Batman, one of the most beloved characters of the DC Comics universe, has been appearing in front of the audience with his numerous comics, movies and animations for many years. The reason why it has appeared in recent years is that its creator, Bob Kane, actually stole this idea from Bill Finger. Let’s take a closer look at the shocking details of this story based on Bill Finger’s heirs.
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 illustrator named Bill Finger, who had beaten the truth all his life and died penniless. Details of this story based on Bill Finger’s heirs let’s take a closer look.
Who is Bob Kane, whom we have known for years as the sole creator of Batman?
Born on October 24, 1915 in the United States and died there on November 3, 1998 Bob Kane 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?
Born on February 8, 1914 in the United States and died there on January 18, 1974. William “Bill” Finger is a comics 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. Claims based on this book however, 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.
As told by Bill Finger’s heirs, 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. Unheard of until this claim. Bill Finger; Other Gotham villains like Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Riddler that is, he is the person who created the world of Gotham as we know it. 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, Leonardo Da Vinci drawings and Inspired by a 1937 movie called The Bat Whispers He prepared the first drafts of The Bat-Man character. 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.
Aware that this character is not very interesting, Kane is the one he met a while ago. He called Bill Finger to ask for help with 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. Also inspired by The Phantom character He created the character of Batman 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. Then this character is in a unique city i.e. He decided to live in Gotham City. and in this context, the villains of Gotham 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. She doesn’t lead a glamorous life, she goes to work by bus, he was constantly taking notes in his notebook that would 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 made 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. However Bill Finger lives in a small apartment while Bob Kane plays with millions of dollars barely surviving by doing countless jobs. He was only known as one of the writers, not as the creator of Batman.
There were also those who noticed the situation:
Bill Finger, as an active writer, still continues to create Batman stories and develop this world. He was rarely known to fans. 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! Shamelessly, Bill Finger is much more respected than he deserves, his head is blurred, He said that if there was such a thing, we should have seen his signature as well.
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. It is no longer known why After the movie was released, Bob Kane admitted in an interview that he created the characters Batman and Joker 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 now the name Bill Finger deserves to be referred to as one of the creators of Batman. Of course Finger died heartbroken, miserable, and a disgraced writer. You can share your thoughts on the subject in the comments.