Batman & Bill Page #9

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they invited me up to come

and take a tour of the office

when it was still

in New York City,

which was very cool.

So then after that,

we went to the movie premiere

for "The Dark Knight"

and did the whole red carpet

and then the afterparty.

It was just like, "Woo!"

It was awesome.

It was a really amazing scene

seeing all these people

and it was like Hollywood.

Like, it was so

cool to be there.

Like, "Oh my gosh,

I'm a part of this."

And then they just kept

inviting me to things.

You know, just really

accepting and, like,

"Please, join in."

PR people got in touch with me

and informed me that they were

going to pay for the room

and fly me and

my friend out here.

I get to play movie star

for a little while.

The whole thing was very fast.

Finding the heir and then DC

being quite cooperative

about the whole process.

I was very surprised

by how that all happened.

They were very generous

and they did send me

a bonus sum of money

for the movie.

It said, you know,

"This is," you know,

"for his contributions."

You know, "We're so glad that

you're part of the family now."

So I was like,

"Oh, this is nice."

The term "Thank you payment,"

it's a case where a

company writes a writer

or an artist a check

and says, "We're giving you this

because you contributed

something or other

to this character."

I guess that's the kind of

thing that the companies

have wanted to do

in the last few decades

as the things got to be

really big business.

There's so much money involved

and nobody wants

a lot of lawsuits.

So it just makes a lot of sense

giving a few thousand dollars,

$10,000 or $20,000 to somebody.

You know, somewhere between

creator credit and hush money.

The Bill Finger story

has a number of imperatives.

There's the cultural

side of this,

there is the moral side of this,

there is the

financial side of this.

How much is Batman worth now?

A gob!

What are you talking about?

It's movies,

it's toys, it's pajamas,

it's cartoons, it's comi...

I mean, it's a vernacular.

You say "Batman" to a grandma...

This is the greatest brand...

"Batman," grandma

knows through attrition.

When you open a comic

book, there it says,

"Created by Bob Kane."

When you see the movies, it

says, "Created by Bob Kane."

Correcting that is something

that terrified everybody,

I think, for decades

because correcting that

isn't just a simple matter

of putting Bill Finger's

name onto Batman.

It also opens up the floodgates

to a massive conglomerate

for potential revenue tapping.

DC Comics is one spoke

in the massive operation

that is Warner Brothers,

which is underneath Time Warner.

So, I mean, it's a huge

media company, of course,

and Batman is one of

the biggest money makers

in fiction, period.

So DC was under

the umbrella of Warner Brothers

but as soon as we got

to "The Dark Knight Rises,"

Warner Brothers

was really overseeing

all of the corporate side.

Which brings me into in 2012

when "The Dark Knight

Rises" came out

and I got an email

saying, you know,

"We would like to have

you sign this document

so that we can cut you a check,

so sign it and please return."

But the gist of it

was they wanted me

to terminate my rights

to any kind of claim.

They wanted me to close the door

on Bill getting any

kind of credit.

They were trying

to make me quiet.

Yeah, right?

- So is this for you?

- Yes, please.

Alex or Alex...

- Alex.

- Okay.

I had this blind faith all along

that I would see the book

through to publication.

Although, believe me,

there were plenty of roadblocks

and obstacles.

So getting the book out

was a huge accomplishment;

just to see any book through

is something I'm proud of.

The book came out in 2012

and with it came a

chance to talk about Bill

in an arena that was

even bigger than a book.

Secret identities

are for superheroes,

not the guys behind them.

I had the chance

to do a TED Talk.

Bill Finger's life

ended tragically,

but his story isn't over yet.

I was interviewed on NPR.

Now if you've seen

"The Dark Knight Rises,"

the name not there

is that of Bill Finger.

I had the chance to go

on Kevin Smith's podcast.

Does he have heirs,

is there a family?

Yeah, well, that

was the biggest, uh,

discovery of my research.

Legally I can't do

anything to change this,

but she can.

She is Batgirl

for heaven's sakes.

When you have somebody

who's speaking that loudly,

advocating that loudly

on behalf of a cause,

something is going to get done.

It incited this bubbling

movement, you know,

where suddenly

you started hearing

more and more about Bill Finger.

He had no Batman of his own,

but I think you are

Bill Finger's Batman,

for heaven's sakes.

You're the one that's

going to find him justice.

I kept talking

about raising an army

and groundswell of support,

but I never actually

stopped to think about,

"Well, those are people too."

So that did start to really

become my driving force

was I can't let

all these people down.

So I was doing some

groundwork on one level,

but we needed

something else to happen

on another level.

It had been a year

since Marc Nobleman's

book had been out.

So more people were

starting to contact me,

"Are you really

Bill's granddaughter?"

(laughter)

And this is her

first convention ever.

(applause)

I brought Athena

into the conventions.

Whether we're talking about

a Wizard World convention,

or San Diego,

or the New York Comic Con,

I brought her into

a number that year,

to meet the fans

and to get her out

from those curtains that

she was staying behind,

to meet other people.

I had never been to a

formal convention before,

any of that stuff.

So I did my first panel,

I was so nervous.

I'm like, "I don't even know

what we're talking about."

The fans would ask her

questions and she would say,

"I'm learning about

these things from you."

She was learning things

about her grandfather

and the legacy and

exactly what Bill did

from all of us

because she'd grown up

with it being this thing

to be uncomfortable about.

Was it not just this wonderful

thing to tell everybody,

"Hey, my granddad was

one of the co-creators

of Batman," when

you were growing up?

Well, you would think

it would be a great thing,

but, um, growing up,

no, it wasn't.

I shied away from

talking about it.

As I got older...

She's not eager to talk

to the crowd herself,

she's eager to get

the information out,

so she's doing it anyway.

And I think that's a bit heroic.

Part of Athena's

grieving process

is going to Comic

Con and talking

about her grandfather

and her father.

It's wonderful to see.

And he would be

right there with her

because it was something

Fred wanted for his father.

- Okay.

- There we go.

There was so much

support from people.

They really, really

wanted to see Bill's name

attached to Batman,

as it should be.

Comic book fans, their

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