Superman #39 (January 1990)
Superman #39 (January 1990)
The ‘90s are here! You probably thought a mullet would instantly appear on the back of Superman’s head as soon as we reached 1990, but no, we’re still a few years away from that. Don’t worry, we’ll get there.
As you might have guessed from the cover, this is another Jimmy Olsen-centric issue. What troubles has that little scamp gotten himself into this time? Oh, the usual: he’s now trapped in a white void filled with pieces of junk and bizarre flying creatures who look like him.
There’s also a dude living there named “Number One” who looks exactly like Jimmy’s long-presumed-dead secret agent dad, only with a robot eye that shoots killer rainbows. It was Mr. One who got Jimmy transported into this limbo by tricking an Egyptian-looking mutant bodybuilder named Husque to switch places with him (as seen last issue). Number One tries to tell Jimmy that his mother has been kidnapped by something called “The Evil Factory,” but then they’re ambushed by winged Jimbos.
Just at that moment, Superman, Professor Hamilton and Husque figure out how to bring Jimmy back to Earth, and he’s abruptly switched with Husque again. The semi-unconscious Jimmy mutters something about his dad and Hamilton wonders if that means something, but Superman is like “LOL, no, that guy’s dead” and declares the storyline closed. (It isn’t yet, obviously.)
Character-Watch:
First appearance of Project Cadmus’ renegade scientist, Dabney Donovan, and his twisted creations Mokkari and Simyan (also scientists themselves), although they only appear as photos on a flashback. Number One explains that Jimmy’s dad was a Cadmus agent tasked with finding those three when he disappeared. And now clones that look like Jimmy are popping up all over the place. Hmmm.
Plotline-Watch:
This issue combines three unresolved Jimmy Olsen plots into one unresolved (for now) Jimmy Olsen plot:
Where The Hell Are Jimmy’s Parents?: Almost two years ago in Superman #19, Jimmy’s hot mom saw a photo of her husband that was taken after he supposedly died. A few issues later it’s mentioned that Mrs. Olsen went to Southeast Asia to look for the guy. At least now we know she hasn’t been back because she was kidnapped and not because she’s a horrible parent.
Where The Hell Are The Exiles?: Husque and his sister Tehra first appeared in Adventures #443. Husque has been looking for Tehra since, but now Professor Hamilton promises that he’ll help find her in exchange for Husque helping Jimmy. (Then he apparently forgot about it, because this plot won’t come up again for two years.)
Where The Hell Is Jimmy?: And finally, Superman has sort of half-assedly been looking for Jimmy since his disappearance last issue, which is understandable considering the guy has been a huge pain in the ass ever since Superman innocently infected him with a genetic virus.
The most important development of the issue not Jimmy-related, though. Throughout the story Hamilton keeps bugging Superman because he isn’t taking Jimmy’s problem seriously enough (at one point, Supes just leaves because he has to go testify on Morgan Edge’s trial). Husque also refuses to talk to Superman because he’s “too cold” and communicates with Hamilton only. It turns out Husque and Hamilton were on to something, because the issue ends with Clark Kent shocking everyone by announcing he’s leaving the Daily Planet to accept that offer to become a magazine editor, since it’s the “logical” thing to do.
Damn. Look at poor Whit, he’s devastated: