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I’m honored to report that Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman is among distinguished company in being named to the Bank Street College of Education list of the Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2013 (Nine to Twelve category).
I’m further honored that it also got a star for Outstanding Merit.
Thank you, Bank Street, for honoring Bill in the city in which he made pop culture history.
Today Bill Finger was on Today, the homepage of The Today Show.
Equal standing with the royal baby, baby!
It also made the homepages of NBC News and MSN (where it was an Editors’ Pick).The Today screen capture:As you can see, the biggest American news story of the day was a tragedy on a grander scale: the plane crash in San Francisco. I apologize that showing a screenshot of this Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman coverage juxtaposes an incident in which people died and were hurt. My condolences to the people affected.
Among the retweeters are the unlikely pair of Lou Dobbs and Steve Niles.I’m further honored that Niles favorited my acknowledgment of his tweet.
Longtime DC Comics writer J.M. DeMatteis, of whom I’m a fan, retweeted Niles.
Most importantly, thank you to Rick Schindler for writing the story about my story.
On 5/15/13, I had the pleasure of returning to the 92nd Street Y in New York to speak about a Great Event that happened not far from there: the creation of Batman.This was a comp ticket; as shown in the previous image, people actually had to part with
$29 to hear me, which I thought would mean (far) fewer than 29 would show up.
The venue alone was an honor, as was the fact that people I care about came to listen, including a gaggle of college friends:One of the three people to whom the book is dedicated also humbled me with his attendance: Charles Sinclair, Bill’s longtime friend and sometime writing partner.Like the last time I spoke at the Y (2009), I took a photo of the room before I started:But unlike the last time, I forgot to take one of the room once it’d filled in, which was the point.The event generated some wonderful coverage.
And the coverage generated some wonderful coverage.More than 350 likes and almost 50 shares for the Facebook link to the Newsarama article.
Savage Dragon creator Erik Larsen weighed in on Facebook.
Thank you again to Sidney Burgos for hosting me. Hope to speak under your roof again.
On 3/8/11, I spoke at Pleasant Ridge Elementary in Overland Park, KS, notable for being the first school in which I sat in a bathtub in the library. (Also notable for being a great school.)
More than a year later, the school shared some flattering news about its Battle of the Books competition. A group of 4th graders who had lost the previous year changed their team name and tried again as 5th graders. In 5/11, they won. The team name?
The Dinobunnies.
posted with permission (two stuffed animals were harmed in the making of that mascot)
During my presentations, after polling the audience, I sketch a couple of characters. Invariably, one ends up being a dinobunny (sometimes dino-bunny, sometimes rabbitosaurus).(not taken at Pleasant Ridge but he always looks the same)
A book I wrote, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman (illustrated by Ty Templeton), should have been nominated for a 2013 Eisner Award.I realize that this may come across as brazen or bitter. But it’s not deriving from the natural bias an author has for his work. In fact, most of my rationale is objective. (Can something be self-serving and have integrity at the same time?)
The quick list of reasons why I believe the book deserved an Eisner nomination:- It is unprecedented in topic.
- It is unprecedented in approach.
- It is unprecedented in research.
- It received mainstream critical acclaim.
- It has already had a positive real-world impact on the family.
- It may have a significant real-world impact on fans.
- Kids, I’m happy to report, love it.
All of this is, of course, rewarding and humbling enough, but in terms of what this book has contributed to comics scholarship, not to mention social justice, the leading industry award should have acknowledged it. (Heck, part of the Eisner ceremony is the Bill Finger Awards!)
In particular, I believe that Bill the Boy Wonder deserved a nomination in at least one of these two categories:- Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
- Best Comics-Related Book
But perhaps it is because the book is eligible for both that it was nominated for neither. Unfortunately, some have a perception that nonfiction for young readers or for all ages is not as “legitimate” as exclusively adult nonfiction. However, I am hardly the only one who strongly disagrees with this view. And I feel it makes an even stronger statement to tell this story a format that is, to some, so unexpected.
An elaboration on my reasons (which does not sequentially expand on the quick list above because the points intermingle): For nearly 75 years, the sole creator myth that cartoonist Bob Kane started has reigned, and no previous book has gone far enough to debunk this. No previous book has put Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator and original writer of Batman (quite possibly the most popular—and almost certainly the most lucrative—superhero in world history) at the rightful center of the story. That alone makes this a book worthy of some distinction.Yet there is more. Bill the Boy Wonder, the result of five years (and counting) of intensive sleuthing, is the first book on Bill. Strange that it took this long; his peers and fans alike considered him everything from the most gifted comics writer of his generation to an unequivocal genius.
