Batman & Bill Page #2
- Year:
- 2017
- 93 min
- 128 Views
We ordered our Cokes.
And Otto turns to me and Bob,
he said, "Boys, how
would you like to meet
the creator of Batman?"
And, like, our jaws dropped,
our eyes had to be wide open,
and we figured we were
going to meet Bob Kane,
which was the only
name we ever saw
on a comic book, it
was always in a box
with a big "O" for Bob.
And Otto said, "Fellas,
meet Bill Finger."
So in 1965 at this Comic Con,
in this dingy hotel in New York,
Bill Finger made what
is probably his first
and maybe his only
public appearance,
and he appeared on a panel
with three other
comics' creators.
At this panel,
Bill was introduced
by the moderator whose
name was Jerry Bails.
And perhaps we'll hear some...
Jerry was the fan,
who in 1964 or so,
figured out that it could not be
just this one guy, Bob Kane,
writing and drawing
every Batman story every month.
So Jerry did some
detective work of his own.
He wrote letters
"Who's really doing all this?"
And in those days, companies
would write you back
with a personal letter.
And the name that he saw
more than any other
was Bill Finger.
So in 1965, Jerry wrote
a two-page article
which was called
"If the Truth Be Known,"
And this was obviously
way before the internet,
so his way of spreading the word
was he made copies of
this and sent it out
to Batman fans all
over the country.
And that's when...
the controversy erupted.
Bill was given a forum
to tell his story
where we could
finally become familiar
with all these
characters and books
that he wrote over the decades.
It was the first thing
that, in writing,
really gave Bill Finger credit
for the co-creation of Batman,
and it was about time.
when Bob told his editor
that he would be able to
come up with a superhero
over the weekend,
he apparently did
go home that day
and work on a character
which he called "Batman."
Bob's idea for Batman
was a character
in a red union suit,
basically red tights,
a domino mask
which is a little mask
stiff wings
attached to the arms,
and, as far as we
know, nothing more,
no other
distinguishing elements.
And he had enough sense to know
that this was not good enough,
and he knew who to call.
Bill Finger.
They get together.
They're huddling
over this drawing,
and Bill looked at
the red suit and said,
"This is not suitable for
a creature of the night.
He's got to be
darker," so he said,
"Let's darken
the whole costume."
He looked at the
little mask and said,
"This is not going to
intimidate criminals.
Let's cover most of
his face with a cowl
and put pointed ears on it,
so that he actually
looks like his namesake.
The stiff wings
are not practical
for obvious reasons,
so let's ditch the wings
and give him a cape
with a scalloped edge
which will fly out behind him
and look like wings."
You set the tone of
this character's essence
from his visuals
before you know a thing
about his personality
and his mission.
So that was all Bill.
Bill reconstructed Batman
into the Batman that
we all know today.
Bob apparently
went to the company
on Monday morning
with this sketch.
Did not mention that there
was anyone else involved,
and said, "This is my idea."
I have been told, although
I've never been privy,
of course, to the contract,
that that contract included
specifically a stipulation
that Batman would
hereafter be listed
as the sole
creation of Bob Kane.
Bob went back to Bill
and presumably said,
"Great news, they
want to buy Batman,
so you'll write it
and I'll draw it,
and my name will be on it
because I sold it, of course,
and I'll give you a portion
of what I get paid."
Nothing was signed,
as far as we know,
but it was something that
they mutually agreed on.
So Bill was not credited
at all from the beginning,
and within a couple of months,
Batman was on the newsstands.
Batman debuted in '39
and, essentially,
it was from 1939 to 1965
where Bill was anonymous.
It's one thing for
Bob Kane in 1939
to take full credit for Batman
when Bill Finger agreed to it,
but where the story
changes dramatically
is in the '60s when
Bill is coaxed out.
At that point, Bob had
a decision to make.
"Am I going to own up to this
or am I going to deny it
from my position of power?"
He had a chance to take,
obviously, the high road
or the low road,
and he took the way low road.
When Jerry's article about
what Bill Finger had done
on Batman came out,
of course it made
Bob Kane go ballistic
the minute that he saw it,
so he went to the
editor of Batmania
and he wrote half a
dozen pages of diatribe.
Obviously, Bob Kane did not want
Bill Finger's story told
and took tremendous
offense at it.
"Here, for the first time,
straight from the horse's mouth,
is the real inside story
about myself and Batman.
It seemed to me that Bill Finger
has given out the impression
that he and not myself
created the 'Batman'
as well as Robin
and all the other leading
villains and characters.
This statement is fraudulent
and entirely untrue!"
There was one man's
word against the other.
There was no reality show
documenting the birth
of Batman, of course.
It was two guys in an apartment
in the Bronx in 1939
when most people had
much bigger things
to worry about
than who's coming up with
this guy dressed as a bat?
"The truth is that Bill
Finger is taking credit
for much more than he deserves,
and I refute much of his
statements here in print.
The fact is that I
conceived the 'Batman' figure
and costume entirely by myself.
I created the title, masthead,
the format and concept,
as well as the Batman
figure and costume."
I don't think that
Bob Kane ever wanted
anything out in writing
that would admit
that anybody else
had a hand in creating
anything for Batman.
His whole myth,
his contract with DC,
his name on the stories
all owed to the fact
that he was the
creator of Batman.
When Bob chose to respond
to Bill's coming out
by writing a letter
denying Bill's
involvement to that degree,
Bob was, in effect,
changing the course
of his life with this letter.
He was saying, "I'm
going to have to stick
to this story forever."
We're all born with a
natural creative potential.
Every man has it
and every woman.
The idea is to find
out what that is.
And it's like a
and whispers in your ear,
it's an intuitive thing.
No one can tell
you that but God.
And I knew I had that
when I was eight or ten
that I wanted to be
a famous cartoonist.
Bob Kane was a kid
from the Bronx,
and he was an artist
with big dreams.
He was a go-getter
and he was working
for the company that
which at that point was
called National Periodical.
Bob and Bill met at a party.
They didn't know each
other previous to that
even though they went
to the same high school.
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"Batman & Bill" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/batman_%2526_bill_3657>.
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