Title : Jimmy’s Day
Story : Mark Verheiden
Pencils : Ed Benes
Inks : Mariah Benes, Alex Lei & Rob Lea
Colors : Rod Reis
Letters : Rob Leigh
Editor : Eddie Berganza
Publisher : DC Comics
Okay, let me first say that, like the ‘For Tomorrow’ series, the cover constitutes an appalling bait-and-switch. The ‘race’ between Bizarro and Zoom does NOT even come close to happening in this issue, and Zoom appears in one small panel on one page.
I haven’t been following the adventures of Jimmy Olsen, ‘Superman’s Pal’ too closely, but in this story we follow him around as he enjoys (if that is the word) his new role as staff writer, shepherding a shapely young intern around the city as he attempts to construct a story based around Superman and Bizarro.
As for Bizarro’s characterisation in this issue, it is a little off. Some of his sentences are in ‘Bizarro-speak’, and some aren’t, making them extremely difficult to decipher sometimes. His actions are also difficult, although I guess he’s supposed to be getting Jimmy’s attention for a story as it relates to Clark or….something, something….my head hurts…
Sorry, where were we?
Anyway, Jimmy acts like a pill towards Clark through most of the issue and, not surprisingly, gets called on it by Lois, who succeeds in intimidating this remarkable specimen of manhood.
There’s a brief and gratuitous OMAC appearance, and, in a stunning twist, Jimmy realises the error of his ways with regard to his arrogant behaviour towards Clark. I’m not an expert, but the character arc of Jimmy in this issue reads a little too much like an episode of Growing Pains, rather than a legitimate exploration of a young man’s hubris.
The conclusion features some faux-bonding between Superman and Bizarro, and an attempt to link the whole thing in with Villains United, in a fairly transparent cross-over cash-in attempt.
In summary, the characterisation here didn’t do a lot for me, with fairly two-dimensional portrayals of all involved.
The art is nice, with the portrayals of Lois being a little (okay, a very little) less geared towards T & A than has been apparent in recent months. The look of Bizarro dressed as a bank robber is also cute.
This isn’t anything terrible, but don’t buy it for the sake of seeing an OMAC, or a Villains United tie-in, or for seeing Zoom.