I was one of the last writers (if not the last writer) in touch with several of Bill’s Golden and Silver Age colleagues (Arnold Drake, Alvin Schwartz, Carmine Infantino) before they died, and none of Bill’s family and non-comics friends I contacted had ever been interviewed about him. I uncovered everything from his high school yearbook photo to the only known note in his handwriting to his WWII draft record to his death certificate (first two in the book, second two on this blog). None of it was a mere Google away.There is still more. Though Bill the Boy Wonder is the standard thinness of traditional picture books, it packs in a lot of previously unpublished bombshells:
- Bill’s given first name and why he changed it
- the aforementioned handwritten note (now the only surviving version because the owner—Jerry Robinson—lost the original after I copied it)
- who was receiving Batman royalties—properly and illegally—for Bill’s work
- quotations from Bill’s only known personal correspondence
- the aforementioned yearbook photo (not as easy to find as you would think)
- nearly a dozen “new” photos from personal collections
- exactly when and how Bill died
- a persistent rumor about Bill’s remains is wrong…and the truth is visually chilling
- Bill had a second wife
- the only known mainstream press mention of Bill in his lifetime (The New Yorker, 1965)
- the only known time between 1939 and 1963 that Bill’s name appeared in a Batman comic…sort of…
- more than one example of entries from Bill’s famed but long-gone “gimmick books” (Alvin Schwartz mentioned one online but the others come from Bill’s longtime friend Charles Sinclair)
- Bill’s endearing nickname for his son Fred
- what Bill kept on his desk
- what Bill liked to eat late at night
And most startling of all:- the lone and previously unknown heir to Bill Finger: how I found her, who she is, and how my involvement helped her to receive long-overdue Batman royalties
For all of above, my book is the only print source.
Plus I continue to find even more info and I regularly share it on this blog and at speaking engagements, free of charge. That’s the modern model of storytelling.Lastly, Bill the Boy Wonder may change pop culture history. Despite what the comics community believed for decades, I discovered that Bill does have an heir, a granddaughter born two years after he died. She is in the unique position to try to correct the ubiquitous, contractually mandated, yet egregiously inaccurate credit line “Batman created by Bob Kane.” In the history of comics, whole credit lines have been added to superheroes after years of anonymity, but no existing superhero credit line has changed.
I know that a real-world repercussion is not a criterion for an Eisner nomination, and even if that never happens, the book is still a landmark work in the field. Again a bold statement, but I can’t very well continue to call Bill’s failure to speak up on his own behalf a fatal flaw and then follow his lead.
Disclaimer: This opinion is no way a judgment on any of the deserving talents who were nominated; I am not comparing my work to theirs but rather assessing it on its own. Good luck to all of the nominees.
The Harvey Awards are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by comic book pros.
If this sounds like you, please consider Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman for these categories: - Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers
- Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation
And please spread the word to your own kind.
Vote by 5/6/13.
I would be most grateful, and if you don’t believe me, there would be a gushy blog post here to prove it.
Last thing I remember winning is was a hot dog cooker at my high school graduation party. It did not involve a vote.
The hot dog cooker, perched inexplicably on the hood of my old car.
The Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee has chosen A Song for My Sister as a Notable book in the Younger Readers Category for 2013! I love this even more because I remember how much I enjoyed the All Of A Kind Family books when I was a kid. Thank you!
And so concludes the longest content lapse I have allowed since launching this blog in early 2008. To those who noticed, I apologize. To trot out that old chestnut on a day when chestnuts are especially apropos, the radio silence was due to circumstances beyond my control.
To resume, I’m honored to share that Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman has been named to multiple “best of 2012” lists and holiday gift guides. (Hey, there are still ten more shopping hours till the end of Christmas!)
USA Today 12/14/12
holiday gift guide to the best graphic novels of the year “Deeply researched…revelatory” Special thanks to David Colton, who also put Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman on the front page of the Life section of USA Today.I’m not only thrilled but also relieved that my book got ink in USA Today. This is because, in August, I was told that the paper would cover the book somehow. Of course, I didn’t take that as a guarantee, but did feel confident it would probably happen…so when I designed Bill the Boy Wonder promotional postcards, in August, I included USA Today on the “as seen in” list.Even if the book ultimately did not make it in, it would still not be a lie per se—or so I rationalized—because Boys of Steel had been in USA Today. If anyone asked, I would claim that “as seen in” referred not specifically to the Batman book but rather to me as an author. I’m glad this didn’t come to pass because no one would have believed me. Washington Post 12/23/12comics gift guide: 12 favorite reads of 2012 Number one, baby! (Disclaimer: They are not ranked qualitatively.)“Deftly, with care, give[s] Finger his due”
Thank you again to Michael Cavna, who also covered the book earlier this year.MTV Geekbest graphic novels of 2012Ditto thanks to Valerie Gallaher (and company), who ran perhaps the funniest Bill-related headlines of the year.Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books2012 Guide Book to Gift Books
“Meticulously researched”
Tabletbest kids’ books of 2012
“Fascinating”
Lastly, I’m flattered that the trailer for Bill the Boy Wonder made the list of “best Batman-themed picture book trailers of 2012.” (Disclaimer: this is a list of one, and self-generated.)
