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By:
Heidi MacDonald,
on 2/11/2016
Blog:
PW -The Beat
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For decades, Bob Kane was the only person credited for the creation of the Batman. However, as Nobleman argued at 92Y, Bill Finger was the man who did most of the work.
On the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda, MD is a quotation that could have been the subtitle for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. (What? The one I ended up using is long, too.)
A review recently in for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Creator of Batman contains some choice comments:
MTN (all the cool people go by their initials, RDJ, JGL, JCP) writes the book in a large picture book format seemingly gearing it towards younger children yet it’s mood, story and historical content will appeal to much older readers.
[Nobleman] and Templeton (or TT)…are simply trying to right a wrong done to a humble, creative genius of a storyteller. There is hope in this tale. Perhaps by aiming to a young audience and appealing to the adult fans, the story of unsung heroes like Finger will inspire others to stand up for the silent ones.
I was surprisingly moved despite the children’s book style and format. You may have passed on it because of that but you should really check it out. Nobleman is very passionate about this and it comes through in his story. Templeton is an inspired choice as illustrator. I’m recommending this as a buy. Not just a buy but also a give. Yes, give this book to a casual fan.
By the way, I had to look up those initials.
Robert Downey, Jr.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Have No Idea.
The first round of sketches Ty Templeton did for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman contained a striking piece that unfortunately did not make it into the book.
It’s art to accompany the brief account of Batman’s origin, and though the tragedy of young Bruce Wayne’s parents is expressed in the text, I felt showing it so graphically would make the book a challenge to read aloud in schools.
Published here for the first time (unless it’s already been on Ty’s blog and I missed that!), the first proposed sketch for the origin scene:
Final art from the book:
One of the things that Bill Finger, star of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, was known for was including larger-than-life everyday objects in his scripts.
At BookExpo America 2010, I was thrilled to see a 10x10 foot typewriter in the booth of Abrams Books (to promote the book Monumental: The Reimagined World of Kevin O’Callaghan):
I contacted the Kevin, hoping there would be an opportunity to borrow/rent his titanic typewriter for a Bill the Boy Wonder promotional event in New York. While oversized cool, the typewriter alone would not be enough.
We’d need a Batman as well. And I knew just the one: inspired by the Mego dolls of the 1970s…AKA 68% of my childhood
I didn’t hear back, and no such event materialized, but the vision persists in my mind.
...this:
And is therefore aqua cool. (“Super” cool = so overused.)
The title of my post way back on 7/21/08, five months after I launched this blog, was “‘New’ Bill Finger photo 1 of 9.”
But there were no subsequent posts unveiling photos 2-9.
Until now.
(Less three I published in Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, plus one I have found since.)
Bill (standing) at the (second) wedding of his friend Charles Sinclair, 1964
The title of my post way back on 7/21/08, five months after I launched this blog, was “‘New’ Bill Finger photo 1 of 9.”
But there were no subsequent posts unveiling photos 2-9.
Until now.
(Less three I published in Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, plus one I have found since.)
Bill and son Fred, Bronx Zoo, 1951 or 1952Tune in tomorrow to see the sixth and final glimpse of Bill that has never been published.
The title of my post way back on 7/21/08, five months after I launched this blog, was “‘New’ Bill Finger photo 1 of 9.”
But there were no subsequent posts unveiling photos 2-9.
Until now.
(Less three I published in Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, plus one I have found since.)
Bill (right) with sister-in-law Irene Flam,
Ellis Epstein (Bill’s wife Portia’s grandfather),
and James Epstein (Bill’s father-in-law), 1950s
Tune in for the next two days to see two more glimpses of Bill that have never been published.
The title of my post way back on 7/21/08, five months after I launched this blog, was “‘New’ Bill Finger photo 1 of 9.”
But there were no subsequent posts unveiling photos 2-9.
Until now.
(Less three I published in Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, plus one I have found since.)
Bill with his first wife Portia, son Fred, and Portia’s father James, 1949
Tune in for the next three days to see three more glimpses of Bill that have never been published.
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.
No Bob Kane defenders here!
Thanks for having me on, Chris (@theisb)!
One morn, I got an e-mail from Vistaprint announcing that, for that day only, you could order some promotional items for no charge.
This is why I am now the proud (and, in some cases, temporary) owner of the following Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman collectibles:
note pad
rectangular labels
rectangular stickers
circular envelope seals
window decal
vertical vinyl banner
lawn sign
car door magnet (which I have renamed file cabinet magnet)
Plus I had already ordered oval labels that I use as bookplates:
One of these is not like the others...
Go Barnes & Noble picture-book-nonfiction-friendly bookseller!
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.
Phil Yeh became my friend after an interview I conducted with him in 2008. I conducted an interview with him because he was instrumental in bringing attention to the plight of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the 1970s.
