Forum 2.0

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  • Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man August 3, 2012 at 1:31pm

    I could have sworn he did get credit on this last film. I must have dreamed that!

  • Doc Beechler (mod-MD) August 3, 2012 at 2:12pm

    Yeah...it still only gave credit to Kane.

  • Philip Portelli August 3, 2012 at 2:26pm

    Is the Bob Kane estate that powerful? Or is DC fearful of future lawsuits for lost royalties?

  • Emerkeith Davyjack August 3, 2012 at 4:19pm

    ...I've yet to read the vintage clippings and correspondence , but , do peeps here agree with that author's assertation that Bill Finger " MAIN-created " ( emphasis mine ) Batman ?

      This rather backs into the older fans' ( some ) tendency towards re-rvision on the original " fan stories " onn who created what...the endless arguments on how much blame/credit Stan Lee should in fact get being the best ( if not only other?? ) example...

      As for the question of Finger having created the phrase " The Dark Knight " as it relates to Batman...Eeeeeh .

  • ClarkKent_DC August 3, 2012 at 9:12pm

    Philip Portelli said:

    Is the Bob Kane estate that powerful? Or is DC fearful of future lawsuits for lost royalties?

    Is this really an either/or question?

  • Wandering Sensei: Moderator Man August 3, 2012 at 9:33pm



    George Poague said:

          There must be a legal reason why DC can't give official credit to Finger.

    Well I, for one, would like to give legal The Finger!

  • John Dunbar August 3, 2012 at 10:37pm

    I have always found Bill Finger's story to be one of the most heartbreaking in the comics industry.  Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Jack Kirby, and others deserved much, much more than they got; but at least Siegel and Shuster got a byline (eventually) as the co-creators of Superman; Kirby is credited as at least the co-creator of many concepts at Marvel, DC, and elsewhere.  Meanwhile, Bill Finger contributed so much to the Batman mythos - the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, the Riddler, the Batcave, the Batmobile, the name "Gotham City" and much more - and got nothing for it.  He wrestled with personal demons all of his life, and was taken advantage of by unethical editors, and died just before he was about to turn 60.

    Here's what Bob Kane said about Finger in his autobiography, Batman and Me:

    "Bill Finger was a contributing force on Batman right from the beginning. He wrote most of the great stories and was influential in setting the style and genre other writers would emulate ... I made Batman a superhero-vigilante when I first created him. Bill turned him into a scientific detective."

    According to wikipedia, Kane negotiated a contract with National Comics, the future DC Comics, that signed away ownership of the character in exchange for, among other compensations, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics (and adaptations thereof).  I'm assuming that the contract is still in effect, probably with the caveat that Kane alone gets the byline as creator.

    He was posthumously inducted into theJack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 1999. His name provided the basis for the Bill Finger Award, founded by Jerry Robinson and presented annually at Comic-Con International to honor lifetime achievements by comic book writers insufficiently honored for their work in the medium.  He was also listed as one of the "Fifty Who Made DC Great" in the book of the same name.

    As George said, he is known within the industry.  To me, he should be regarded, inside and outside the industry, as one of the giants.

  • Emerkeith Davyjack August 4, 2012 at 7:35pm

    ...BTW , let me point out that , IIRC (and I very much do believe that I do) , it was after the publicity burst/campaign that led to DC settling with Siegel & Schuster and giving them a credit line , soon after that , that the credits for Kane and William Charles Moulton (that his real name/credits name???) started appearing . I always thought that , well.........

  • ClarkKent_DC August 4, 2012 at 10:54pm

    Emerkeith Davyjack said:

    ...BTW , let me point out that , IIRC (and I very much do believe that I do) , it was after the publicity burst/campaign that led to DC settling with Siegel & Schuster and giving them a credit line , soon after that , that the credits for Kane and William Charles Moulton (that his real name/credits name???) started appearing . I always thought that , well.........

    No, Bob Kane ALWAYS had a credit on Batman stories, from Day One; it was in his contract. Look at any story from any time; it's there, somewhere, on the splash page. Not only that, National/DC Comics also rendered the stories in a Bob Kane house style all the way until the "New Look" Batman in the '60s.

    I believe, but am less certain, that also was the case with William Mouton Marston, which had the name "Charles Moulton" signed on Wonder Woman tales.

  • Emerkeith Davyjack August 5, 2012 at 6:14pm

    ...I disagree , concerning Bob , from about '67 to '77 .

    ClarkKent_DC said:

    Emerkeith Davyjack said:

    ...BTW , let me point out that , IIRC (and I very much do believe that I do) , it was after the publicity burst/campaign that led to DC settling with Siegel & Schuster and giving them a credit line , soon after that , that the credits for Kane and William Charles Moulton (that his real name/credits name???) started appearing . I always thought that , well.........

    No, Bob Kane ALWAYS had a credit on Batman stories, from Day One; it was in his contract. Look at any story from any time; it's there, somewhere, on the splash page. Not only that, National/DC Comics also rendered the stories in a Bob Kane house style all the way until the "New Look" Batman in the '60s.

    I believe, but am less certain, that also was the case with William Mouton Marston, which had the name "Charles Moulton" signed on Wonder Woman tales.

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