User:QuintusCinna/Bill Finger
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Bill Finger (February 8, 1914 - January 24, 1974) was an American writer who is best remembered (though never officially credited) as the co-creator of the character Batman with artist Bob Kane and creator of Catwoman.
Finger joined Kane's makeshift studio in 1938. In early 1939, the success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at the comic book division of National Publications (later DC Comics, now a subsidiary of Time Warner) to request more superheroes for their titles. Some books and articles mistakenly say that Kane subsquently created a character called "Birdman" that would become the Batman. Others, however, say that Kane was inspired by the flying machine of Leonardo Da Vinci and the 1933 film Dracula (about a vampire who could turn into a bat) from the start and that he had always intended for the character to be called "Batman" or "The Bat-Man". Mr. Finger himself, in an interview for Jim Steranko's "History of the Comics: Vol. One" admitted that his involvement with Batman had begun after the character had already been created and what he did was offer suggestions about the costume. These involved replacing the Da Vinci-inspired wings for a cape, giving him gloves, and changing the character's bodysuit from red to grey. Perhaps most importantly, Finger is said to have encouraged Kane to replace the character's domino mask with a more bat-like hooded cowl with bat-like "ears" which would make the character distinguishable even in silhouette. It's generally agreed that Finger encouraged Kane to leave out the character's eyes when he wore the mask. (Although Kane would accept many of these suggestions, one cannot escape the direct influence of Lee Falk's character THE PHANTOM as Kane admitted that he studied newspaper strips on a routine basis but this in no way diminishes Mr.Finger's involvement.) Finger wrote the first Batman story, while Kane provided art. Because Kane had already submitted the proposal for a Batman character to his editors at DC Comics, Kane was the only person given official credit at the time for the creation of Batman which was the standard practice in newspaper strips but rare for comic-books. (Unfortunately, in comic books, even creators rarely got a byline!)
According to Wizard Magazine, Bob Kane had Finger enter a work for hire contract.(see works made for hire). It is this contract that provided National and DC their strongest defense against claims by Finger.
Batman was a breakout hit, and soon after, National suggested that character receive a youthful sidekick who the readers could use as an audience surrogate. Kane initially suggested an impish character like Puck, while Finger suggested a more down-to-earth character.The name Robin was suggested by Jerry Robinson who had arrived at the studio while Kane and Finger were kicking names around. Robin. Finger went on to write many of the early Batman stories, including making major contributions to the character of The Joker, as well as other major Batman villains. As Kane's writer,he is also credited with the "bat"-slogans for Batman's numerous paraphrenalia: the Batmobile, the Batcave, anything Bat-named, the Bruce Wayne identity, and with providing a name for Gotham City. Among the things that made his stories particularly distinctive was a use of giant-sized props -- enlarged pennies, sewing machines, or typewriters.
In 1940, Finger collaborated with artist Martin Nodell on a new superhero feature in All-American Comics #16 called The Green Lantern. While Nodell went by the name "Mart Dellon" in the byline, Finger was credited along with him, unlike in the case of Batman (Finger and Nodell were equal collaborators while Kane had been Finger's employer). While Green Lantern would be retired for a time (and return as essentially a different character) and would not have the same following that became awarded to Batman, the character remains an intregal part of the history of DC Comics.Today, Finger still receives no credit for having co-created Green Lantern even though his contributions were more substantial than those in Batman!!
Kane, the more business-savvy of the Kane-Finger creative team, negotiated a contract with National, signing away any ownership that he might have in the character in exchange for, among other compensations, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics stating "Batman created by Bob Kane", even on stories with which he had no direct involvement. Bill Finger's contract, by comparison, left him with a monetary pittance and no credit even on the stories that he wrote without Kane. Finger, like Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel, and many other creators during and after the Golden Age of Comic Books, would resent National for "cheating" him of the money and dignity that he felt that he was owed for his contributions.
Like his contemporaries including Siegel, Otto Binder, and Gardner Fox, Finger wrote a number of uncredited stories for DC. His 1950s work on Batman with artist Dick Sprang was known for putting the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder through elaborate death traps, often including oversized objects and strange schemes. Finger also authored a number of Superman stories, including "The Girl from Superman's Past," which introduced Clark Kent's college sweetheart Lori Lemaris who was a mermaid.
By the time Finger died in 1974, he had almost never been officially credited for his work. He died poor and without any official heirs to continue his fight for credit. Since then, in the comic book industry, being "Fingered" has become slang for being denied credit for one's contributions to a story or character.
Posthumously, Finger has been named to the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame. He is also the namesake of the Bill Finger Award, founded by Jerry Robinson, an early collaborator with Kane and Finger, who shares credit with them for creating Robin according to many sources. The award honors lifetime achievements by comic book writers. In 2005, the award honored Arnold Drake (creator of the Doom Patrol and fellow uncredited Batman writer), as well as Jerry Siegel who was given a posthumous award.
[edit] References
- Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book.