And now he’s done something for another undercredited Golden Age great, our very own Bill Finger:
Uncle Jam #102 (summer 2013)
He profusely apologized for misspelling my first name.
I am especially forgiving to anyone who devotes ink to Bill Finger.
Thank you, Phil, for fighting the noble fight on behalf of comics creators for going on 40 years.
On 6/5/13, I went to a Maryland wax museum, but not one in the traditional sense. That is because the wax figures were really human beings—third grade human beings doing a class project.
And one, I’m heartened to report, chose to be Bill Finger.
In fact, he may be the first person ever to play Bill Finger. But there will be others.
As this young man delivered his short monologue as Bill, I unabashedly teared up. This is why I wrote Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.
And this is the second time I’ve heard of a young person portraying a superhero creator I’ve written about.
I’m sure there are others…and if you know of any, please let me know.
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.
Just as personalities can be encoded with patterns even the person possessing the personality doesn’t realize, writing styles can, too.
Both of my superhero picture books, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, take a similar approach on the second page: they use the rule of threes. (This is often associated with humor, but can be used in other ways as well.)
(The previous page teases that Jerry Siegel, Superman writer,
was with his friends when at home rather than school;
this page is the surprise reveal.)
The rule of threes in and of itself is not the pattern I’m pointing out—lots of writers use it, of course. The pattern is using the rule of threes on the second page. (Normally I would reserve the word “pattern” for three or more instances, but…okay, head starting to spin.)
I didn’t notice I’d repeated this tactic until after the second book was out. Because I didn’t do it consciously, I probably can’t explain it satisfactorily. It may be as simple as this: it’s a handy device to quicken the pace, which works especially well toward the beginning of a story because it tugs readers in via a rhythm.
Later in both books, I refer back to the threesome. In Boys of Steel, it reiterates the list—twice, actually:
In Bill the Boy Wonder, I refer back less specifically: Let’s see if I end up using the rule of threes on the second page a third time.
Head spinning faster now.
Ty Templeton, artist magnifico of numerous stories including Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, permitted me to show sketches of cover ideas for the book.
1/21/11:
Including notes by Ty.
These were homages to early Batman comics. While I liked that idea on one level, ultimately I wanted our book iconography to stand on its own—to avoid referencing existing images. I also didn’t want to represent Bill as Batman himself. Though there are parallels (life in the shadows, namely), it seemed inconsistent with the tone of the story. Bill is the hero of the story, but not quite heroic; his fatal flaw is a lack of self-defense—emphatically not Batman-esque.
3/7/11:
I loved the angled, almost subtle silhouette. But I felt the cover overall was too colorful for Batman. I specifically did not like orange. I also did not prefer vertical type treatment for our names.
8/21/11:
Dramatic improvement in color. But I wanted my name and Ty’s to be on equal footing. And I wanted the subtitle, which contains the most marketable word on the cover, to be higher. Also, the bow tie seemed too twee; besides, several I asked said Bill did not wear them.
9/6/11:
Names look much better. Bow tie gone but top-buttoned shirt not much less twee.
10/24/11:
Finally we get a bat! And a loose collar! But the red is Superman, not Batman. I asked for purple to match the original color of Batman’s gloves.
The winner:
One of my last steps in writing a picture book is go through and find areas where I can cut text. Yes, that is a writing step. Because I’m not cutting meaning. I’m merely eliminating redundancy in instances where the art can show rather than the words tell.
Here are examples from Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman:
The name of the pivotal character is revealed in the picture. Technically, it is done with words, but the words are part of the art.
The text says that Bill snuck his son Fred into the American Museum of Natural History, but doesn’t say how. This means kids must look to the art for the info, and they love figuring it out.
“Fitting shape” is deliberately vague. It forces the eye to the picture where the impact is greater than if I’d simply stated that Fred arranged the ashes into a bat.
Soon after Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman came out in 2008, I posted what I called a “tour” of the book, pointing out details, tricks, and other Easter eggs that even astute readers might otherwise miss.
Here is the tour for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.
As is typical for contemporary picture books, the pages aren’t numbered. (Publishers fear that could turn off readers by calling attention to their relatively short length.) So I’ll reference pages by their first few words.
Get your copy of the book and follow along...
“Every Batman story…” (inside front cover)
backstory – I originally envisioned this text (both white and yellow) as a teaser/cold open on the page before the title page. It’s still before the title page…
“After Milton Finger graduated…”
design – This image is a (rotated) close-up of the scene on the title page. See little Bill?
never-published information – Bill’s given name was Milton; Bill graduated high school in 1933.
design – I wanted the three “secret identity” starbursts throughout the book to be consistent in color scheme (happened) and size (did not).
backstory – The “first secret identity” line was intended to be a hook. People reading a book about a superhero would not be surprised to see mention of a secret identity (singular)…but it would be unusual for someone to have more than one.
