JIMMY OLSEN 65 (1962)
by Jerry Siegel & Curt Swan
It looks like we’re entering the “weird transformation” era.
We begin in the 5th dimension, of all places, where Mr. Mxyzptlk is rejecting the marriage proposal of his equally unpronounceable girlfriend.
She has the bright idea to propose to Jimmy Olsen, to which both him and Superman react unsurprisingly dickishly.
Making fun of a near-omnipotent magical being isn’t exactly a great idea.
And that’s how Jimmy becomes the Human Porcupine ©.
The only way to reverse the curse is to trick Ms. Gzptlsnz to say her name backwards.
Jimmy’s solution is to invite her to… oh no. We’re going to get something racist, aren’t we?
Unfortunately Ms. Gzptlsnz is SLIGHTLY less dumb than her boyfriend.
To be honest I was expecting something FAR more racist. This is basically harmless, so bullet dodged there.
Naturally his only option is to join the circus and throw his new appendages down a sword swallower’s throat.
Eeeww.
Remember when I said that Gzptlsnz is only slightly less dumb?
And we close with Jimmy being glad that he didn’t turn into a skunk.
Don’t worry, Jimmy, you already suck enough.
Historical significance: 1/10
Saved from a 0/10 just because this turns up again in a few “weird transformations” compilations.
Silver Age-ness: 5/10
Perfectly average for the time.
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
This is obviously not supposed to be taken seriously, so for comedy you can adapt almost everything.
Stupid Jimmy Olsen moment
You couldn’t just resist taunting the super-powerful magical being, right Jimmy?
Superpowers count: 31
We will eventually meet a Legion reject with this exact power, so as ridiculous as it is I have to count “quill throwing” as a superpower.