Jimmy Olsen

There’s a term in the transgender community called “eggmode”; parlance for transgender or nonbinary people who haven’t figured it out yet. A while back on social media, #eggmode trended with tales of behaviors that in retrospect seem like giant neon signs. They include thinking constantly about what it would be like as a gender other than the one we think we are; undergoing experimental living as said gender; or reading and writing stories about characters who have transitioned (even if those stories get just enough wrong to put some warped ideas in our heads.) Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen is totally an egg. Jimmy’s next startling metamorphosis could be into an actual egg, and it wouldn't make the character any more of an egg than they are now.

Zee zee zee zee! This day marks the first appearance in 1938's Action Comics #6 of an unnamed office boy who would before long go on to great heights as Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen. While this office boy would make a handful of appearances in the Golden Age, the name Jimmy Olsen wouldn't be uttered until the advent of the Adventures of Superman radio show in 1940, in which the cub reporter was introduced largely so Superman would have someone to talk to. This version would be integrated into the comics in 1941's Superman #13, but would disappear after a few more appearances.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. This week we’re taking a look at some of our favorite giant monsters and kaiju in comics. Though kaiju are generally more closely associated with the silver screen and its many examples of actors in oversized suits fighting among undersized buildings, comics have an abundance of city stompers to celebrate as well. Hopefully this list will help you settle any and all future kaiju-related arguments.

Last summer, Scoot McNairy was quietly added to the cast of Batman vs. Superman with Warner Bros. refusing to comment on the character he’d be playing. The mystery was stoked later that year when McNairy was spotted on the set of the film wearing knee-high greenscreen socks. What did it all mean? A brief look through Google right now turns up speculation that he’s playing The Flash (which we now know is obviously untrue), Metallo, Blue Beetle, Robin, Maxwell Lord and even Doomsday (!!). Well, internet, speculate no longer. We can now tell you who Scoot McNairy is playing in Batman vs. Superman.

Good news this week for fans of ComicsAlliance's officially ranked Third Greatest Comic Book Character Of All Time: Mehcad Brooks has been cast in the role of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen in CBS's upcoming Supergirl show, meaning that the long national nightmare of Olsen-free television that we have suffered since 2009, when Jimmy was killed off on the 8th season finale of Smallville, is finally over. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Brooks's Olsen will be joining the ranks of other established comic book characters like the Toyman and -- no kidding -- Cyborg Superman in the cast, and will be featured on the increasingly bizarre-sounding show as a photographer at CatCo, a media company in National City founded by Cat Grant, where Supergirl works in her civilian identity, when she's not involved in what has been described as a crime procedural. Also included in the announcement, though, was the idea that Kara will have a crush on him, hinting at a relationship between the two characters.

If there's one thing we've learned from our years on the Internet, it's that there's no aspect of comics that can't be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of ten. And since there's no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we're taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Ten Lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. This week, with the help of CA contributor Benito Cereno, we're bringing you the ten best Superman creations of the best Superman writer ever, Otto Binder. From Krypto to Supergirl and even all the way to Lucy Lane, they're all here!

Q: Why is it that Robin has endured as Batman's teen sidekick, but Jimmy Olsen hasn't as Superman's? -- @doubting_tom A: I don't know why, but for some reason, I got a lot of questions this week about sidekicks in general and Robin in particular, but this one stuck out for a pretty obvious reason, which is that I really, really like to talk about Jimmy Olsen. It's weird, though, Tom, because you'r

Over a lifetime of reading comics, Senior Writer Chris Sims has developed an inexhaustible arsenal of facts and opinions. That's why each and every week, we turn to you, to put his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader questions...

Over a lifetime of reading comics, Senior Writer Chris Sims has developed an inexhaustible arsenal of facts and opinions. That's why each and every week, we turn to you, to put his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader questions...

I've been looking forward to Art Baltazar and Franco's Superman Family Adventures since it was announced, and this week, the release of the first issue brought everything I'd hoped for. It's fun, bright, accessible and -- most importantly -- it features more Jimmy Olsen per page than any other current comic...