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129,104
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in: Ed Hannigan/Cover Artist, Dick Giordano/Cover Artist, Otto Binder/Writer,
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The Best of DC Vol 1 46

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"The Boy of 100 Faces": This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1.

The Best of DC #46 is an issue of the series The Best of DC (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1984.

Synopsis for "The Boy of 100 Faces"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #1.

Jimmy Olsen investigates a gang of jewel thieves led by a criminal named Deuce Dorgan. He suspects Dorgan's crew of robbing the infamous Vickers jewels, but as of yet, he has no solid evidence against them. First, Jimmy disguises himself as an ice-cream vendor in the hopes of eavesdropping on two of Deuce's goons. Although the thugs do not ferret out Jimmy's disguise, they abruptly brush him off.

Later, Jimmy has Jumbo Jones, pilot of the Daily Planet's flying newsroom, transport him to Gem Lake where he knows that Deuce and his men have been hiding out. He disguises himself as a dish washing appliance salesman and infiltrates Deuce's hideout. Before long however, the thugs begin to suspect that Jimmy is up to no good. They find Jumbo Jones and apprehend both of the Daily Planet employees. They tie them to the posts of the fishing dock and wait for the tide to drown them.

Jimmy manages to free one of his hands and transmits an emergency S.O.S. to Superman by way of his special signal wristwatch. Superman flies down and helps to rescue the two sleuths, before rounding up Deuce Dorgan and his gang. Jimmy discovers that Deuce concealed the Vickers jewels inside of the fishing pond and with the unknowing aid of Superman, manages to recover them.

Appearing in "The Boy of 100 Faces"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Bozo Bane (Single appearance)
  • Deuce Dorgan (Single appearance)
  • Marty Watson (Single appearance)

Other Characters:


Locations:

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Vehicles:


Synopsis for "The Elastic Lad of Metropolis!"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #37.

Jimmy, Perry, Lois and Clark are rehearsing a play called "Woo-Woo Wooing of Hocapontas!" for the Daily Planet's annual varieties show. During the rehearsal Lois gives Jimmy and Clark a drink out of a bottle from Jimmy's desk. After the rehearsal, Jimmy is shocked to find that his body is now mailable as an elastic, much to the surprise of everyone.

Suddenly, Professor Potter enters the room and explains that Jimmy must have drank the bottle of a synthetic serum that he made that makes people elastic. When Lois points out that Clark hasn't been effected by the serum, the Professor wishes to examine Clark. Clark deflects the question and ducks out of the office quickly so that he can change into Superman and make his appearance at the Metropolis ballpark to put on a pre-game exhibit to entertain the crowd.

Surprisingly, Jimmy has shown up wearing an "Elastic Lad" costume and grabs a ball that Superman has knocked out of the park. When Superman meets up with Jimmy he agrees to let the boy show off his new elastic powers. Jimmy next agrees to help test out a new cannon and is accidentally launched in an experimental rocket. The speed of the rocket causes Jimmy to pass out, but he is unharmed when the rocket crashes. Jimmy wakes up and finds himself far away from Metropolis and begins his long walk back into town.

When he runs into some cowboys, they think he's an alien and try to capture him, however Jimmy uses his stretching powers to escape from them. Returning to Metropolis, Jimmy pays a visit to Professor Potter to discuss why Clark had avoided an x-ray. Potter theorizes that Clark's immunity to the serum could mean that he is really Superman. However they are called outside by Clark who apparently has manifested the ability to stretch. In reality, Clark has created a gigantic mirror that has warped his image to create the illusion that he's stretched his body, so that later when the serums effects wear off on Jimmy nobody suspects that Clark is really Superman.

Appearing in "The Elastic Lad of Metropolis!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • None

Other Characters:


Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • None

Synopsis for "The Super-Lad of Space!"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #39.

During a televised missile launch, Jimmy Olsen stows away aboard the rocket that is about to be thrown into space by Superman. The thrown rocket lands on the distant planet Zolium, where to Jimmy's surprise he has been endowed with super-powers the same as Superman. Deciding that he will become a super hero like Superman, Jimmy dubs himself Superlad and puts on the disguise to conceal his Jimmy Olsen identity.

However, when he comes across some Zoliums riding horses they greet him by his name, to which he considers a fluke. Walking to a major city, Jimmy spots meteors about to crash down upon it and changes into his Superman costume and saves the day, publicly introducing himself as Superlad. With the threat of the meteors over, Superlad is thanked for all his help and given a key to the city. When Superlad inquires about how they know how to speak English they reveal that they have been watching the Earth and know all about Superman's adventures.

Jimmy then tries to settle into a normal life on Zolum, by posing as a farmer. When a giant twelve-legged mole attacks their underground garden, Jimmy changes into Superlad and fights it off. Changing back into his farmer's disguise, the farmers greet him once more as Jimmy Olsen, prompting him to take up another occupation to try and shield his true identity.

Jimmy tries time and time again with different professions, from sailor, to soldier to police officer. Answering dangers as Superlad, and then changing back into his civilian disguise only to be outed once again as Jimmy Olsen. When Superman finally finds Jimmy and brings him home, Jimmy relates to the hard time he had keeping his true identity secret. Superman then tells Jimmy that to do so would have been impossible on the planet Zolum, as all the people who live there are telepaths.

Appearing in "The Super-Lad of Space!"

Featured Characters:

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Antagonists:


Other Characters:

  • People of Zolium

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Synopsis for "Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Ex-Pal!"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #2.

