Beloved cultural icon Batman was solely created by that godfather of comic book heroes, Bob Kane, right? Wrong. Due to the intrepid efforts of Marc Tyler Nobleman as shown in the 2017 Hulu documentary, Batman & Bill about Nobleman’s book Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman we now know that Bill Finger, a virtually unknown writer from the late 1930s, created much of what we associate with and love about the Caped Crusader.[1]
As Batman grew in popularity in the 1960s due to the television show, Bill Finger protested that Bob Kane had stolen sole credit for the character. Sadly, Bill Finger died alone, in obscurity and poverty in 1974. If only Bill Finger had Deception And Truth Analysis (D.A.T.A.) on his side, the world would know that Bob Kane’s claims as sole creator of Batman, in place for over 75 years, were false.
Bill Finger’s Contributions to Batman
Most fans of Batman do not know that Bill Finger is responsible for:
- Batman’s cape, cowl, gloves, and the darker palette associated with the look of the hero
- Batman’s identity as Bruce Wayne
- The Batmobile and Batcave
- Gotham City
- The script for the original Batman comic book, Detective Comics #27, as well as the second script, and many more thereafter
- The scripts that introduced major characters such as The Joker, Catwoman, the Riddler, Two-Face, Scarecrow, and so on
Bill Finger, who?
So why don’t we know the name of Bill Finger equally with Bob Kane? The answer is that Bob Kane, the primary artist for Batman, vaingloriously stole the credit for the entirety of the creation and so it remained for 75 years (!) until DC finally acknowledged Bill Finger’s role in Batman starting in 2015. Kane negotiated a contract with National Comics (later DC) that signed away ownership of the character in exchange for a sole mandatory byline and the attendant monetary consideration.[2]
Big deal, right? Wrong! Due in large part to the overwhelming popularity of Batman as a character dating back to the 1960s, DC is now a billion dollar plus entertainment juggernaut and global phenomenon.
Bob Kane’s Letter to Batmania in 1965
When Bill Finger emerged in the late 1960s seeking his rightful portion of Batman’s monies, Bob Kane steadfastly denied the claims. Bill Finger was not alone in representing his share of the creation of his part of the Batman mythos. Many other writers who worked on Batman supported Finger’s claims. To address these, Bob Kane, presumed sole creator of the Caped Crusader, wrote a letter to fanzine Batmania dated 14 September 1965 to debunk Bill Finger’s claims.
D.A.T.A. has assessed for its level of deceptiveness the portions of the letter having to do with Bill Finger and found it scored -12.2%, which is about 1 to 2 standard deviations below the mean D.A.T.A. Score. Our scores range between -100%, deceptive, to +100%, truthful. In other words, we conclude that Bob Kane was being deceptive in his representations about Bill Finger.
As we mentioned above, Bill Finger died alone, in obscurity and in poverty, the victim of a multi-decade deception on the part of Bob Kane. D.A.T.A. could have provided a powerful assist in his claims for what was rightfully his; claims finally honored by DC in 2015 and now precede every Batman story.
[1]“Batman & Bill.” Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_%26_BillAccessed 14 June 2022
[2]“Bill Finger.” Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_FingerAccessed 14 June 2022
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