James Olsen (New Earth)

From DC Database

Mr. Action

Gallery

Real Name

James Bartholomew Olsen

Current Alias

Mr. Action

Aliases

Elastic Lad; Superman's Pal; Gravedigger Lad

Identity

Public

Affiliation

Daily Planet staff

Relatives

Jake Olsen (father, deceased), Sarah Olsen (mother)

Universe

New Earth

Base Of Operations

Metropolis

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

5' 7"

Weight

150 lbs (68 kg)

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Red

Status

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Journalist, Photographer

Origin

Origin

Place of Birth

Bakerline, Metropolis

Creators

John Byrne

First appearance

Man of Steel #2

History

James Bartholomew Olsen was born to Jake and Sarah Olsen in Bakerline, a borough of Metropolis. His father was in the military and was declared missing in Southeast Asia before Jimmy was born. In the absence of a father figure, Sarah Olsen became extremely protective of her son.

Jimmy was a very bright child, but sometimes grew bored with his schoolwork. Often, he would cut classes to attend lectures at the University of Metropolis. He got a job as an intern at the Daily Planet while still a junior high school student.

When one of his friend's life was in jeopardy, Jimmy jury-rigged some spare electronic parts to produce a hypersonic sound and attract the attention of Superman. His plan was successful, and Superman arrived to save the day. ^[1] The Man of Steel encouraged Jimmy to adapt his circuitry into a wristwatch and use it to contact him in emergencies. This became Jimmy's signal watch, and Jimmy became "Superman's Pal". Over the years however, Jimmy tended to use the watch to summon Superman for mundane reasons, often diverting the Man of Steel from responding to true disasters. After several such incidents, Superman warned Jimmy about abusing the signal watch.

Jimmy's success grew at the Planet, rising up from a gopher to becoming a photographer and occasional reporter. Recently, Jimmy had taken a position as a regular star reporter for The Daily Planet, replacing the demoted Clark Kent. This caused a strain in the relationship between Clark and Jimmy. It appears, however, that following the One Year Later storyline jump, Clark has regained his original role as The Daily Planet's star reporter, and Jimmy has returned to being a photographer, winning the Pulitzer Prize for his photographic efforts.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

New God Power Repository: Typically, Jimmy Olsen does not possess any superhuman capabilities. Darkseid during the events of "Countdown started using Jimmy as a repository for the powers of fallen New Gods that he believed he would need in his plan to remake the universe in his image. The powers were different each time, and were specifically suited for each particular circumstance. These abilities included:

• Stretching: Jimmy used this power to avoid being killed by Killer Croc. ^[2]

• Super-Speed: Jimmy gained super-speed to save the life of an innocent pedestrian. ^[3]

• Projectile Spikes: Jimmy generated spikes that he used to fend off several attackers in Suicide Slum. ^[4]

• Boom-Tube: Jimmy possesses the power to create boom tubes by force of will, by simply thinking about where he wants to go he can open interdimensional portals.
  

Abilities

Photo Journalist: Jimmy is an ace photographer and an accomplished, though amateur, investigative reporter. He has been awarded the Pulitizer Prize for photography.

Strength level

Average: Jimmy Olsen possesses the strength level of a man his age, size and weight who engages in moderate regular exercise.

Weaknesses

Jimmy has an uncanny knack for getting himself into trouble. This often leads to Superman being forced to divert his attention from another crisis in order to rescue Jimmy. Over time however, Jimmy has become more responsible and Superman has learned that Jimmy can often take care of himself.

Paraphernalia

Equipment: Signal Watch
Transportation: None known.
Weapons: None known.

Notes

• No special notes.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.
  
  

Recommended Reading

• Countdown
• Superman Metropolis
• World of Metropolis

See Also

• Discuss James Olsen (New Earth) on the forums
• Appearances of James Olsen (New Earth) (Chronological)
• Appearances of James Olsen (New Earth) (Alphabetical)
• Character Gallery: James Olsen (New Earth)
• Fan-Art Gallery: James Olsen (New Earth)
• Quotations by James Olsen (New Earth)

Links and References

• Mr. Action at Wikipedia.org
  
• Jimmy Olsen at Wikipedia
• Superman - The Man of Steel Sourcebook
• The DC Comics Encyclopedia
  

Footnotes