The Creator(s) of Batman
Did Bob give Bill the Finger? Giving credit where credit is long overdue.
77 years ago, the editor of Detective Comics was looking for young cartoonists to come up with a new character to cash in on the success of their Action Comics breakout hero, Superman. Enter 18 year-old Bob Kane, a kid from the Bronx, with an idea for a Zorro-like masked protagonist with wings. However, it was hardly the Caped Crusader as we know him today. Without the creative contributions of several other artists and writers, who went without credit and uncompensated for their efforts, the Dark Knight may never have seen the light of day.
The Golden Age of Comics
The year is 1938. A couple of Jewish teens from Cleveland create a comic book character named Superman and suddenly superheroes go viral (or however they described it back then). The Man of Steel captured the imaginations of kids across the U.S. and he also caught the attention of publishers looking for the next big marketing trend.
Vic Sullivan, editor of Detective Comics (DC) was looking for young talent to exploit this latest craze. He suggested to 18 year old Robert Kahn (who would go by Bob Kane) that he create a character in the same vein as Superman; a caped defender of truth, justice, yada-yada-yada. Bob would come back a few days later with a sketch and a germ of an idea.
“The Bat-Man”
His hero was a blond man wearing a domino mask in a red union suit. He had wings inspired by the Da Vinci concept of the ornithopter and, like Zorro, would be a rich, playboy dandy by day and a swashbuckling crime fighter after dark. He had added a title to his artwork: “The Bat-Man”. Bob took his sketch to 21 year old Milton “Bill” Finger, a writer, who he had met at a party. Finger looked over Kane’s handiwork and made several suggestions.
First, lose the bright colors he told Kane. Inspired by The Shadow, The Bat-Man should be a dark, brooding character more in keeping with the pulp detective fiction heroes of the day. Rugged protagonists that would shoot first and who might ask questions later. The early Batman used guns, watched the bad guys die, and even acted as executioner when the need arose.
Next, Finger implored Kane to lose the Lone Ranger-style mask and go with a cowl (complete with pointy ears) which gave him a spookier appearance and a cape rather than stiff wings, which would only get in the way of crime-fighting action. Lastly, their new hero should be just a man; not an indestructible alien, but a normal human being who had studied and trained with the goal of being the world’s greatest detective. Batman’s only superpower was money. Batloads of it.
As time went on, Finger and artist Jerry Robinson would design a host of bat-themed gadgetry contained in a utility belt and a host of vehicles (batcopter, batboat, and batmobile which would replace the red Oldsmobile coupe from the first comics) to aid him in his crime fighting with a batsignal to call him to action. The stage was set.
Detective Comics #27
Released in May of 1939, “The Bat-Man” would hit the ground running. Looking back on that first appearance, the artwork was amateurish, the dialog stiff, and the whole package was definitely lacking polish, but it was something new and unique. A real departure from the usual detective, cowboy, and spy stories that DC normally ran. It caught the imaginations of a generation of kids who had been born during The Great Depression and who were now living under the constant threat of war. Who wouldn’t want to escape the news of the day with tales of the daring exploits of a rich man who had no fear?
Several issues in, Finger would give him a backstory: a young Bruce Wayne (named after revered Scottish nobleman Robert the Bruce and American Revolutionary War general “Mad” Anthony Wayne) watched his parents gunned down during a hold up and vowed on their graves to fight crime. When a bat flew into his study through an open window, Bruce Wayne knew what he must become to strike fear into the hearts of cowardly criminals: a flying rodent.
In issue #38 Finger and Robinson introduced “Robin the Boy Wonder” and the Dynamic Duo was formed, despite Kane’s objection that Batman should work alone. Robin was mainly there so Batman had someone to talk with (a boy Watson to Batman’s Sherlock), but he became so popular that soon after many superheros adopted sidekicks.
Batman would get his own title within the year. That historic first issue saw the introduction of such notable villains as The Joker and The Cat(woman), created by Finger and Robinson. This issue is also notable for being the last time that Batman would use a gun or kill anyone.
Batman’s popularity was growing by leaps and bounds, but despite the contributions of Finger, Robinson, and Dick Sprang (another DC artist instrumental in Batman’s development), the comic book readership only knew of it as the work of just one man: Bob Kane.
“Ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight?”
How is it that Bob Kane became known as the sole creator of Batman? Being underage, Kane’s father, who worked in newspapers and knew something of the business, negotiated a contract for his son that called for Bob to receive sole authorship credit for Batman. It also included a clause that stipulated that he would receive profits from any merchandising or other uses of his property.
At first DC was unaware of the existence of Bill Finger, who Kane would retain as a “ghost writer” in his employ. Working as only one of several faceless writers, Finger would receive no credit or recognition for all of his creative efforts, earning only scale wages.
“[Kane] should have credited Bill as co-creator, because I know; I was there. … That was one thing I would never forgive Bob for, was not to take care of Bill or recognize his vital role in the creation of Batman. As with Siegel and Shuster, it should have been the same, the same co-creator credit in the strip, writer, and artist.” — Jerry Robinson, DC artist
Many felt Bill Finger didn’t push for a co-creator credit because he was too timid and suffered from low self-esteem. Also, since he hadn’t protected his intellectual property, he really didn’t have a legal leg to stand on.
I, Me, Mine
Bob Kane felt he owed nothing to Bill Finger or his other collaborators. “The trouble with being a ghostwriter or artist is that you must remain rather anonymously without credit”, he stated and would even go as far as to say that Finger’s claims of being a co-author were “hallucinations of grandeur.” Kane saw no reason to share the spotlight. In 1968, when Kane’s contract with DC was renewed, even though he no longer did any work on Batman, it stated that he receive sole creation credits on all Batman comics. Around this same time, Bill Finger was fired from DC for having the gall to ask for DC to supply a healthcare program for its employees.
Bill Finger, who battled alcoholism and struggled in poverty, would die in 1974 at the age of 59. He would never see his name attached to any Batman story in his lifetime, despite playing such a vital role in its creation. It wouldn’t be until a decade and a half passed that in Kane’s autobiography “Batman & Me”, that Bob would finally own up to Finger’s contributions in a bit of “too little, too late” prose:
“Now that my longtime friend and collaborator is gone, I must admit that Bill never received the fame and recognition he deserved. He was an unsung hero. Because he came into the strip after I had created Batman, he did not get a by-line… I never thought of giving him a by-line and he never asked for one. I often tell my wife “If I could go back 15 years, before he died, I would like to say ‘I’ll put your name on it now, you deserve it.’ “
Bob Kane would pass away in 1998 at the age of 83.
The Dawn of Justice
Even though Bill wouldn’t be around to see it, he is finally being acknowledged by DC Entertainment on present and future Batman properties, as stated in a 2015 press release:
DC Entertainment and the family of Bill Finger are pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement that recognizes Mr. Finger’s significant contributions to the Batman family of characters. “Bill Finger was instrumental in developing many of the key creative elements that enrich the Batman universe, and we look forward to building on our acknowledgement of his significant role in DC Comics’ history,” stated Diane Nelson, President of DC Entertainment. “As part of our acknowledgement of those contributions,” Nelson continued, “we are pleased to confirm today that Bill Finger will be receiving credit in the Warner Bros. television series Gotham beginning later this season, and in the forthcoming motion picture Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
It’s been over 40 years since Bill Finger passing. Thankfully, the injustice done to this unsung hero of the Golden Age of Comics has been corrected. Batman would approve.
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