Kirby Tales To Astonish

Here, a couple of Jack Kirby covers from Tales To Astonish (#48 and #53, from October 1963 and March 1964), where in Ant-Man/Giant-Man (Hank Pym) and the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) face the Porcupine (Alex Gentry).

Jimmy Olsen Monster Mash

Jimmy Olsen sure has become some strange monsters in his day, but he was the menace. 

But, for a couple of issues, Jimmy's monstrous transformations became a menace to him.

Let's see how these events happened...which both happened under covers by Curt Swan and George Klein.

The World Of Doomed Olsens!

First up, in a story by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and George Klein from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #72 (October, 1963), Jimmy appeared on a Meet the Celebrities show, showing off a few of his past transformations.

Then, suddenly, a man calling himself the Collector appeared in a travelling bubble, taking Jimmy to the far away planet of Gion-El, where the Collector manifested alternate versions of Jimmy, including the Wolf-Man, Giant Turtle Man, Human Porcupine, Fat Boy and Elastic Lad.  Except for the mute Wolf-Man, they all verbally taunted the real Jimmy (rooted to one spot), at least until Jimmy got them to turn against the Collector (at least until the Collector rooted all them too).  

In frustration, Jimmy threw his mini-microphone at the Collector, and, as he dodged it, Jimmy figured out what was going on.  The Collector and alternate Jimmys were all members of the Legion of Super-Heroes (Mon-El as the Collector, and Proty II, Colossal Boy, Cosmic Boy, Bouncing Boy and Chameleon Boy as the Jimmys).  The Legion did this to see if Jimmy could spot the hoax.  When he did, they were to make him an honorary Legionnaire.

The World Of 1,000 Olsens!

Jimmy's second battle with himself (times 1000), happened in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #105 (September, 1967) by Otto Binder, E. Nelson Bridwell and Pete Costanza.

This time around, Jimmy takes the Flying Newsroom of the Daily Planet to an observatory of Professor Worthington, where the Professor is disintegrated as he tells Jimmy of his discovery of a new asteroid he has named after Jimmy.  Checking his notes, Jimmy sees the asteroid is populated by versions of him.  With Superman off planet, Jimmy thinks he has no way there, just a flying saucer arrives, willing to take him there.  Jimmy goes, but isn't given the warm greeting as he's attacked by the Jimmys of that planet.  

Saved by one Jimmy, he is menaced by the Giant Turtle Man, saved by Elastic Lad, then ends up in prison with the Human Octopus, Human Porcupine and Wolf-Man, escaped by donning a beard, then met by an Agent Double 5 Jimmy, who saves him, giving him a Fat Boy Jimmy disguise.  In disguise, Jimmy finds Tempus, a mad clockmaker who wants to destroy the Earth, and is using robot duplicates of Jimmy (both good and evil) to move the asteroid into Earth.  Jimmy, sends the good Jimmys against the evil ones, sending the Giant Turtle Man smashing into the machine which was sending the asteroid at Earth (and powering the robot Jimmys).  Superman arrives to investigate the asteroid, taking Tempus in custody, and Jimmy back to Earth. 

Follow these links to see Jimmy as the Wolf Man, Giant Turtle Man, Human Porcupine and Octopus, Fat Jimmy Olsen and more (though they forgot Jimmy as Superman or as a gorilla), and come back later, at some point, to see coverage of Jimmy as Elastic Lad, Flamebird and Agent Double 5!

Jimmy Olsen's Animal Transformations

Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen, has changed into quite a few things over the decades...

...but here are a couple of his more animalistic transformations!

The Human Octopus!

It can be handy to have Jimmy Olsen around, but even moreso after his transformation in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #41 (December, 1959) by Robert Bernstein, Curt Swan and John Forte (under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye).

It's the usual story, Superman brings back some artifacts from outer space to show Jimmy, then leaves Jimmy alone with them.  Not paying attention, Jimmy eats one of them (instead of the pear he was eating)....and then, readers wait a night to see what happens to Jimmy!  This time, he grows four extra arms, but, Jimmy tries to see his change as a positive.  

Superman warns him there will be trouble, but Jimmy is resolute.  Now, Jimmy can do three times the typing at the Daily Planet....but, union reps say he should get three times the pay....resulting in Perry White having to let Jimmy go.  Jimmy tries amateur boxing, and is able to beat his opponent, but because of the weight of his extra arms doesn't qualify to win.  

Distracted drives force Jimmy off the road, then won't pick up the six-armed man.  This makes him late for a date with Lucy Lane at the county fair....yet he exceeds at a few tricks like target shooting and baseball and finds her (only to find she can't deal with his extra arms).  Olsen then gets "recruited" by criminals to be a pickpocket for them (but still gets caught).  Superman arrives to vouch for Jimmy's innocence, and comes up with a cure....or was this all really just a dream?

The Human Porcupine!

While that transformation was useful (at least for a bit), in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #65 (December, 1962) by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan and George Klein (under a Swan/Klein cover), Jimmy got the point about how hard his transformations could be.

Jimmy found himself the unwanted focus of the attentions of Miss Gzptlsnz (the 5th dimensional girlfriend of Mr. Mxyzptlk), as she wanted to marry Jimmy.  Jimmy says no, then explained to Superman that he'd rather marry an animal.  Offended by that, Miss Gzptlsnz cast a spell that Jimmy would turn into the next animal he'd see....and, while Jimmy tried to maneuver that to his advantage, she let a porcupine go at the zoo, which Jimmy felt was worse than the time he became a wolf-man.  

So, Jimmy grew quills (that shot off when he got excited), and chased off Lucy Lane (who tried to hide in a balloon gondola), but Jimmy followed and found her, resulting in the balloon getting free, and nearly killing the two as his quills punctured the balloon, sending them to the ground (to be saved by Superman).  

Jimmy tried to make peace with Miss Gzptlsnz at a Chinese restaurant (really to get her to read a fortune cookie he rigged to make her say her name backward to send her home and undo the spell), but she was too smart for that one.  

Porcupine Jimmy annoyed Perry White, and was dispatched from the Daily Planet, and tried to find work as a sideshow freak.  This worked well, but he upset the other performers like the bearded lady and tattooed man.  This gave Jimmy an idea, and he called for Miss Gzptlsnz, saying he now truly loved her and would prove it with a tattoo on his chest....which she read (and was her name backwards).  She went back to the 5th dimension and Jimmy went back to normal (and the tattoo was in non-permanent ink, so he just washed it off!).

Of course, these weren't Jimmy's only times becoming more animalistic, in the past, he's been a gorilla...and even a giant turtle man!

That Jimmy is such an animal!