The Creators of Batman
The short answer is that Bob Kane and Bill Finger are the official and recognized creators of Batman. However, the whole story is more complex and involves a crucial struggle for authorship.
Bill Finger was officially recognized as co-creator of Batman by DC Comics in September 2015, more than 75 years after the character's first appearance and 41 years after his death.
This recognition was the result of a long campaign led by:
- Category: Comic book historians as Marc Tyler Nobleman (author of "Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.
- Finger's family, especially her granddaughter, Athena Finger, who fought for her grandfather's legal and moral rights.
- Public pressure of fans and media, who for decades echoed injustice.
Recognition became official just before the film's release Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). It is believed that Warner Bros. (DC Comics' parent company) wanted to avoid negative publicity and debate in the media around one of its biggest releases.
Batman's number one cover.
Where can you see this recognition?
As of 2015, the credit Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger (Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger) began appearing in:
- Category: Films such as ‘The Batman’ (2022) and ‘Flash’ (2023).
- TV series such as "Gotham" and "Titans".
- Category: Video games new and reissues.
- Comics y graphic novels reprinted.
Bill Finger was officially recognized in 2015, decades after his death, correcting one of the greatest injustices in comic book history. His name is now inextricably linked to Bob Kane's in the creation of the iconic superhero.
Injustice is not yet corrected
Actually Bob Kane, I bring little or nothing to the character, to say the least.
Your merit: have been the one who first ran to sign the contract, which recognized him as "the only creator"
Arnold Drake (comic book writer and co-creator of Doom Patrol) at a comic book convention. He said that Bob Kane was a complete and absolute fraud and is well documented, the image that Kane supposedly made is not even original, it was traced or stolen from a Flash Gordon panel by Alex Raymond.
In fact, much of the first issue was traced from other works of art, the story was stolen from an issue of The Shadow magazine.
The first sketch of Birdman which would then be Batman from Bob Kane, is a plagiarism of Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond.
Alvin Schwartz, a writer who worked on the Batman and Superman stories during the 1940s and 1950s (known as the "Golden Age" of comics). He was a direct witness to the common practices in Bob Kane's studio.:
Bob had reached the point where he was no longer drawing anything. He never drew anything in the Batman comics, anyway. [Sheldon] Moldoff was doing them all in secret and when he didn't, someone else did. The only thing I think Bob ever drew was when we were somewhere, in a restaurant or somewhere, and a pretty girl would come up to him and say, Are you really the man who draws Batman?
Then I could make a small sketch for her, a large sketch if she wore something low-cut and leaned over to see him draw.
One day I went to his house to talk about the idea of the newspaper strip we had and he was talking about who we could get to draw it. I was going to write it down and we were going to get someone else to draw it.
I'm not sure what Bob was going to do about it, except sign his name.
I said, Bob, aren't you disappointed you don't draw anymore? You were once a great artist. It wasn't, but you had to talk to Bob like that.
He said: ‘Oh, no. Let me show you something.’ He took me to a small room in his house. It was his studio. I didn't even know I still had a studio.
I was all set up with easels and stuff and there were paintings, paintings of clowns. You know what kind. Like the ones Red Skelton did. Only these tasteless portraits of clowns, all signed very large, ‘Bob Kane’. I was so proud of them.
He said: These are the paintings that are going to make me famous in the art world.
-«Batman was big business and these paintings will soon be in every gallery in the world.
I thought the Louvre was going to remove the Mona Lisa to put up their clown paintings. I didn't have the heart to tell him.
So a few months later, I was in DC and I ran into Eddie Herron. Eddie was another writer there and we started talking and Bob's name came out.
Eddie said, Have you heard? Bob is being sued by one of his ghost artists.
I said, How is it possible? Is Shelly Moldoff suing Bob? But they had a clear deal. Shelly knew she wasn't going to get credit or anything …’
Eddie said, ‘No, not Shelly’. Bob was being sued by the person who had painted him the clowns.
The quote appears in interviews and books documenting the story behind Batman. One of the most reliable records is the book "Batman Animated" (1998) by Paul Dini and Chip Kidd, where interviews with key collaborators of the character's story are collected. She was also quoted in documentaries and articles on the creation of Batman.
What did Bob Kane bring to Batman?
The phrase exposes a common practice in the industry of the time:
Bob Kane had a contract that guaranteed him to be the only one credited as a Batman artist, but over time he delegated, concealed the actual work from other ghost cartoonists.ghost artists), such as Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang, and Jerry Robinson, among others.
Kane focused on managing the brand and leveraging its public fame, while his "study" (other artists) did the heavy lifting. This was prevalent in the golden age of comics, where signatory creators often had anonymous teams behind them.
The importance of this: Kane was more of a entrepreneur that a hands-on artist in the stage after the initial creation of Batman.
It shows how the credit system in comics has historically been unfair, not only to writers like Finger, but also to artists who remained anonymous for decades.
It illustrates the irony that Kane sketched Batman only for fans at public events, while professional work was done by others.
Sheldon Moldoff, mentioned in the quote, was one of Kane's most important ghost artists. It wasn't until years later that DC Comics recognized his and others' contributions.
Contract and Immediate Appropriation (1939 – 1965)
The Key Contract: In 1939, Bob Kane, with his agent, negotiated a contract with National Comics (later DC Comics) naming him as the sole creator Batman. This contract guaranteed him perpetual credit in all Batman comics ("Batman created by Bob Kane") and, most importantly, royalties for any use of the character.
Bill Finger as "Ghostwriter": Finger was hired as a freelance writer. Received a payment per written page (some $15-$20 per page at the time), but received no credit, no copyright, no royalties. His name never appeared in the stories.
Kane's Narrative: Kane carefully constructed his public image as the unique genius behind Batman. Although he sometimes mentioned in passing that "a friend" had helped him, he always presented himself as the mastermind.
Silent Struggle and Bitter Recognition (1965 – 1974)
The First Public Complaints: In 1965, at a comic book convention, a fan asked Kane about the rumor that Bill Finger had had a great turnout. Kane, in front of the public, admitted for the first time in a somewhat clearer way Finger's contribution, saying something like: I'm glad you asked me that question … Bill Finger, who's sitting there, helped me.
Finger Breaks the Silence: That same year, the magazine 《Comic Book Artist》 He published an explosive interview with Finger where he detailed point by point all his fundamental contributions: The costume, the hood, Bruce Wayne, the Batcave, the Batmobile, and the creation of villains like the Joker and Catwoman.
A Little Victory: This interview was a pivotal moment for fans and historians to begin to know the truth. However, did not change your legal or financial situation. DC Comics did nothing, and Kane continued to receive all the credits and money. Finger died in 1974, poor and bitter, without having received justice.
The Work of Historians: After Finger's death, researchers and writers such as Marc Tyler Nobleman (author of the book "Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman") were dedicated to meticulously documenting his legacy and pressuring DC Comics.
The Family Campaign: Bill Finger's granddaughter, Athena Finger, took the flag of her grandfather's struggle and began a public and legal campaign to have her contribution recognized.
The Turning Point (2015): With the release of the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Warner Bros. Studio. (D.C. owner) wanted to avoid negative publicity for the rights dispute. Just before the release of the film, in September 2015, DC Comics officially announced that Bill Finger would be credited as co-creator of Batman in all future media, starting with the TV series "Gotham" and the 2022 film "The Batman".
A regrettable end: Batman's authorship was not a fight in life for Bill Finger, but a defeat. Bob Kane received all the credit and economic benefits from day one thanks to a contract that named him sole creator. Finger fought in life for recognition without success, dying in poverty and anonymity in 1974.
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