Batman Co-Creator Bill Finger

For those interested in the subject of Bob Kane's neglectful credit of co-Batman creator Bill Finger - who, to many of us, really is the major creator of Batman - you may find this article by my friend Mark Evanier worth your time: http://www.newsfromme.com/2014/06/28/real-dynamic-duo-kane-finger/
A great many people in the comic book business believe it's past time to give Bill Finger the co-creation credits he deserves for his contributions to Batman. Finger helped design the Batman costume as much as Kane did, created the Bruce Wayne identity, Batman's origin, the Batmobile, Batsignal, Batcave, Commissioner Gordon, named Gotham City, Batman's utility belt and all the weapons it holds. He co-created Robin, the Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, among many other villains and wrote most of the stories in the early years. The very first Batman story, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate", is lifted from The Shadow story "Partners in Peril" from Nov. 1, 1936.
Finger died a pauper in 1974, never credited for a single Batman story in his life time, thanks largely to Bob Kane. Hopefully, one day, something more substantial will be done to finally give Bill Finger a co-creation on Batman.

Peck, I figure you are right about the creation credit, but it never hurts to get the word out. DC has given Finger writing credit for years now, but not co-creation credit. A few years ago, I wrote a book introduction to a DC Archive book and stated that Finger and Kane created Batman, hoping it would sneak through editorial. I was pleased to see that it did.
Btw, Finger also helped create the original Green Lantern. He took artist Martin Nodell's idea and wrote the origin story, plus a fair number of the stories in the first year.

Peck, you have it all right. However, Kane still had some power regarding Batman until the end of his life. If you'll remember the Bob Newhart show "Bob" where he played a cartoonist, there was an episode where Jack Kirby, Mell Lazarus, Sergio Aragones, and Bob Kane briefly appear. DC would not give permission to use an image of Batman when Kane appeared on screen. Kane was asked, "Do you have any other characters we can use," and they explained the problem. Kane went to a telephone, called DC, and a few minutes later, told the producer, "We have permission now." This was about 1991 or '92.
In 1968, Joe Simon had secured the rights to the first ten issues of Captain America when the copyright came up for renewal. Marvel pulled a fast one on Kirby, including telling him that Joe Simon now owned Cap, and that Joe claimed Kirby had nothing to do with the character's creation. For very little money that it took years to get, Kirby signed contracts to help Marvel's position, thus screwing both himself and Joe. Jack was a dear friend and one of my heroes, but he just never understood business or protecting himself.

I was just talking with a friend and was reminded of the time I publicly asked Bob Kane when Bill Finger was going to get a co-creator credit on Batman. Kane shot me a very angry look, and realizing he was being watched, quickly smiled and said, "After the [San Diego] convention, I'll look into that." Well, Bob, I'm still waiting!!

CmdrMcBragg: What Finger is not getting is co-creator credit. That's the problem. Story credit is fine, but not enough. Finger was every bit the creator of Batman that Kane was, and in the opinion of many, myself included, more so than Kane. Peck points out the likely difficulties all too well, but the sounds of discontent are getting louder on this subject, and some of us hope maybe DC will do something as they did in the 1970s when they finally gave in and recognized Siegel and Shuster as the creators of Superman.
I never knew one single instance from anybody I ever knew or interviewed who ever said one good word about Kane. His peers, ghost artists, and editors in the business all disliked him. That's telling. Btw, if you want to read the most self indulgent tombstone legend ever devised by man, read this garbage at Kane's grave.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11708

CmdrMcBragg: I know you weren't debating with me, buddy. I didn't mean to sound otherwise. It's just been a sore subject with me for a long time and seeing that Bob Kane is going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame while Finger remains forgotten just gets under the skin of my sense of right and wrong.
Peck: Bob Kanigher was not often a nice man. My encounter with him was an exercise of patience as he spent the entire time telling me how great he was. I've published quite a number of stories about him over the years. I still like his work, but not him so much. I knew a guy who was as gentle as could be, and one day, after months of abuse, picked Kanigher off the ground and threatened to throw him out a window unless he apologized. Another guy chased Kanigher around the office with his own foil after an argument.
The late DC editor George Kashdan told me a lot about his time at DC and the people who worked and freelanced there. You might find it worth your time because George spared no punches. Our interview was serialized in Alter Ego #93-96. If you've never read AE, you can get back issues, in print and digital form, from www.twomorrows.com . I did an entire issue with Joe Simon on his career, and most of one with Jerry Robinson, who co-created the Joker and was one of Kane's first assistants. Jerry was fairly even handed on the subject of Kane. Kashdan had a few things to say about Kane and Finger, too.

Peck: Finger was originally working for Kane. DC had no idea about it for some time. I don't know when they learned the truth. Probably when Finger got behind in writing and the editor called in Gardner Fox to write a couple of stories. At any rate, in the early days, Finger was paid by Kane - no contract - and didn't work directly for DC until he got into a fight with Kane over a raise and started working directly for DC in 1941.