Jimmy Olsen #83
"Jimmy Olsen's Captive Double"

Written by (unknown)
Pencils by (unknown)
Review by Richard Croxton

This is one of the adventures of the Kandor Look Alike Squad! Perry White opens a small box to have it give off a harmless explosion, within the box is a message from the Mad Bomber (brother of Unabomber? I know poor joke) saying "This is a sample of what is in store for the Friends of Superman! I know he will capture me someday, but I'll get all of you first! -THE MAD BOMBER.

Superman is on one his many missions in space so Jimmy calls the Kandor Look Alike Squad. The members of the squad are look alikes of Jimmy, Clark, Lois, Perry, Lana and Lucy. Jimmy enlarges the group with a Growth-Ray Projector, its effect last only 48 hours. Perry and Lois hide in "Hideout X" the hollow Daily Planet globe. "Its Bomb-resistant shell is lead-coated and ultra-sound-proofed so no foe can easdrop on our confidential discussions! This monitor can contact Atlantis or Kandor. More gadgets will be installed later!" explains Perry.

I don't know about you, but I don't think I would want to work at the Daily Planet. Something bad is always happening there and it is worse if you are a friend of Superman.

Perry's double, Ar-Rone turns out to be a spy for the Superman Revenge Squad. By changing the wiring inside a radio in Perry's office he is able to contact the Revenge Squad and reveal his plan to make Jimmy kill the Look Alike Squad.

Jimmy, while in the closet (I won't even attempt a joke on that) spys his girlfriend Lucy Lane asking his double, Zol-Lar out for the night. Zol-Lar tells her to get lost and Lucy loves it.

Later a reporter from a rival newspaper drops in and insults "Clark" who shoves him to the floor rescuing from a fallen light. Light is loosened by "Clark" to give the rival reporter the manhandling he deserved. After a while the doubles gather together all but "Perry" go to lunch. "Perry alters the sun lamp he finds in Perry's office into a ray that turns Jimmy evil. "Perry" gives Jimmy a super-hypnotic command to kill the Look Alike Squad.

Shortly, after the others return to the office, the door opens, and… "The Mad Bomber sent me! This button will set off a bomb inside my metal form! Die, friends of Superman!" threatens a one arm robot. "Do your worst robot stooge!" replies "Lois". The robot explodes, doing no harm to the Look Alike Squad. Jimmy comes out of the closet, (insert joke here) and fires the shrink attachment of the Growth-Ray Projector, shrinking all the Look Alike Squad, including "Perry".

He kills "Jimmy" with Green Kryptonite and blasts all but "Perry" with a Gold Kryptonite Ray Gun he had handy. Jimmy tells "Perry" that he is next, but "Perry" confesses that he is evil too and to prove it he rewires a T.V. set into a Space Monitor to spy on Revenge Squad. With the hiding spot of the Revenge Squad revealed, Superman captures them and the L.A.S. comes back to life. Jimmy is revealed to be Zol-Lar, who switched places with Jimmy when they went to lunch. Evil ray had no affect on Zol-Lar. Green and Gold Kryptonite were fakes. All of it was staged including robot and exploding box that was built by Superman to find hidden base of Revenge Squad. Ar-Rone is sent back to Kandor where Kandorian science removes all evil from Ar-Rone so that he can be a member in good standing of the L.A.S. Thus ended another classic 9 page Jimmy Olsen story.

Because of the campiness that I expected and come to like in the Jimmy Olsen books, I give this: