Review by Frank Plowright

This bulky black and white collection reprints the solo stories of Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane from the 1950s, although the reprints are presented chronologically so only a single comic starring Lois features. Back in the 1950s DC’s editors obviously felt their readers could relate more to the adventures of a junior reporter than with the experiences of a proper journalist. Or they presumed boys would have no interest in stories about a girl. Lois acquires parity in Volume Two.

Fans with long enough memories are going to head into this collection with a presumption. Jimmy’s solo appearances are renowned for a succession of ludicrous transformations, yet there’s no evidence of that in stories spanning 1954 to 1957. It was obviously a later development. If that’s a surprise, what’s astounding is that with three short stories every issue, every single one is written by Otto Binder, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Ray Burnley. Even accounting for bi-monthly publication until mid-1955 and ten issues per year thereafter that’s still beyond comprehension today.

All that, though, is a sideline as consistency is irrelevant if the stories don’t work. Allowance has to be made for the times, but just in the way a youngster can become absorbed in a period novel, there’s no reason these stories shouldn’t entertain pre-pubescent boys today. Binder is skilled at eight page plots with action, incident and a strong moral code. There are no shades of grey in Jimmy’s 1950s, or indeed people of any shade other than white, as Jimmy sets about foiling the activities of one set of gangsters after another. While he always has the back-up of summoning Superman via his signal watch, Jimmy generally puts his own effort in, and Binder’s plots include secondary mysteries, such as why Superman is ignoring Jimmy.

Binder’s also very aware that visual spectacle is necessary, and if Superman isn’t going to save the day until the final page, it needs to be presented elsewhere. Among other locations in the opening ten stories we see Jimmy at the circus, in a lumberjack camp, at the scene of disasters and in a town where the rules of the Wild West still apply. Handed the potential excitement, Swan maximises the possibilities, although the helicopter Jimmy uses may have been futuristic in 1954, but sure looks clunky now.

While gangsters predominate throughout, Binder gradually has Jimmy involved in more gimmick-oriented stories, although nowhere near as outrageous as what would follow in the 1960s. They’re imaginative and entertaining, typified by the robot that turns up in the cover story.

Jimmy may suffer the occasional embarrassment, but there’s absolutely no concern for Lois’ dignity. Her first solo from the 1940s is Don Cameron’s decently written crime drama with Superman’s help unrequired, although Ed Dorbrotka’s art is crude. By her late 1950s headline appearances it’s long been forgotten she’s a capable journalist and they follow the pattern of her appearances in Superman stories with her twin obsessions of marrying him or discovering his secret identity. Ruben Moreira’s pages in the house style are attractive, but by today’s standards this Lois is an appalling role model.

While other books in the Showcase Presents series supply old material also available in other formats, only the occasional story in this collection has been reprinted either before or after it was issued, which also applies to most of Vol. 2.