Ms. Lane If You’re Nasty

Tonight’s episode of “Supergirl” features the first proper introduction of my sometime, not really girlfriend, Lucy Lane, into the mythos of the show and I hope they get it right. By “right” I mean not at all accurate because the truth is embarrassing.

Which type of "Mean Girl" is this again?

That was my fanciest purple dinner robe.

You see, I don’t like myself when I’m around Lucy. I honestly don’t know how anyone could like me around Lucy.

Oh, Grod, please get this foot out of my mouth.

Stop talking, Jummy. Just please stop talking.

Or like Lucy for that matter. Really, she’s a horrible person.

See?

No, really. She’s terrible.

She’s vain, selfish, materialistic, and fickle, constantly blowing off plans with me so she can go out with someone else.

Isn't she sweet?

Ain’t she sweet?

Oh, and she’s a nasty, ungrateful, gold-digging elitist. Imagine a human being as if they had been written by a couple of misogynistic dudes during the 1950s and that’s Lucy.

If I make her like me then maybe I'll have worth!

It bears repeating…GRRRR!

You’ve probably figured out that she’s Lois Lane’s sister (those Lane’s love their alliteration). She’s also a Flight Attendant which she apparently feels is comparable to flying around with an invincible man-god from another planet.

The Superman Museum is usually a great first date...and free every first Wednesday of the month!

The Superman Museum is usually a great first date…and it’s free every first Wednesday of the month!

The first time we met I finagled a double date with Lois and “Clark.” I use the term “date” loosely (it was more of a “group hang” that I paid for). We went to the Superman Restaurant. You remember that chain of mid-scale family dining where the balding waiters had to dress like Superman? Thank Grod those went out of business.

It was better than "Sizzler" at least.

It was better than “Sizzler” at least.

She was clearly not interested and wanted to cancel our next date to go out with some ” Famous Rodeo Stars.” Is that a thing?

Yes, "Clark" used his super-hearing to invade her privacy to get me this information.

Yes, “Clark” used his super-hearing to invade her privacy to get me this information.

The only way I can get her attention is if I get over her, move on, and start dating a gorgeous and/or giant alien space lady.

Physical attraction? √ Common Interests (i.e. me)? √ Both 200 foot Colossuses? MOST IMPORTANT.

Physical attraction? √ Common Interests (i.e. me)? √ Both 200 foot Colossuses? MOST IMPORTANT.

Oh, THEN she gets interested.

Yeah, you look into it, lady.

Yeah, you look into it, lady.

So why do I put up with it and keep coming back for more? Well, clearly I like a challenge. Also, I’m a glutton for punishment I guess… and perhaps judge my own self worth by how others see me. If I can make this terrible person be nice to me then I must be something special!

I called her as soon as I got home.

I called her as soon as I got home.

 

 

 

The Elastic Truth About “Supergirl”

I’ve been engaged to and/or married to many women in many different alternate timelines/universes over the years: Lois Lane, Lucy Lane, Allura the giantess from a distant planet, Ilona of the Sunev Galaxy, Rona from another dimension, and…um…a gorilla (to name a few).

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Worst part about my inter-species wedding: Superman’s cultural insensitivity.

But my favorite of all my almost wives will always be Kara Zor-El, commonly known to the world as “Supergirl.” I’ll never forget our imaginary wedding that never happened!

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Sweet never memories.

Naturally, when I heard about the long overdue television show based on her life and adventures and looked forward to live tweeting the premiere with the rest of the world. Sadly, I discovered five minutes before the show was going to start that my live TV feed was broken and I don’t have cable so I wasn’t able to watch with the rest of the world. Super bummer.

The show was a critical and ratings hit. Also, Black Twitter liked it (check out the #Supergurl hashtag when you get a chance)! I got a chance to catch up with the pilot last night and it was super-duper fun, humorous, and emotional (I cried four times). Congratulations to the cast and crew on a job well done.

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That’s my girl! Sort of…not really. I mean she’s her own woman and everything…never mind.

However…

THAT’S NOT THE REAL STORY.

This is Hollywood and as with all media adaptations of real life events liberties have been taken, time compressed, and certain facts thrown out the window. For example:

The opening on Krypton. Superbaby being put in a tiny rocket has been done many times over the years and same as always they left something out: I WAS THERE. Allegedly. My mind was wiped afterwards so I can’t be sure. I’m saving the details for a separate post but the quick version is: Time travel. I became Superbaby’s babysitter. I saved the little a-hole’s life. I don’t know if they filmed my scenes and cut them for time but it would nice to see it on screen one day.

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It was nice that they got Superbaby’s spit curl right though. Does it naturally do that or did Jor-El and Kara put product in his hair? If so, he’s maintained the same hair style since birth??? Total square.

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One of the other points that veers far from reality is Kara’s and my “meet cute.” It wasn’t quite as adorkable in real life. You see, I was a Wolf-man at the time after having willfully chugged down a bottle of magic potion clearly labeled “Ye Wolfman Potion” from an ancient crypt. Did I mention I used to be a complete idiot?

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I was young.

“Ye” antidote for the Wolf-man curse was the good old-fashioned sexist trope of “the willing kiss of a beautiful maiden.” What does beautiful mean? What if I don’t like maidens? What if it’s a woman who drank the potion and she doesn’t like maidens? WTF does a kiss have to do with anything? Not even love’s true kiss, just a meaningless peck from an objectively attractive woman.

If I were a cosplayer I'd be furious she thought it was just a mask.

If I were a cosplayer I’d be furious she thought it was just a mask.

