Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #3 (of 12): Decoy Lives

Three issues in, and it’s time to accept that writer Matt Fraction’s “I’m so quirky I could diiiiiie” writing style is a feature, not a bug. It’s completely up to readers whether they like it or not, but underneath that post-modern/post-ironic/post-something Silver Age sheen, Fraction is slowly but surely assembling the pieces of a mystery that involves both the Luthor family and Jimmy’s own intertwined past and somehow connects to a more recent and sinister attempt on the latter’s life.

It’s an intriguing mix of a lot of seemingly-unrelated elements, just like any good mystery. At it’s heart is the trope that Jimmy Olsen always bounces back from whatever weird shenanigans he gets into. But what happens when he’s confronted with a very real and present danger? Someone wants Jimmy dead. But who? We don’t have enough puzzle pieces yet to see the full picture. But by now, those pieces are starting to fit and it’s becoming more and more apparent that Fraction isn’t just spinning his wheels here.

When a writer gets stylistically self-indulgent like Fraction has with this series, it can come off like he’s just entertaining himself rather than thinking about his audience. And to a degree, that’s definitely still true here . But beneath the surface, there’s some real craft at work – now, if Fraction can get past his own writing tics, he might be onto something here. As it stands, he and artist Steve Lieber have created a niche book that’s going to appeal to a very narrow audience. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing – just a limiting one.