I'm well into "Showcase Presents: Superman Family" now and I have to say that to a lesser extent, vintage Jimmy Olsen has kind of the same appeal; he's a gutsy, resourceful mortal whose adventures are relatable and who's braver and smarter than I remembered. (We're still a ways off from "Turtle Boy" and...ick...Lucy Lane).
I'm going to have to get that thing. I loved Jimmy when he was young and plucky and resourceful and had a disguise kit and a thousand talents. While I can appreciate and enjoy the acid-trip weirdness of Jimmy Olsen turning into an alien, he was better off as "Mr. Action."
In many ways, it seems Clark Kent has become "Jimmy Olsen, Mr. Action" in the Busiek/Johns run. He's got the signal watch, after all. And he's a plucky, gutsy reporter that despite having no powers hangs out with superheroes. And getting that power ring at the end of ACTION, that's something that would happen to Jimmy. I can picture the cover now: "A COMPLETE THREE-PART NOVEL: "JIMMY OLSEN, GREEN LANTERN!", with Jimmy saying something like "Don't worry Superman, my power ring will save you from that Kryptonite monster!" And Superman thinking, "Great Ganymede! Jimmy Olsen has become a...GREEN LANTERN!"
And I do like the fact that when Lex Luthor punched Clark Kent, Kent didn't punch back, writing truth-telling articles in the press instead.
Referencing the STAR TREK discussion in the other forum...this is exactly why, despite the many unloveable episodes of the series that there are, my least favorite STAR TREK episode was "The Man Trap." Thank God I wasn't around in 1966 to watch that first episode, because if I was, I would have written TREK off entirely. There, we had an OUTER LIMITS type creature sucking people for their salt and then we had Shatner and his lackeys whipping out their death rays and blasting it to Kingdom Come. Compare this with the more satisfying "Devil in the Dark." It takes brains to communicate, and none at all to get into a bareknuckle fistfight. And characters that use their heads are more enjoyable to watch.
In many ways, I have to share your assessment of Lucy Lane. Just like the coming of Mr. Tawny, the Talking Tiger was when the Marvel Family books "jumped the shark," Lucy Lane, and the goofy romance plots Jimmy got into, that Lucy Lane's presence was typical of, was where JIMMY OLSEN lost it.
LAW OF IMAGINARY STORIES #257B: If an imaginary story shows two characters to be married, they should have a relationship in real life. Supergirl and Jimmy were married in one imaginary story. But when we had Lucy come in and cockblock Kara, suddenly Supergirl had to be bounced boyfriend to boyfriend Lucy Campden style. Thus, I blame Lucy Lane for Kara's eventual death in CRISIS. Just like in slasher movies, they're less likely to kill off characters with steady girlfriends/boyfriends.
Come to think of it, one of my favorite characters ever was that Korean War vet who tagged along with Thor for a few issues during Walt Simonson's run. There's just something about real, vulnerable flesh and blood heroes trying to keep up in a world of superheroes that's really appealing to me. "New Frontier," with its focus on the Challengers, the Losers and a (for much of it) pre-GL Hal Jordan won me over for similar reasons.
Strange as it sounds, MIGHTY THOR was always better off with a few mortals on the side to comment on how weird everything was (with the exception of Jane Foster, who was quite possibly the single most boring girlfriend in comics history). This includes that one journalist back in Stan Lee's run who got Thor to take him to Asgard. This category also includes the Rigellian Recorder from the Ego the Living Planet story arc, a loveable robot character, down to earth only in comparison to a Thunder God, that really came into their own come the incredible Bob Layton HERCULES: PRINCE OF POWER miniseries.
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