Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Everyone knows that Bob Kane created Batman. Sadly relatively few people know that Bill Finger also created Batman.

Bill Finger was born on February 8th 1914 in Manhattan, New York. Finger was a comic book writer. After meeting Bob Kane at a party and Kane offered him a job. He joined Bob Kane’s studio in 1938 ghost writing comic strips.

In 1939 Bob Kane came up with the Bat-Man character and showed the drawings to Bill Finger. Finger offered a number of suggestions for the character including a cape and cowl instead of domino mask and wings. Finger also came up with the name Bruce Wayne for Batman’s secret identity.

Bill Finger wrote the script for Batman’s debut appearance in Detective Comics #27 as well as the character’s second appearance. His contributions to the Batman mythos include the character of the Joker, and Batman villains The Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, The Riddler amongst others. It was Finger’s input that made Robin’s parents circus performers murdered while performing their trapeze act.
Image via Wikipedia
However since finger was working for Bob Kane and Kane had already sold the character to DC, only Bob Kane gets a credit on Batman comics.

Eventually Finger left Kane’s studio and began to work directly for DC comics where he continued to ghost write Batman stories as well as contributing scripts for Superman (For whom he created Lana Lang). Eventually he branched out to write for Fawcett Comics, Quality Comics and Timely Comics.

In 1940 Finger collaborated with Martin Nodell in the creation of Green Lantern for All-American Comics #16. This time both the artist and the writer received a byline. Nodell apparently had already conceived the character when Finger was brought in to write scripts

Finger also worked as a screenwriter and wrote or co-wrote Death Comes to Planet Aytin, The Green Slime and Track of the Moon Beast. His TV work includes Hawaiian Eye and 77 Sunset Strip. For the Batman TV series he wrote the two parter The Clock King’s Crazy Crimes and The Clock King Gets Crowned in 1966.

Bill Finger died on January 18th 1974 at the age of 59. He never received proper recognition for his comics work during his lifetime.