Batman puts on his mask in Gotham City and brings the bad guys to justice. We’ve encountered the most beloved superhero of the DC Comics universe in countless comic book stories, movies, and animated productions over the years, and we’ve been completely fascinated by him. The creator of the Batman character is an illustrator named Bob Kane. What about Bill Finger? Have you ever heard of this name before?
A documentary called Batman & Bill, released on the Hulu digital platform in 2017, shocked both Batman and Bob Kane fans. Because, according to the stories, the person who created the character of Batman and even the other Gotham villains we admire today was an artist named Bill Finger, who had beaten the truth all his life and died penniless. Let’s take a closer look at the details of this story based on Bill Finger’s heirs.
Who is Bob Kane, whom we have known for years as the sole creator of Batman?
Bob Kane, born on October 24, 1915 in the United States and died there on November 3, 1998, is a comic book writer and illustrator. Kane, who started working in comics magazines in 1936, created the character of Batman in 1939 while working under the roof of DC Comics, and from that day on, all his work has been focused on developing this character and the world of Gotham.
Let’s get to know the other side of the story, who is Bill Finger?
William “Bill” Finger, who was born on February 8, 1914 in the United States and died there on January 18, 1974, is a comic book writer and illustrator. He created the character of Batman with Bob Kane; He played a large role in the creation of other Gotham villains such as the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Riddler. Bill Finger Awards are being distributed today on behalf of Bill Finger, who also created the character of Green Lantern.
Let’s get to the story of Bob Kane stealing the idea of Batman from Bill Finger; What is this claim based on?
In 2012, a book called Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman was published by Marc Tyler Nobleman. The allegations are based on this book, but it became the subject of this article with a documentary called Batman & Bill, which was broadcast on the Hulu digital platform in 2017. The story of the documentary is also based on this book.
According to Bill Finger’s heirs, while Finger was still a simple man, Kane was quite sociable and talkative. Yes, indeed, the idea of Batman first came to Bob Kane’s mind, but the first drafts were utterly awful. Bill Finger, considered a true comic book genius today, took these sketches and created Batman as we know it today.
Batman wasn’t the only character Finger created. Bill Finger, whose name was not even heard of until this claim; He is the person who created other Gotham villains such as Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Riddler, the Gotham world we know. But Bob Kane, a true entertainer, put himself first and did not mention Bill Finger’s name nor give him the financial retribution he deserved.
To better understand this event, let’s look at the creation story of the character of Batman:
In 1939, while the character of Superman fascinated comic book lovers, Bob Kane; Zorro prepared the first sketches of The Bat-Man character, inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci drawings and a 1937 movie called The Bat Whispers. But this character was the type with a red jumpsuit, a domino mask, and bat wings on his back. So it had nothing to do with the Batman we know today.
Knowing that this character is not very interesting, Kane called Bill Finger, whom he had met a while ago, and asked for help for the character. Actually, Finger was just a shoe salesman, but he was such a sophisticated person that he was a great illustrator and writer. Bob Kane and Bill Finger formed a partnership. A work called Rusty and Pals was their first work.
Bill Finger gives Batman an ingenious twist:
Bill Finger picked up the sketch of The Bat-Man and began editing it. Inspired by The Phantom character, he created the Batman character we know today. Moreover, he named his secret identity, Bruce Wayne, which is one of the most beloved features of this character. Thanks to this name, inspired by an old Scottish king, Batman’s nickname, The Dark Knight, was also born.
Bob Kane added features to make The Bat-Man look like Superman, but Bill Finger didn’t want that and made him a detective. Later, he decided that this character would live in a unique city, namely Gotham City, and in this context, the Gotham villains were created one by one. Well, if Bill Finger did all the work, how did Bob Kane get all the credit?
Bill Finger was a casual writer, and Bob Kane was a true entertainer:
Bill Finger was a true intellectual. He did not lead a glamorous life, commuting to work by bus, constantly taking notes in his notebook to develop the character of Batman. Bob Kane, on the other hand, wore expensive suits, attended parties, liked to be in the spotlight, and moreover, gave people sketches drawn by Finger as his own. So all he wanted was to be the focus of everyone.
In fact, everything hit its peak with an agreement signed with DC Comics company. Bob Kane’s father was a lawyer. He prepared a great deal. This deal made Kane rich. What about Bill Finger? Unfortunately, Finger didn’t even know about this deal. He didn’t think it would do much anyway. But after that deal, Batman didn’t just remain a comic book character.
When we came to 1966, Batman started to shake the media and it was decided to make a television series. In the process, Finger was part of the writing team. But while Bob Kane was playing for millions, Bill Finger was barely surviving by doing countless jobs in a small apartment. He was only known as one of the writers, not as the creator of Batman.
There were also those who noticed the situation:
As an active writer, Bill Finger was rarely known to fans as he continued to create and develop Batman stories as well. After attending New York City Comic-Con in 1965, an article about Bill Finger was published and mentioned as one of the creators of Batman.
So what happened? Bob Kane denied this claim in a letter! He shamelessly said that Bill Finger was given much more credit than he deserved, that he was confused, that we should have seen his autograph if there was such a thing.
After Bill Finger’s death, Bob Kane could not stand the pangs of conscience and confessed:
Bill Finger died in misery in 1974 as an anonymous writer. Bob Kane was now unopposed. In the credits of the 1989 movie Batman, shot by Tim Burton, his name was mentioned as the sole creator. For some reason, after the movie was released, Bob Kane admitted in an interview that he created Batman and Joker characters together with Bill Finger.
DC Comics also acknowledged this, but for many years Bill Finger did not put his name in comics or movies. Finally, with the release of the documentary, Bill Finger’s name began to be known as one of the creators of Batman, as it deserves. Of course Finger died heartbroken, miserable, and a disgraced writer. You can share your thoughts on the subject in the comments.
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