“Bill loved literature…”
design – Throughout the book, Ty depicts Bill in blue and Bob in yellow. Bill liked to wear blue Oxford shirts. And the yellow stands for…
“That weekend he sketched…”
design – I love the scene in the first panel but felt the apartment looked too grand for a young artist in New York. I was (peaceably) overruled. Similarly, I felt the sidewalk in the second panel was too wide, but creative license won that one. In early drafts of the manuscript, I described the look of Bob’s character and first gave the name “Bat-Man” in the text, but once I started to lay out the book in my mind, I saw that these reveals would have greater impact if instead we showed them in the art.
“Wings aside…”
design – We deliberately showed only parts of Batman rather than the whole for two reasons. First, delayed gratification: the later it comes, the greater the effect. Two, we had to be selective about showing characters owned by DC Comics: the fewer, the better.
attention to detail – That bat is a reproduction of how the drawing really looked in the 1937 Webster’s Dictionary, which would’ve been the most current edition when Bill and Bob were building Batman in 1939. (The fish, a bass, is also authentic.)
“In April 1939…”
attention to detail – The image is based on a period photo of a newsstand. The comic covers are ones that would have been on the newsstand at approximately the same time as Detective Comics #27 (Batman’s debut). This is the first “full” appearance of Batman in the book, though I consider it too small to count.
“Bill and Bob would sit in Poe Park…”
attention to detail – This image is based on period photographs of Poe Park.
“Though Bill had wanted Bat-Man…”
design – The sentence starting “Bat-Man became Batman…” makes sense in print, but requires elaboration/clarification when read aloud.
design – This marks the second appearance of Batman, though only his head on a comic book cover. Still no big splash.
“Almost immediately Bob hired…”
attention to detail – Those two guys standing in the background are Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who were friends with Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson (seated).
design – This is an example of taking advantage of the medium of picture books. The fact that Bill and Jerry played darts is not significant to the larger story, but it is visually interesting so it became the setting for the information conveyed in the accompanying text. Otherwise it could’ve been another scene of guys at a desk.
“But Bill stuck…”
attention to detail – The phrase “superstitious, cowardly hearts of criminals” is a nod to Detective Comics #33, which first presents the origin of Batman and in which Bruce Wayne says “Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts.”
backstory – No gun is visible on purpose, though the threat is still evident.
“Steadily, silently, Bill built…”
attention to detail – In the first sketches, Batman did not appear in this scene because the text is about Batman’s sidekick and villains.
“Other comics creators…” attention to detail – When I first saw the sketch in which both the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings are visible, I said I didn’t think that there was a ground-level vantage point (even with the lower skyline of the 1940s, when this scene took place) from which such a view existed. Upon seeing images like the one below and thereby learning I was wrong, we situated the scene on East 30th Street in an attempt at authenticity. backstory – I did not want the inset showing Bill shaking an editor’s hand, for two reasons. One, we already had a handshake image (Kane and editor Vin Sullivan) and I felt including a second one would dilute the (tragic) significance of the first. Two, I doubt it happened. I would guess that an editor simply called Bill to ask for a story, and it was as unceremonious as that. I was overruled, and it was okay. attention to detail – The gimmick book examples came from published sources and the astounding memory of Charles Sinclair.
“In 1948 Bill and his wife…” never-published information – Bill nicknamed his son Fred “Little Finger.” attention to detail – The ticket window is based on several period photographs. design – Originally, the text specified the way Bill snuck Fred into the museum, but after we began discussing art, it became clear to me that it would be more fun to reveal the trick in the art.
“While his son…” backstory – The quotation “I’d like to return to the innocence of my childhood” was not essential, but I included it because it comes from the only known instance of Bill being mentioned/quoted in a mainstream publication (The New Yorker, 1965) in his lifetime.
“Bill was fond of writing…” attention to detail – The size of the plug seems disproportionately small compared to the size of the fork and plate, but we’d already gone through several sketches to get the trajectory of Batman popping out of the toaster seem plausible (ha) so the size concern was one I had to let go. attention to detail – If I had not caught that the absence of Batman on the earlier spread featuring the supporting characters/villains would seem like a goof, this would have been the first full-on appearance of Batman in the book.
“To get his stories…” attention to detail – This desk scene is, unbelievably, perhaps, based on a 1940s photograph of Bill’s workspace. Yes, I went from being told only two photos of Bill exist to having not only 11 photos but also one of his writing desk. attention to detail – That unassuming little paperweight is not just an illustrator flourish.