Thank you again, kind reviewers. And thank you also to readers, young and young at heart, who have privately given me equally humbling reviews of a book that has been so very special to me.
Shipping in October.
I'm honored to be among books by friends including Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown (Creepy Carrots!), Doreen Rappaport (Helen's Big World), Katherine Marsh (Jepp, Who Defied the Stars), Scott Magoon (Chopsticks), Tad Hills (Rocket Writes a Story), Raina Telgemeier (Drama), Dan Santat (multiple titles vroom!), Marla Frazee (multiple woo-hoo!), and the late Ellen Levine (Henry's Freedom Box).
Sometimes a career highlight can be summed up in only three letters.
When I heard that TED, the prestigious conference devoted to “ideas worth spreading” in the areas of technology, entertainment, and design, was holding its first-ever talent search across the globe, I hastily submitted my one-minute video pitch on Bill Finger and the tragedy of superhero creators. (It ran a bit over, which would be the beginning of a pattern with me.)
That was in April. In late May, long past the time I thought decisions had been made, I got a surprising email. Of the hundreds who nominated themselves, I was one of 30 chosen to give a short TED talk in New York on June 7.
I travel the country (and, of late, the world) speaking to audiences of all kinds. I love doing it and I rarely get the jitters beforehand.
This was not the case with TED.
Perhaps only TED can make someone nervous about telling a story he has lived and breathed—and shaped and spoken on—for five years.
Part of the reason TED amplifies anxiety is obvious: it is on a world stage. But the biggest part of the reason is that the talks are timed…and you will be cut off.
Speakers could choose a talk length between two and six minutes, but TED said the shorter the better. I went with three minutes.
If there was no fixed time, and instead they’d simply said “Just give a short talk,” I would have been much more comfortable. But it was the fear of being cut short that threw me. So I prepared a talk that could be delivered in just under three minutes…if I didn’t screw up.
At rehearsal I screwed up.
But after, TED curator Chris Anderson and Director of Content Kelly Stoetzel graciously said that it would be okay if I ran a bit over now that they’d heard my approach. In other words, since they knew I would not run, say, three minutes over, I had the leeway to run 30 seconds over.
As for my screwing up, I am not making excuses…except for these two:
1) My afternoon rehearsal took place in the middle of Joe’s Pub in New York while what felt like 50 crew moved equipment around us frantically trying to get everything set up for the live event that evening.
2) I thought that the talk we prepared should be just a teaser since most TED talks I’ve seen are close to 20 minutes. I didn’t realize till the day of that we were expected to present a full, if succinct, talk. That last-minute recalibration also threw me a bit.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I knew one of the other speakers: writer Joshua Prager, who entered my field of vision with his riveting Wall Street Journal piece on what happened to the royalties for the classic picture book Goodnight Moon. (Go read it.) Josh was one of the evening’s highlights and I am going on record to say he will get invited to TED 2013.
Because that’s what this salon was about: finding new blood for the next Big One. A follow-up email from TED explained that fewer than 10% of TED speakers from this talent search would be so honored.
three photos above © TED; used under Creative Commons license
A TED tenet that I didn’t realize existed: ties are taboo for TED talks. Not outright banned but discouraged. At least two speakers who arrived in ties did not go on stage in them. TED = Ties Equal Dry.
My TED talk (which ended up running nearly a minute over):
Comments are being collected under the video of my talk on the TED (not YouTube) page, but only until 8/31/12, so please don’t delay in going there and letting them know if you think I would add something worthwhile to TED 2013 (with a more polished delivery, of course)!
I won’t screw up twice.
Publishers Weekly included Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman on its list of "Children's Galleys to Grab" at BookExpo America 2012.
PW: "[The book] unmasks Bill Finger, the unsung writer who helped dream up the caped crusader."
…Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. Twitter-unfriendly, but still on schedule for a 7/1/12 release.
On 11/22/11, I was thrilled to learn that the book was named a Junior Library Guild selection. (Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman also was, but I didn’t find out about that until the March prior to publication—in other words, four months later than this time!)
What this honor means, and could mean (graphic from the JLG site):
Batman’s in charge; I’m just the sidekick.
No, that's not the end of the sentence. PBS didn't name Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, though I'm sure given the chance, whatever they would've suggested would've been great.
What PBS did kindly do is name Boys of Steel a "best book for boys - middle readers."
I wonder if just having the word "boys" in the title is enough to merit such an honor? If so, my next book might be renamed Beach Read of Steel.
