When Jimmy Blew the Shofar: Midrash and Musical Invective in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen (1954–74) captured the imagination of younger readers drawn to colourful images and preposterously inventive stories. As the 1960s progressed and the first of the baby boomers entered their teens, the formula became out of date. DC Comic’s middle-aged writers struggled to keep pace with the emerging youth culture and usually wound up insulting their tastes and predilections. A prime example is “The Red-Headed Beatle of 1,000 B.C.!” (1964), which simultaneously taps into, and disparages Beatles fandom. However, beneath the insult is a midrashic-like telling of Samson’s backstory and intriguing speculations about the uses of the shofar in the world of the Bible.