World’s Finest #144 (1964)
by Ed Hamilton & Curt Swan
Of all the Batman villains I imagined would team-up with Brainiac, Clayface was near the bottom.
We begin with Brainiac causing trouble in Gotham City…
…and then move to Metropolis, where he lands his ship on top of the Daily Planet…
…to SHOOT JIMMY OLSEN!!!
Later, at the Justice League headquarters:
Unfortunately Jimmy survives this…
…but on the upside, he develops Kryptonite aura!
Well, it sucks for Superman, but I’m always happy to add yet another superpower to the list.
While this was going on, Clayface escaped prison during Brainiac’s attack from earlier, and he recovers the serum that gave him his shapeshifting powers.
This is going to be fun: the two heroes exchange sidekicks. It’s going to be interesting to see Robin interact with Superman for a change.
At first it was strange to ask Batman to keep Jimmy around… but then I realized: would YOU leave Jimmy Olsen unsupervised?
I don’t like the idea of Batman revealing his secret identity to Jimmy. Typically I’m glad whenever the heroes trust someone with their secret… Silver Age heroes get waaaaay too much paranoid about that… but of all people, JIMMY OLSEN gets to know it!?
Superman doesn’t trust him with HIS secret identity, why should Batman do it?
Jimmy even gets to visit the Batcave. This almost looks like fanfiction written by Jimmy Olsen!
Batman and Jimmy track down Clayface. And despite Batman presumably telling him everything about the villain’s shapeshifting powers… Jimmy falls for the oldest trick in the book, because of course he does.
Aaaand Clayface avoids capture for the first time in the story.
It won’t be the last.
It’s your own fault, Batman. Did you SERIOUSLY expect Jimmy Olsen would be at the same level of Robin? The kid you trained to be a hero and who goes on missions with you all the time, as opposed to a guy Superman hands out with despite the fact he keeps turning his souvenirs into walking disasters?
Superman also gets to complain: Robin gets a little too close to a Kryptonite robot and gets captured, needing to be rescued.
It might be my bias against Jimmy talking, but I feel like the two screw-ups are not comparable.
I’m 100% sure Robin would’ve figured out Clayface was impersonating Batman, but I’m also 100% sure that Jimmy would not have listened to Superman’s instructions.
Clayface then issues a challenge to Batman…
…aaand avoids capture for the second time in the story.
It won’t be the last.
Also, weird to see the detail about grabbing the wire. He’s already been shown to be able to fly, did he really need that?
Batman accepts the challenge since it’s a chance to capture Clayface… which is easier said than done.
Jimmy DOES have a good idea about how to find Clayface…
…but being Jimmy, this is useless.
What was he going to do!? Even if he had a chance to reach Clayface, it’s not like he had any way to stop him or hurt him.
Superman’s investigation is working a little better. Robin might still be insecure about his role, but he IS helping.
Brainiac is on top of things, and decides to recruit Clayface.
See Robin? You ARE helping!
I love the fact that Brainiac had absolutely no intention of teaming up with Clayface. He just released him from prison accidentally, and how it’s taking advantage of having a radioactive Jimmy just laying around.
Robin almost gets caught when he makes too much noise… but despite being a genius, Brainiac immediately dismisses the possibility of this being anything important.
Jimmy Olsen is then crushed under some rocks.
Unfortunately Superman saves Jimmy, dooming himself.
But it was all a trap set by the heroes, because Jimmy is actually Robin in disguise!
That’s a neat trick, although Robin sure was lucky Brainiac didn’t spot him!!!
Clayface transforms into a pterodactyl and avoids capture for the third time in the story.
It’s the last time, though, because Clayface’s powers were originally on a time limit and they have expired.
Kind of lame that Batman couldn’t catch him on his own… although to be fair I’m sure he could’ve captured him regardless. Failing that, now there wouldn’t be anything to prevent Superman from doing it.
And that’s the end of it!
Historical significance: 8/10
Jimmy Olsen learns the secret identity of Batman and Robin. Did he REALLY deserve to?
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
Most of the classic tropes of the era, but slightly lowered for the novelty of Brainiac not really seeking Clayface for a team-up. Having it happen naturally during the course of the story was great, though!
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
I don’t know whether I should be more disappointed by the fact that Jimmy is elevated to full sidekick status or that Robin is demoted to being equal to Jimmy.
That being said… despite by antipathy towards Jimmy, it’s not that bad. It was nice to see Robin interact with Superman for a change, and despite some hiccups he held his own… I think it’s probably because Superman is used to work alone, although he should already have plenty of experience in teaming up with other heroes, especially given that he’s in the Justice League and that he used to be in the Legion.
Brainiac and Clayface didn’t interact all that much, which frankly is a plus: their personalities and background wouldn’t leave much room for a real team-up, plus you just know Brainiac would default to being the leader of the duo rather quickly.
Jimmy Olsen being considered an equal to Robin and be entrusted with Batman’s secret identity, though… no. Just… just no.
Superpowers count: 48
Words cannot express how happy I am to add another power to the count, after the retrospective.
I’m adding “Kryptonite aura”, because strangely enough he never got it in the series… the closest we got was “Kryptonite vision” in Jimmy Olsen #22.
Stupid Jimmy Olsen moment
Seriously, what DID he plan to do in case he was able to reach Clayface before he could transform?
Did Robin actually do anything? Yes!
While I’m positively certain that Superman could’ve handled everything by himself, Robin didn’t embarrass himself as much as Jimmy.
Did Superman really need Batman? Not really
How does Batman contribute this issue? He finds Clayface and lets them escape, then he babysits Jimmy and lets him get captured.
Bonus: the backup story stars Aquaman. Nothing really worth exploring, but I couldn’t possibly pass the opportunity to remember this gloriously Silver Age panel.
I was going to say you didn’t give Jimmy credit for taking the shot intended to kill Superman, but then I read the caption that indicated he just blundered into it.
I have a theory about sidekicks in comics. I believe they fall into one of two categories: The first is the Junior Partner. Robin is the earliest example and the exemplar of this type. Their purpose, other than to give the hero someone to talk to (and provide exposition), is to make the hero look bigger and stronger by comparison.
The second type is the Comedy Buffoon. Examples of these include Woozy Winks, Doiby Dickles, and our own Jimmy Olsen. Their purpose is to make the hero look smarter by comparison, and to drive the story forward through their foolish actions. Jimmy is really good at this.