Frontier, and Jordan captured my heart again. That was until Ryan Reynolds took on the mantle in the 2010 film, I mean,  stinker of the same name. Why can't the character be executed consistently?

   Well, Adam Schlagman (Flashpoint: Abin Sur- The Green Lantern) was able to craft an opening chapter in this 3-part mini-series tie-in and capture that child-like wonder and Silver Age goodness that I loved about Hal Jordan's character. It felt like I was reading a vintage classic filled with action, adventure, and above all, it was fun!

   Hal's been haunted by his father's ghost as a hot-shot pilot since I can remember. Here, with Hal Jordan being the East Coast's first line of defense as a combat pilot contracted out through Ferris Air and NOT a Green Lantern, I felt like this was a comfortably familiar but completely original take on the DC Universe's Man Without Fear. Plus, the smart-ass that is Oliver's Hal Jordan is what Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern should have been!

    Added to this issue's brilliance was the artwork by Ben Oliver (Ultimate X-Men.) His airbrush painted quality style was amazing. His character's looked like I was looking at photographs and then there's the action scenes. From opening the book to the very first page, every dogfight scene was action packed and breathtaking.

     So good, I'm tempted to read ahead for more action and thrills instead of waiting until after reading about 2 dozen other tie-ins.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
    

Batman/Superman, Volume 1: Cross World (New 52!)

The first volume of the New 52's 'first' teaming of the World's Finest is a trippy adventure that spans both the DC timeline and the multiverse.

  When the living embodiment of chaos decides to have a little fun by bringing the younger and less experienced Earth-1 Man of Steel and Caped Crusader to Earth-2 where a more matured Man of Tomorrow and Dark Knight have turned their world into a virtual paradise, all hell breaks loose. Separated by age and ego, the two groups of heroes eventually make nice once they discover that they are from different universes. But when the two teams also discover that combined militaries of Earth-2 have created a Superman killing device using Wayne Techology the heroes must decide- Save Superman or Save the world from the oncoming storm known as Darkseid.

    This story took a little while to build up steam. That's mostly because the New God sprite Kaiyo has all four heroes switching places from world to world before having all four wind up in the Smallville of Earth-2. But once the players were finally set on the board, the story ramped up to a Nth degree of action, adventure, and pure wicked fun.

   The art is by the terrific Jae Lee. Lee has such a whimsical but haunted style. It works well for these four heroes who're haunted by their own pasts. With terrific finishes by Ben Oliver that give these pages an almost painted quality, both he and Lee take the reader to the farthest reaches of the DC Universe all under the masterful pen of Greg Pak.

   This collection also includes an 'Unleased' Forever Evil tie-in from Justice League #23.1. It features an origin story of Darkseid and the New Gods. I've read some of Kirby's original New Gods stuff that explained the early days of Apokolips and New Genesis but I've never read a definitive story as to how the old gods died to make way for the newer deities of Darkseid, Highfather, and the rest. Until now! Say what you might about the New 52 but this single issue story was fan-tastic and perhaps the single best New 52 story I've ever read.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.