Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #140

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #140 (On Sale: June 3, 1971), has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

We begin the reprintfest with "Invasion of the Mystery Super-Men" by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan, and George Klein and reprinted from Superman #158 (1963). Several Kandorian’s have found a way to enlarge themselves to normal size and begin conducting raids on Earth. Superman follows them back to the bottle city of Kandor along with Jimmy Olsen to learn the reason for their attacks. When they arrive in Kandor, Superman finds that he is hated by the Kandorians. They now believe that Superman has been against restoring the city to normal size. To hide from the people, Superman and Jimmy assume the alternate identities of Nightwing and Flamebird, costumed after Batman and Robin.

Superman learns that the leader of the raiders and inventor of the new enlargement ray is Than Ol. The Man of Steel realized that the ray is flawed and will destroy Kandor, but Than Ol will not listen. Superman and Jimmy are able to escape Kandor with the help of Van Zee, but are unable to prevent Than Ol from enlarging Kandor in a remote location on Earth. As predicted by Superman, the city soon begins to disintegrate. Superman returns them to tiny size with Brainiac’s shrinking ray. The Kandorians are grateful that Superman has saved them and realize that he is indeed working in their best interests.

Next up is "The Caped Crimefighters of Kandor" by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan, and George Klein and reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #69 (1963). Superman and Jimmy visit Kandor and return to their crimefighting identities of Nightwing and Flamebird. They attempt to track down a super-criminal responsible for the theft of rare relics. Superman becomes ill with Scarlet Jungle Fever, so Jimmy is forced to act alone.

Jimmy befriends a telepathic hound whom he names Nighthound, but together they are unable to stop the super-criminal. When Superman recovers, he helps Jimmy capture the criminal, who is revealed to be Nor Kann, a friend of theirs. Nor Kann was hypnotized by the Superman Revenge Squad in their attempt to kill Superman. Once Nor Kann’s mind is restored, Superman and Jimmy return to Earth.

We end with "The World of Doomed Olsens" by Jerry Siegel, Curt Swan, and George Klein and reprinted from Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #72 (1963). Jimmy is abducted by a being calling himself the Collector and taken to an alien world. The Collector claims vibrations from Jimmy’s signal watch have penetrated his dimension and wrecked his cities. In an act of revenge, he creates and unleashes five Olsen duplicates resembling Jimmy’s prior transformations: Turtle Boy, Porcupine Olsen, Fat Olsen, Wolf Boy, and Elastic Lad. The duplicate Olsen’s threaten Jimmy, but he convinces them to rebel against the Collector. The Collector defends himself against the attack and even scares off Superman.

Jimmy soon realizes that he is being hoaxed. The Olsen duplicates and the Collector are all disguised members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He confronts them with his discovery, and they reveal themselves. The hoax was part of an initiation test designed for Jimmy. Having seen through the hoax, Jimmy is taken to the Legion’s time period and inducted as an honorary member.

Edited by E. Nelson Bridwell.