Batman writer gets his due
In comics, Batman was born in Crime Alley, when Bruce Wayne saw the lives of his parents come to an end during a robbery gone wrong.
In real life, however, Batman was born in the Bronx. And his creators — cartoonist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger — would meet at Poe Park to discuss the character that would become the caped crusader.
On a chilly Friday morning recently, a crowd of around 100 friends, family and fans of Batman gathered to celebrate a comic-book milestone: the south corner of East 192nd St. and Grand Concourse Ave. was renamed Bill Finger Way. It was the latest acknowledgment of Finger’s role in bringing life to one of the most successful comic characters ever, a contribution suppressed for more than 75 years. “The irony here is that even though the creation itself is famous and iconic, the creator is obscure,” Councillor Ritchie Torres said. “Our goal is to change that.”
Finger was born in Denver on Feb. 8,1914. His family moved to the Bronx during the Great Depression. Despite having helped create one of the most enduring characters in the world, the writer died in 1974, penniless and alone. Marc Tyler Nobleman is well versed in this episode of comic book lore. His championing of credit for Finger is chronicled in the Hulu documentary Batman & Bill, released earlier this year.
“Bob Kane drew only a fraction of the stories — and for only the first few years — and did not write a single Batman story in his life,” Nobleman said.
Superman had come out just the year before, and publishers were looking for more heroes. Kane had an idea for one, then known as Bat-Man. He turned to Finger, whom he employed as a ghostwriter on a couple of comic strips. Kane’s initial concept had a figure in a red suit with a small mask and stiff wings. Finger darkened the costume, suggested a cowl with pointed ears and replaced the wings with a scallopedged cape. It was a hit. Kane went on his own to National Comics Publications, the forerunner of DC Comics, with the concept and kept full credit. Finger’s contributions would not be publicly known until 1965, when a determined fan, Jerry Bails, realized that Bob Kane could not possibly be writing and drawing every Batman story on his own. Bails researched and produced a two-page mimeographed article which finally gave Finger credit. (His other additions to the Batman mythos include naming Bruce Wayne, the Batmobile and Gotham City.)
Kane denied the claims until1989, when he admitted in his autobiography, Batman and Me, written with Tom Andrae, that Finger did not receive the recognition he deserved. Kane died in 1998.
Nobleman’s doggedness in his quest included calling all 500 people in the search results of Florida residents with the last name of Finger, before finding the writer’s granddaughter Athena Finger. He felt an heir would be critical to getting DC Comics to change the Batman credit, though she had already been discouraged by previous efforts to make it happen.
On Sept. 18, 2015, DC Entertainment announced an agreement with the family that recognized Bill Finger’s contributions to the Batman family of characters. The next month, the credit line “Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger” began to appear on comic books. It was also included in the 2016 film Batman v Superman and in this year’s Justice League.