Monday, October 14, 2013

Jimmy Olsen Was Born to Be Wild!


Jimmy Olsen's Greatest Costumes and Disguises #9 

"OUTLAW BIKER DISGUISE"


Take THAT, Flowers!
In "The Dragon Delinquent, " from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #91, Jimmy attempts to infiltrate The Dragons, a teenage motorcycle gang that has been implicated in a series of bizarre thefts in his old home town.  So he adopts the moniker of "Fireball" James Oliver, buys a used motorcycle, and disguises himself with a leather jacket with a fireball on the back, a yellow wrestling belt, and a bright red cap.  Jimmy then has to prove he is a bad-ass outlaw if he wants to be accepted by this motorcycle gang.  So he:
  • Rides his motorcycle through a flower bed
  • Draws a rude picture of his female high school science teacher
  • Buys hot dogs and sodas for all the kids at the hot dog stand
  • Loses a fight with a teenage boy.
  • Crashes his motorcycle into a brick wall
  • Refuses to be intimidated by a robot
In other words, your typical Outlaw Biker Gang initiation stuff.  His "One Percenter" credentials now proven, he is accepted into the club.

Jimmy's definition of "hard-boiled delinquent" differs from most.
The Dragons have been accused of stealing weird worthless objects like weather vanes and flagpole ornaments, and it's up to Jimmy to find out why.  He discovers that the gang has a Superman robot working for them, a gift from their secret boss "Mr. Traitor."  It turns out that Mr. Traitor really is a traitor, too, who has been selling American secrets to foreign countries. In the story it is revealed that his name was originally Tray, but he had it changes to Traitor because he loved betraying America so much.
Jimmy's Milk Shake Brings All the Boys to the Yard
During the adventure, Jimmy encounters Batman and Robin (it turns out that Robin has also gone undercover in the gang), and gets shot at by a Quasimodo that keeps a gun stashed in his hump.

Jimmy is shot by a hunchback who keeps a gun inside his hump.  Although it's not a gun so much as a gun-shaped flashbulb.  Then Jimmy faints.
Finally, Jimmy, Robin, Batman, and Superman reveal the truth to the Dragons; that they are being used by Mr. Traitor to betray America.  The Dragons are shocked to learn that a man that calls himself "Traitor" actually is a traitor.  So they get all patriotic and agree to to help take Traitor down.  Tthe gang, along with Jimmy and Robin, ride off on their motorcycles to confront traitor.  But they ask Batman and Superman to stay behind, because they won't to capture the villain themselves.  The teenage heroes and hoodlums confront Traitor, and he responds by pulling out a machine gun and attempting to murder the lot of them.  Luckily for the boys, Superman ignored their request to capture Traitor by themselves, and swoops down at the last second, bouncing the bullets off his chest.

The bikers betray Mr. Traitor.  Only his gun shoots actual bullets.
The next day, Jimmy's story appears in the Daily Planet.  Jimmy is not around to enjoy it, though, as his time as an outlaw seems to have gone to his head.  We last see him blowing off work, and, still dressed in his biker disguise, riding off into the sunset, with his female science teacher holding on at his back.  Looks like Jimmy starting a new life as an "Easy Rider."
Get Your Motor Runnin'...


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