“During the first twenty-five years…” attention to detail – Here is the page from the 1943 story in which Bill’s name appears…sort of. Look carefully...“In 1964 that changed…” backstory – Ty Templeton made up the blue-armored figure partially visible behind Julie Schwartz. I did not know this until after the book came out. I would have pushed for a glimpse of a known character, but I understand Ty wanting to limit potential intellectual property claims.
“The next summer…” backstory – I wanted either Bill to be wearing a tie or one other panelist not to be because I felt Bill could come off as shlubby if he were the only one that casual. I was overruled.
“Jerry also did his own…” attention to detail – The print over Bill’s desk…was a print over Bill’s desk. Thanks (again) to Charles Sinclair for injecting even more accuracy.attention to detail – The image of “If the Truth Be Known…” looks that way because this scene takes place in 1965, when photocopies did not exist but mimeographs did in all their smudgy purple glory.
“Bill’s final Batman…” never-published information – Bill’s death date (previously reported as January 24).
design – The “Come Monday” construct calls back to the first historic “Batman weekend” (1939).
“Now grown…” never-published information – Bill was cremated; Fred spread his ashes on an (Oregon) beach in an apropos shape. (You have to see this.) “In Bob’s later years…” design – I did not think we needed the “Bob Kane” credit box there to identify him, and in fact worried it might be confusing, but was overruled.
“Jerry Robinson had long wanted…” attention to detail – This image is based on a photograph of Jerry’s home office. I asked for the TV to show a still from the credits of the 1960s TV Batman show, though it’s been “modified to fit the screen.”
“It was named…” attention to detail – That’s Jerry again, with Mark Evanier. We sought permission to include the Comic-Con imagery.
“From Milton to Bill…” backstory – I normally don’t like asking questions in my text, but could not resist the penultimate line.
copy of guestbook (last page) never-published information – Through a fluke both sad and fortunate, this remnant of Bill still exists.
“Bill was the greatest…” (inside back cover) backstory – Two of these three quotations were not my original suggestions. I had used a quotation from Lyn Simmons, Bill’s second wife, and another by another associate of Bill’s, but neither of them appear in the story proper and my editor, Alyssa Mito Pusey, felt it would be better to quote characters the reader already knew. I was hesitant at first but came to see her point…and am so glad I did. I love it this way.
I love it all this way.
Thank you, Alyssa, Ty, Martha, and the veritable flash mob of others whose knowledge and talent combined to make this a book about which I am overflowing with pride.More Bill Finger secrets abound, if you know where to look...
Image from Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.Scarab from Bill the Boy Wonder, AKA Bill Finger.
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.
On 3/31/13, I had the honor of speaking about the mystery behind the majority creator of Batman at the Jewish Museum of Maryland.
They hosted the traveling Jews/superheroes exhibit, which includes a Bill Finger script that Jerry Robinson donated. The bio gets a few things wrong (starting with the city in which Bill was born), but the exhibit is fun.
Jerry Robinson
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For decades, Bob Kane was the only person credited for the creation of the Batman. However, as Nobleman argued at 92Y, Bill Finger was the man who did most of the work.
By: Marc Tyler,
on 4/10/2014
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This was a great article Mr. Lu! Thank you! And thanks to Marc Tyler Nobleman for a great book!
I do have one question though- I had read about and seen the red costume Kane did for Batman and the profound contributions of Bill Finger waaaaaaaay back in 1999 in an article by Arlen Schumer:
http://www.arlenschumer.com/images/stories/history_pdfs/BATMAN_coverstory.pdf
As far as I know that article was the very first mention of just how significant Bill Finger’s contribution had been to the very look and feel of Batman- and it had this great cover clearly illustrating what Batman would have looked like if not for Bill Finger, and an analysis of the whole thing.
In your article you write as if Mr. Nobleman’s book is the first mention of this in 2012- yet if you read Mr. Nobleman’s book it’s clear he took at least some inspiration from this article; most significantly in the red costume design- indeed it seems like Mr. Schumer’s article served as inspiration for Mr. Nobleman’s book.
So I’m curious why there is no mention of this cover image of the red Batman and this article from 1999? You talk about “Bill the Boy Wonder” as if that was the first mention of this in 2012- but I’d been aware of it more than 12 years prior to that book being published?
I’m curious because…in an odd way…it seems like Mr. Schumer got a bit of the “Bill Finger treatment”- no acknowledgment for a significant contribution to the fact that Bill Finger is now getting a credit in the movies and TV…
So my question is: does Mr. Nobleman have any documentation of the Bill Finger contributions to Batman that pre-date Mr. Schumer’s article from 1999?
If not, then doesn’t Mr. Schumer deserve at least a little credit for bringing the significance of Bill Finger’s contributions, and that illustration and analysis of a red Batman, to light for the public to see leading to the Bill Finger credits in other media?
I”m just curious.
Thanks again- it was a fantastic article!