John Forte & George Klein On Jimmy Olsen

Above, is the cover of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (number 80) from 1964. This issue is in my collection of Silver Age comic books.

Recently, some members of the Facebook group, The Silver Age Mythology of Superman, were aghast when I mentioned that Curt Swan's then-regular inker George Klein also inked artist John Forte's work. Generally, Forte did ink his own work, but on occasion, Klein was called in to do the honors. I noticed the difference in Forte's artwork immediately when I saw Klein's inks over them. I thought then (and now) that they improved Forte's artwork. That gave me an idea for this blog topic.

The above cover was penciled by Curt Swan and inked by his back-up inker, Sheldon Moldoff. The interior story of Jimmy Olsen's encounter with the Bizarros (imperfect duplicates of Superman and members of the Superman Family) was penciled by Forte and inked by Klein.

Here's are two examples of Forte/Klein art from the issue:

Now do you believe me, guys?

Those Stinkin' Rats!

Above, Jack Larson with L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich in 2001 at the "Superman Week" ceremony.

Jack Larson, who portrayed Jimmy Olsen in the Adventures of Superman, was passed over for a primetime Emmy nomination for his guest role in Law and Order: Special Victims' Unit.

It would have been nice to see Jack nominated and win the Emmy.

As Nick Adams might say, "Those stinkin' rats!"

Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie

Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie

by Armand Vaquer

(Originally published in G-FAN #58 (Sept./Oct. 2002))

King Kong vs. Godzilla was released in the U.S. in the summer of 1963, and was a big hit.

A year later, National Periodical Publications (now known as DC Comics) released Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #84 (cover date April 1965) which contained the cover story, "Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie," featuring Titano the super-ape (who had kryptonite vision) and the Flame Dragon from Krypton.

The story begins with Olsen screening a new monster movie by his movie producer friend Ron Wyck, and boasting that he can make a monster movie that would earn ten times the amount of money as Wyck's current feature. On a hunch, Wyck agrees to provide the financial backing for Jimmy to make a monster movie.

Jimmy uses a device called the Time-and-Space Warper (kind of sounds like the Dimension Tide from Godzilla x Megaguirus), invented by Professor Potter, to bring Titano and the Dragon to the movie's island location.

Fortunately, Jimmy includes Clark Kent in the cast, and when things start to go wrong (things usually go wrong with projects Jimmy is involved in), Superman is nearby.

In a twist, as Superman tries to intervene when one of the monsters gets out of control, Jimmy rescues Superman from Titano's kryptonite vision by using the Time-and-Space to send the monsters back where they came from.



Was "Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie" inspired by King Kong vs. Godzilla or coincidence?