Luckily, I happened to transform at both a costume party and a movie studio where everyone just took it for granted that I was wearing a mask but I knew it would be SUPER EMBARRASSING if anyone found out so I made a plan to get the curse lifted: I take all my savings out of the bank, go to the park in the middle of the night, and ask the first attractive woman I see (a complete stranger) to kiss me in exchange for the money.

What could possibly go wrong?

What could possibly go wrong?

SPOILER ALERT: It didn’t work.

Thankfully, she wasn't an undercover cop.

Thankfully, she wasn’t an undercover cop.

So Superman (who feels a need to solve all my problems) took me back to my apartment where he had a strange woman waiting for me in a darkened room who had agreed to kiss me.

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You have what now?

That’s right. That woman was Supergirl.

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I can understand why the producers of the show decided to change how we met, seeing as how there’s a lot to set up in a pilot and having Mehcad Brooks running around in full Wolf-man makeup might have distracted from the other plot elements of the show, not to mention the creepy/pimp-like quality to Superman’s behavior. So I’m okay with it.

Supercreep! Supercreep! He's super creeepy!

Supercreep! Supercreep! He’s super creeepy!

And while we’re on the subject of Mehcad… nailed it. He may not look exactly like me (though his abs are spot on) but he definitely captured my essence (or at least how I see myself): sexy, mature, charming, sexy.

Me.

Me.

Mehcad.

Mehcad.

Too many of these Superman movies and shows have me running around like a dorky, reckless moron who needs to be saved from Superman. I mean, that’s accurate too but I’m more than just a dorky, reckless moron. Did I mention how many almost wives I’ve had???

JimmyRomance12

There are other inaccuracies (like Cyborg Superman being Kara’s sister’s boss) but I loved it all the same and am looking forward to the next episode. Let me know what you thought in the comments below. Or, you know, don’t.

I WAS A TEENAGE SIDEKICK

Hi! My name is James Bartholomew Olsen. I used to be famous for being the “best boy pal” of a certain strange visitor from another planet. Nowadays I’m just a regular ole cub reporter in his mid-thirties wondering where all the years have gone (go to college, kids).

My life hasn’t been boring: I’ve been an Elastic Lad, a Giant Turtle Man, and even a Nazi Field Marshal (there’s a reasonable explanation). I’m here to share some of my stories and hopefully figure out a way to pivot out of the dying medium of print journalism and into the digital age. I should probably take the Nazi thing out of my bio, shouldn’t I?

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It’s not what it looks like.

So what can you expect from this blog? A lot of time has passed since I first met Superman and there’s a lot of dirt to dish and things to unpack. Also, probably some “Supergirl” TV show recaps.

WHY “RUBBER REPORT?”

One could say I wasted a LOT of time thinking the domain name for this blog. Don’t believe me? Here’s a sample:

OlsenReport – Because I’m a reporter and my last name is Olsen.
SuperReport – Because, you know, superheroes and stuff.
SuperDuperReport – “Super-duper!” is my catchphrase so…
SuperFiles – Like the X-files but about super stuff.
OlsenFiles – I like files.
CubBeat – I’m a Cub Reporter and this is my beat.
CubFiles – Again with the files.
ElasticTruth – I was Elastic Lad and I’m here to tell the truth!
GiantTurtleNews – Kind of liked this one.
GiantTurtleFiles – Again with the files.
GiantTurtleReport – You get the idea.
GiantTurtle – Did I mention I was a Giant Turtle Man?
OlsenTruth – Do I need to explain this one?
TeenSidekick – Too long, but accurate.
AgingSidekick – Too negative. You’re only as old as you feel.
ElasticReport – This was really word association at this point.
Olsency – I used a blog name generator and got this.
Sidechic – Like a sidekick who is chic.
ActionBeat – Because of “Action Comics.”
ActionReport – I can’t believe I wrote this one down.
RedKryptonite = weird stuff
Olsenite – Get it? I’m like my own Kryptonite?
RedOlsenite – Weird tales + Red hair + Red Kryptonite + Me
SuperTruth – Sounds too conspiracy nut.
jimmy-olsen – JimmyOlsen was already taken.
KidSidekick – Too many k’s.
DeadSidekick – Too dark.
RecklessSidekick – Too long + too many k’s.
RecklessKid – Okay, I googled “sidekick tropes.”
SuperOlsen – I had to have called myself this at some point.
SupergirlsBoy – Crassly trying to piggyback on the new show.
BestBoyPal – The creepy thing Superman calls me.

As you can see, I was super into the words “Report” and “Files.” And to be honest, I was kind of partial to “Giant Turtle News” but my sometime, sort-of, not really girlfriend Lucy Lane hated every single one of them. Except “Rubber Report.”
I know. That still doesn’t answer the question.
Well, in my sometime superhero identity of “Elastic Lad” I was known as “The Boy of Rubber.” Well, maybe “known” is stretching it (pardon the pun). Superman is known as the Man of Steel. Two people called me the Boy of Rubber. One of them was me just now.
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The other one was a narrator.

Anyhow, when I was choosing my twitter handle just about every variation of my name and various nicknames and alter egos had already been taken so I landed on @boyofrubber. Wanting to keep a little brand awareness when I started the blog so I chose “The Rubber Report.” Then I realized I’m famous and should probably have my name somewhere in the title and so now it’s “Jimmy Olsen’s Super-Duper Rubber Report.”
Upon reflection, I probably should have just bought JimmyOlsen.com off whoever GoDaddied it.
Tune in next time, when I will have hopefully figured out how to watch “Supergirl” on somewhere other than my laptop!