WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Superman: Leviathan Rising #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, Marc Andreyko, Steve Lieber, Mike Perkins, Yanick Paquette, Eduardo Pansica, Júlio Ferreira, Nathan Fairbairn, Paul Mounts, FCO Plascencia, Dave Sharpe, Simon Bowland, Clayton Cowles, Tom Napolitano and ALW's Troy Peteri.
For the past few months, the mysterious and villainous organization known as Leviathan has slowly become one of the greater threats in the DC Universe. The group has systematically attacked every major intelligence agency across the world, like Spyral and the DEO. Now, the organization is finally making their big move in Superman: Leviathan Rising #1.
The oversized special issue finds the secret organization try something different from every other villain that has gone up against Superman: instead of going after Lois Lane, they go after Clark Kent. This quickly turns into an all hands on deck situation where, to save the Daily Planet reporter from the grasp of Leviathan, Lois calls upon anyone who can help. Of course, the Justice League answers the call. So does Jimmy Olsen.
But there's just one little problem: Jimmy's in another country, and he's dealing with a pretty big change... he just got married!
Greetings From Gorilla City
The Superman: Leviathan Rising special is divided into three stories that, while separate, tell one cohesive whole. On top of that, Jimmy Olsen's story is a setup to the character's upcoming solo series, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber. It all begins with Olsen waking up in a hotel in Gorilla City. See, Jimmy is currently on a world tour to promote the release of his new photography book, and the Gorilla City stop brought with it a hefty dose of gorilla champagne.
What follows is a situation that would best be at home in one of those Hangover movies: Jimmy wakes up with a strange woman in his bed. He's got no clothes on (save for a bowtie), no wallet, no passport. There's a Red Lantern cat locked in the bathroom (hi, Dex-Starr!) that's vomiting blood all over the room... and, oh, he's now married. Turns out that Jimmy's new bride is named Jix, and she's a multidimensional traveler from another reality. She just so happened to be in Gorilla City on the hunt for some special gems that once belonged to her family and she needed an alibi for... reasons that are, for the time being, unknown.
Neither of them remember getting married the night before, and Jix isn't exactly one to stick around. She leaves Jimmy high and dry, with no clothes, money or means of getting out of Gorilla City. But with a new Red Lantern feline as his sidekick, Jimmy powers through and finds a way to join Lois Lane and help save Clark Kent.
We don't find out exactly how Jimmy makes it out of Gorilla City, but that may end up being a story that is told in Fraction and Lieber's upcoming Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen. It's a safe bet that Jix wasn't introduced by accident -- Jimmy's new wife will likely return in the book as the two deal with their marital status.
A new wife, a new pet sidekick -- Superman: Leviathan Rising brings a lot of changes for Jimmy Olsen. But perhaps the biggest change is that it seems like Fraction and Lieber are placing him back into the role of an action-seeking photojournalist. He may be on a book tour, but Jimmy can still wrestle an alien cat and put on a gorilla costume to join the likes of Firestorm and save Clark Kent.
It's all in a day's work for Superman's pal. And this is just the start.