Batman & Bill Page #8

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I had that moment with Charles,

I had that moment with Lyn,

but those things filled in gaps.

They didn't completely

change the story.

We are en route to

see Athena Finger,

the only heir to Bill Finger.

This would be

a big shake-up.

If the credit line

to Batman was changed

after 72 years,

that would be a big deal,

and that would

actually be a first.

I can't think of

another comics character

whose credit line

has been changed.

- Hello... hey!

- Hey!

- How are you?

- How are you?

- Good, how are you?

- Good!

- And here's Bruce Wayne!

- That's Bruce Wayne!

How you doing?

I found out about Bill Finger

and his association with Batman

at an early age,

and I knew that my father

was excited and thrilled

about what his

father had created

with the Batman storyline,

and how he made it

what we love today.

Marc had found me,

and he explained

what he had been doing

and shared a bunch

of information

that he had found

that I didn't know

about Bill's family

and things like that.

She said to me, you know,

"I never knew my grandfather.

I was born two

years after he died,

so you could probably

tell me more about him

than I can tell you,

but I'm very interested

in hearing what

you have to say."

Bill used to keep copious notes.

He had gimmick books

where he would jot down

an idea that he

would use in the future,

- and a lot of it was...

- It was kind of exciting,

but it also was upsetting.

It brought up a lot

of this old stuff

that had been going on before...

around my father's death

and around my

grandfather's death,

and just how everything

was not really

in its proper place.

I told you that I found

an interview with your dad.

- Yes.

- And I have it.

Oh, you have it!

He had to write a lot of stories

in order to make

any kind of money.

He would get together

with a couple of

the other writers...

And I didn't know yet

that there was so much

trauma in the family.

It wasn't just a story of a girl

who never knew her grandfather.

It was also a story of a girl

who had issues with her father.

I haven't seen my

dad in, like, forever.

My parents split when

I was three and a half,

so I didn't grow up with my dad.

I only got to see him

maybe a couple times a year.

It was really like,

if we went to New York,

we would go to the restaurant

that he was working

at and have dinner,

or he might come

up to Massachusetts

and spend a couple days.

It wasn't like I

had extended amounts

of time with him,

which kind of sucked,

because I only had him

for such a short amount of time.

I was married six years.

I just understood

that he was bisexual

from the day that I met him,

and it wasn't a situation

that needed to be spoken of.

It was something

that we both understood

and accepted.

I learned that Fred

was HIV positive

the summer after I

was in the fourth grade,

so that's, what, 10?

I spent a week with

him during the summer,

and he and I were at

the beach in Long Island,

and he's like, "I

got to talk to you."

So he was explaining,

"This is what's going on,

and we don't know

how long I have."

And then when he

came to visit us

right before he passed away,

he was teeny-tiny,

just skin and bones.

I mean, he was down to nothing.

When he came to visit

near the real end of his life,

we asked him not to leave.

How did he respond,

what did he say?

He said, "I have to go back.

I have to die in New York."

That year was rough.

Being 15 at the time,

not quite an adult,

but had to deal

with real adult issues,

and I was very angry

about a lot of things.

And then, when he passed

away two months later,

I wasn't included,

I wasn't informed,

I wasn't...

I just was excluded

from everything.

I was really upset about it,

very angry about it

because I was his only child

and I should have been

there and I wasn't.

AIDS was still very new

and stigmatized

and scary.

There was a lot of comfort

being with people who are

experiencing the same thing

and he created

a family of friends

that were there

when it got tough.

So New York was where

he really had to be,

he felt.

I still don't have closure.

I was excluded from everything.

I really was.

Sorry.

I wasn't even there

to spread his ashes.

I don't even know where he is.

When Marc Nobleman called me,

I said to him, "I'm not sure

that this is beneficial

to our family welfare,

for this to be

brought up again."

We tried our hardest to do

something about it in the past.

I mean, I love Fred and

I wanted credit for Bill,

but we had spent years trying

to get the credit for him.

Fred really just wanted

his father to have recognition.

It was very important

for Fred to validate

the existence of his father

and his artistic talents

and he gave it his best.

I never went to DC,

Fred went to DC alone,

but I understand the way

that it was dealt with.

They treated you

like you were family

but gave you nothing

in return for it.

Anything to make you

feel comfortable

but they were keeping

everything for themselves.

After about the third attorney,

Fred just said, "We just need to

stop this, Bonnie, and go on."

So Fred never got to see

his father get, on the screen,

"Co-creator

William Finger."

The tradition in our

family, unfortunately,

is being excluded

from everything.

There is this sense

of not being acknowledged,

of what I'm part of

and who my family was.

I remember in the third grade

we had to do this

book on our lives,

so I included the information

about my grandfather

and his involvement

with Batman and stuff

and people wouldn't believe me

or they questioned me.

So for a long time

I kept quiet about it,

especially after my

father passed away.

I always kind of referred to

it as, like, the dark cloud

that hung over my head

because it was

something that I knew

that needed to be corrected,

just didn't know

which avenue to take.

So it was always, like, looming.

I wasted no time

in telling Athena

that I would be

disappointed in myself

if I didn't tell you

that this is your birthright

and I thought for a year

that nobody could ever do

anything about this credit line,

and I'm going to

write this book,

but if we want a shot at

changing that credit line,

it has to be you."

I had been told for a long time

that it was kind of a dead issue

and I shouldn't really pursue it

and I should just let it be,

and it would take tons of money

and, like, all

these other excuses

of why I shouldn't pursue

adding Bill's credit.

I encouraged Athena

to contact DC

and at first she was

not keen on that.

She was a young mom

with a career and a life

and she said, "Of course

I've thought about this,

but this is too daunting.

I mean, where do

you even start?"

It took some

convincing of Marc to,

"Athena, go, talk to them.

Call this person."

I'm like, "Eh, I don't know."

Like, I was really hesitant.

I didn't know what to expect.

But as soon as I spoke to them,

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