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman has been nominated for a 2010-2011 Prairie Pasque title (the one for grades 3-5), which is run through the South Dakota State Library. Another state I’d love to visit!
The kids vote and the winners are announced every April during National Library Week.
I was honored to learn that Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman is one of the titles nominated for the 2011 Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Awards for grades 3-5. New Orleans is high on my list of places to visit. Maybe I'll hitch a ride by holding on tight to Superman's cape. Thank you, LA!
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman has been nominated for the 2011 Garden State Children's Book Awards in the non-fiction category. Thank you, New Jersey!
I'm honored that Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman (the first standalone biography about writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, the young minds behind the world's first superhero) was selected for the 2009-2010 Read On Wisconsin program.
Here is the notification letter from the office of First Lady of Wisconsin Jessica Doyle:
I came across another drop of goodness in America's Dairyland; the youth services librarian of the Matheson Memorial Library in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, kindly blogged the following about the book:
"Discuss cataloging of Boys of Steel by Nobleman. Biography—but then which person? Nonfiction—741s?"
In two earlier posts I discussed this issue and am thrilled anytime I am reminded that it's not a discussion of one! I have urged librarians to place it in Biography (and since "Siegel" and "Shuster" are so close alphabetically, it's almost as if it's being shelved under both simultaneously!).
Several posts later at that same link, the Matheson librarian lists Boys of Steel as a newly acquired title at her library, annotating it with this: "Of course, everybody else has their copy of this already..."
Everybody? Would that it were so! But a humbling supposition and one I'll take as a good omen.
Kind readers in Utah, Rhode Island, Ohio, and Arizona have nominated Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman for state book awards:
I have not yet been to Utah.
I opened my email this morning and discovered I had been awarded the Humane Award! I would like to thank Donna Shepherd for this award.
The Humane Award honors certain bloggers who are kindhearted individuals who regularly support blogs with their sweet comments. They have tastefully done blogs that are updated on a regular basis.
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman was named a Notable Children's Book 2009 (middle readers category) by the Association for Library Service to Children.
According to the announcement on Booklist, "[l]ibrarians throughout the U.S. helped to select the titles from the several thousand children’s books published during 2008."
A year ago today, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman was released.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the book by purchasing it, borrowing it from the library, spreading the word about it, attending one of my speaking engagements, and all other ways super and small.
Most comics fans didn't need Boys of Steel to learn who created Superman—the names if not the details. One of the most rewarding aspects of promoting this book has been watching kids (with teachers, librarians, and parents alongside them) discover the story for the first time. At numerous events over the past year, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster have gone from unfamiliar to household names.
A discovery I made recently: Boys of Steel is one of the select group of titles recommended by James Patterson's Read Kiddo Read (the ages 6 and up category). Here's the site's description of the program:
James Patterson has been the number-one selling author in America for the past three years, with more than 16 million books sold in North America during 2007 alone. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children's lists.
Patterson is a champion of reading and for several years sponsored the James Patterson Pageturner awards, which rewarded people and organizations that spread the excitement and joy of books and reading. Through this and other efforts he has given millions of dollars to people and causes that are working to spread the joy and excitement of reading. READKIDDOREAD—which helps parents and educators connect their children with the books that will turn them into lifelong readers—is his latest innovation in this area.
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman was named a 2009 Capitol Choices title (ages 7 to 10 category). Since 1996, this Washington DC-based group of librarians, teachers, booksellers, children’s literature specialists, reviewers, and magazine editors have annually highlighted "noteworthy books for children and teens."
I'm humbled to report that Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman made the Children's Choices 2009 list. Here is how the list is described on the International Reading Association site:
A booklist with a twist! Children themselves evaluate the books and write reviews of their favorites. Since 1974, Children’s Choices have been a trusted source of book recommendations used by teachers, librarians, parents—and children themselves. The project is cosponsored by IRA and the Children’s Book Council.
Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman was one of 75 children's books (out of an estimated 6,000 published last year) to be named an American Library Association Notable Book of 2009.
The two most prestigious awards in children's publishing are the Newbery (given to an author for excellence in writing, almost always a novel) and the Caldecott (given to an artist for excellence in illustration, almost always a traditional picture book).
For several months, librarians, bloggers, and assorted others have been posting speculative lists about who could win these awards. The American Library Association gives the awards and will announce the actual recipients on Monday, January 26.
One of the speculators, Scripps Howard News Service, broke its lists into "top contenders" and "other contenders." With regard to the Caldecott, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman (smashingly illustrated by Ross MacDonald) made the second list.
While I am far from a defeatist, the competition is exceptional and, based on the top contenders on the majority of the lists, I know we won't cinch it. However, it is an honor to be speculatively nominated!
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Great to hear! Keep spreading the word, Marc!