JIMMY OLSEN 111 (1968)
by Cary Bates & Pete Costanza
Having to deal with Jimmy Olsen wasn’t enough: we also have Robin now.
We begin at the meeting of the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City, a concept established in the Batman books.
Jimmy wants to join this group, but he’s rejected for unspecified reasons.
Jimmy’s plan to get accepted into the group requires him to disguise himself as Robin.
And Robin is 100% okay with this!
AAAAAHHHH!!!
What’s the point of the gloves if you can have fake fingerprints!?
I give props to the comic for addressing the one thing these “replace someone else” stories never address: the voice.
Just in case you’re wondering: yes, this means that Jimmy Olsen knows the secret identities of Batman and Robin.
He also fools Alfred!
Good thing I have no freaking idea of how old Jimmy Olsen is supposed to be, or this would be extremely creepy!
Correction: IT’S STILL CREEPY!
At this point you might be wondering why Jimmy wants to be in that club so much. And the answer, predictably enough, is that he wants to be famous.
When he tries to help Batman in a case involving the Scorpion Gang and its leader Lydra, Jimmy gets them captured.
She’s apparently pretty vicious, threatening to just shoot Batman.
AND SHE DOES.
However it turns out that the Scorpion Gang is actually the Mystery Analysts!
And Jimmy figured out that these were not criminals because they didn’t try to unmask Batman and because he heard a relatively normal phrase.
Jimmy slipped up as well.
All of this was an initiation test to have Jimmy join the Mystery Analysts as honorary member.
As if having him as honorary member of the Legion of Super-Heroes wasn’t bad enough.
Historical significance: 0/10
The Mystery Analysts of Gotham City have several appearances in the Batman books. Guess how many times Jimmy is useful.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
These people have way, WAY too much time on their hands!
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Jimmy’s disguise is too unbelievably perfect for any of this to work, especially with modern interpretations of Batman.
Stupid Jimmy Olsen moment
As the last scan shows, if only Jimmy had listened to Commissioner Gordon we wouldn’t have needed the rest of the story.