Warning! Spoilers ahead for Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #27!One of Superman’s closest allies has just been declared the greatest hero in the DC Universe and the answer may surprise even the biggest comic book fan. The DCU has been invaded by the Fifth Dimension so that a powerful god-level villain can root out its greatest hero.

While Batman and Superman are no strangers to imps, the rest of the Justice League saw their destructive potential with the Legion of Doom-Mites. But amid the chaos, one of the Man of Steel’s allies steps up and finally becomes the hero they were meant to be, potentially putting themselves in serious danger.

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen is the DCU’s Greatest Hero

In Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #27 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Travis Mercer, Tamra Bonvillain, and Steve Wands, Mr. Mxyzptlk wakes up Bat-Mite and brings him up to speed on the situation they’re in. Parasite and his new imp pal Paras-Mite have trapped Batman, Superman, and Robin as 2D images on a wall. Bat-Mite frees Robin but winds up getting stuck in the second dimension with Superman and Batman. On the battlefield, Jimmy Olsen and Robin find Mr. Mxyzptlk, who has a brilliant idea of how to handle the imps.

Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to power up a human (not Robin after his previous exposure to super abilities proved to be too much for the young hero). Instead, for his planned army of heroes, Mr Mxyzptlk settles on Jimmy. The all-powerful imp brings up Jimmy’s numerous transformations over the years and figures they’re all still inside the photographer’s subconscious. With a wave of his fingers, Mr. Mxyzptlk supercharges and gives life to some of Jimmy Olsen’s greatest and strangest alter egos of all time.

The ‘Olsen Squad’ as they call themselves engages in combat with the villains while Mr. Mxyzptlk takes care of their correlating imps. It’s not long before both the imps and villains are defeated, but as the dust settles, Mr. Mxyzptlk comes to a horrifying realization: By taking care of the villains largely by himself, Superman’s pal proved himself to be the Earth’s Mightiest Hero, getting the attention of the powerful Doom-Mite. Doom-Mite suddenly appears from the sky and congratulates Jimmy on the honor of his new title before threatening to kill him.

How Jimmy Was Set Up to Become DC’s Best Hero

The Fifth Dimension is home to some of the strangest and most powerful reality-benders around. Several of these imps decided to form their own super-team, the Just-Us League, modeled after their favorite heroes from the Third Dimension. Unfortunately, before Mxyzptlk could warn the Just-Us League about a terrible threat he’d learned of, the team was attacked by the Legion of Doom-Mites. Only Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite were able to escape the attack while the rest of the imps were slaughtered and their base was razed.

Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite ventured to the Third Dimension to seek out their favorite heroes, Superman and Batman. They warned the World’s Finest that something had gone seriously wrong and that chaos magic was throwing the entire world out of whack. At the same time, Justice League members sent out distress signals after villains began partnering with imps, giving them all serious power upgrades. Batman and Superman decided to team up with the imps, but Superman paired with Bat-Mite while Mxyzptlk worked with Batman and Robin.

The Man of Steel and the Dynamic Duo went out into the chaos, only to find their greatest allies flailing against their nemeses’ Fifth Dimensional upgrades. Thankfully, Mxyzptlk was able to even things in the good guys’ favor by giving Robin a cache of Superman-like powers. While the heroes fought their antagonists, the imps grilled their diminutive counterparts. They discovered that the villain that had assembled this cadre of curious foes was out to test the mettle of Earth’s heroes to determine who the greatest hero in the DC Universe really is.

Does Jimmy Deserve to Be ‘Earth’s Mightiest Hero’?

While there’s no doubt that Jimmy Olsen played a crucial role in saving the day, there are a few things to consider about his victory. Namely Jimmy was only able to save the day thanks to Mxyzptlk creating the ‘Olsen Squad’ and giving him a fighting chance. While Jimmy is crafty, he wouldn’t last two minutes against DC’s biggest and baddest, especially if they’ve got imps on their side. Not to mention, it isn’t any one Jimmy that saves the day, but rather, at least seven of them.

But just because Mxyzptlk technically gave Jimmy a Fifth-Dimensional buff doesn’t mean he’s not a hero. If anything, Jimmy has always been a hero, just never on the level of Superman or Batman. While Olsen might be seen as ‘just’ the Daily Planet’s photographer, the young man has always lived a very full life filled with epic adventures, deadly threats, and yes, wacky transformations. As one of the closest, average humans in Superman’s orbit, Jimmy Olsen just can’t help but find himself getting into one over-the-top situation or another.

But does he deserve to be seen as the Earth’s mightiest hero? Many would say no. Even Jimmy would probably disagree if he was honest with himself. But Olsen is a good man who has put his life on the line multiple times, not to get a good picture for the front page, but because it was the right thing to do. Doom-Mite might be misguided in his declaration that Jimmy Olsen is the greatest hero the DC Universe has to offer, but that doesn’t mean Superman’s pal isn’t a hero at all.

Can DC’s Greatest Hero Get Out of This Alive?

It would be an average day in Jimmy Olsen’s life if he wasn’t facing some kind of life-endangering predicament. Doom-Mite now has his sights on Olsen and isn’t going to let him go until Doom-Mite defeats the Earth’s mightiest hero. If history proves anything, it’s that the Man of Tomorrow will help his buddy out. But in case he doesn’t, Jimmy’s going to have to figure out a way to get out of Doom-Mite’s clutches all by himself. Hopefully, Superman will be there to help the Earth’s new number-one hero before it’s too late.

Batman / Superman: World’s Finest #27 is available now from DC Comics.