There are scores of weird comics out there: Grant Morrison’s Invisibles, Steve Gerber’s Omega The Unknown, and Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot just to name a few.
But as odd as those comics could be, none hold a candle to the Silver Age adventures of Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s best friend. Mystic transformations, Twisting supermen, amorous apes, insult comics - our red-haired wonder ran afoul of the strangest concepts, villains and outright fetishes that minds presumably not under the influence of LSD could conceive.
Heck, Jack Kirby even turned him into The Hulk.
But don’t take the Fortress Keeper’s word. Just look at some of these covers courtesy of the Grand Comics Database.
The guy also dressed up like a woman - more than once.
And this is in 1962, when the Comics Code was in full effect. Just think what our pal Jimmy could have accomplished in an EC Comic like Tales From The Crypt.
So, the next time you eggheads out there get all uppity with your “post-modernisms” and your “deconstruction,” just remember Jimmy Olsen is comics’ O.G. when it comes to the surreal life.