Out on a swim with a girl named Betty, Jimmy has to dive in to her rescue when she has trouble in the water, although Betty thinks he's a hero the lifeguard dismisses Jimmy as only a show-off because he's friends with Superman. That night at a party, Superman apparently shows up and snubs Jimmy, making him a laughing stock in front of the guests. When he decides to follow Superman, he sees the Man of Steel convince the owner of the hotel to apparently catch some crooks. When Jimmy once more tries to get Superman's attention, he is snubbed once more.

Spotting the crooks in question, Jimmy tries his Superman signal watch, but to no avail, making Jimmy realize what is really going on when the crooks steal the loot. Jimmy confronts what turns out to be a fake Superman until the real Man of Steel arrives, and unmasks the impostor as "Slick" Dugan. Jimmy reveals to all present that he figured it out when the crooks stepped on the pebbles that "Superman" had spread in front of the safe was really made of sponge because the crooks footsteps made no noise on when they stepped on it. Having shown that he can save the day without Superman's help, his colleagues apologize for giving him a hard time earlier, and the next day Jimmy's exploits land him on the front page of the Daily Planet.

Appearing in "Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Ex-Pal!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Slick Dugan

Other Characters:

  • Betty Hart
  • Mister Todd
  • Tom Barton

Locations:

  • Unknown

Items:

  • Unknown

Vehicles:

  • None

Synopsis for "The Lone Wolf Legionnaire Reporter!"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #106.

The Legion of Super-Heroes summon Jimmy to the 30th Century and assign him to write up some news for their next issue of the Legion Bulletin. Jimmy, using his Elastic Lad abilities, thinks he is not being very helpful. Unknown to him at the time, he actually saves an experimental child-robot, cracks open a "burglarproof" safe, and captures the Uniform Gang. Duo Damsel learns of his exploits and writes about them for the next edition of the Bulletin.

Appearing in "The Lone Wolf Legionnaire Reporter!"

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Synopsis for "The Strange Second Life of Jimmy Olsen"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #157.

A beam from a magic jewel takes Jimmy back to ancient China, where he was Marco Polo in another incarnation.

Appearing in "The Strange Second Life of Jimmy Olsen"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Kalifa (In dream sequence only)
  • Kurol the Djinn (In dream sequence only)
  • Superman

Antagonists:

  • Lord Timur (In dream sequence only)
    • River Pirates (In dream sequence only)
    • Sheik al Djebal (In dream sequence only)

Other Characters:

  • Genghis the Conqueror (Mentioned only)
  • Kublai Khan (Mentioned only)
  • Raquel Welsh (Mentioned only)
  • Tribe of Djinn (In dream sequence only)

Locations:

Items:

  • Star of Cathay

Vehicles:



Synopsis for "Olsen's Time-Trip to Save Krypton!"

This story is reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #101.

At the Fortress of Solitude Jimmy Olsen was given an opportunity to film Kandor's Remembrance Day as well as Superman's recreated android Krypton; which was broadcast as a reminder that the Earth is a fragile place.

Having watched the film, Jimmy decided that time travel might have been the answer to saving Krypton, and he learns Kryptonian language and culture. From the Phantom Zone, Varox and Jax-Ur watched Jimmy and implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion to release them, when the time was right.

Having travelled back, Jimmy appears outside Kandor just before Brainiac abducted it, but his warnings went unheeded. Time travelling to Kryptonopolis, he joined Fire Falls refugees and was placed into Dr Zak-Lor's house where he meets Zak's daughter Miri.

Jimmy began to fall for Miri as they visited the Submarine Palace and hunt a Tetra-Headed Tiger; and remembered his mission when he had to save himself and Miri from a deadly monorail crash that he had foreknowledge of. But again, his knowledge could do nothing to change the situation - Kryptonian history recorded that the train crash had but two survivors. Even the one personal that might have listened, Jor-El, could not be swayed by the "babbling of... a lunatic" when Jimmy scared baby Kal-El, and had to be removed from the El family estate.

In Miri's greenhouse he found tabacco and demonstrated it to the Science Council, along with Earth's alphabet, to prove who he was from another time. His final demonstration caused the Head of the Council to disappear; whereafter Jimmy was sentenced to the Phantom Zone. Miri transformed him into Elastic-Lad before Jax-Ur's post-hypnotic suggestion kicked in and Jimmy stole the Phantom Zone Projector to release Jax and Varox; who found a space rocket waiting under Lake Trom and escape just before Krypton's final second. Jimmy tried, but could not save Miri and her father Zak-Lor from Krypton's cataclysm, before he returned to the present.

Had Jimmy altered the past? On the Phantom Zone Viewer, Superman showed Jimmy that Jax-Ur and Varox were caught in a "Time Warp Implosion" and were hurled back into the Phantom Zone.

Appearing in "Olsen's Time-Trip to Save Krypton!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Kryptonians (Dies)
    • Cave-Men
    • Dakar-Ra (Mentioned only)
    • Dr. Zak-Lor (Single appearance; dies)
    • Kandorians (On a TV or computer screen)
    • Miri (Single appearance; dies)
    • Science Council (Dies)
      • Drygur Moliom
    • Guards
    • Tetra-Headed Tiger (Dies)
    • Winged One (On a TV or computer screen)
  • Paul Revere (Mentioned only)
  • Professor Potter (Mentioned only)
  • Shakespeare (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:



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