Bill Finger was a writer who and contributing force to DC Comics.
One of my favorite story of his was in World’s Finest Comics #30. You may have not read the story, but have seen the giant penny.
The majority of his contributions were uncredited.
I would also recommend seeing the Hulu documentary: Batman and Bill. Or read the comic Bill The Boy Wonder.
From IMDB:
“Finger kept on working in “Batman”-related stories for much of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s either as a writer or a ghost writer. He is generally credited by comic book historians with creating or co-creating a number of Batman’s foes and supporting characters. Among them: the Joker, Catwoman, Robin, Ace the Bat-Hound. Bat-Mite, Clayface, Bat-Girl/Betty Kane, the Penguin, the Scarecrow, Two-Face, the Riddler, and the Calendar Man. He also came up with the name “Gotham City” for the previously nameless metropolis where Batman operates, and co-created the Batmobile and the Batcave.”
The image is from Bill The Boy Wonder.
Bill Batman Finger should be appreciated and recognized. There is an excellent documentary on Hulu about Bill.
“The Penny Plunderers” from World’s Finest Comics #30. Written by Bill Finger.
From Nordwood News:
“BILL FINGER WAY,” the freshly-renamed intersection of East 192nd Street and the Grand Concourse, was unveiled during a Dec. 8 renaming ceremony that honored the largely-forgotten creator behind the Caped Crusader.
Bill Finger given credit in Detective Comics #27
It’s a shame that Finger never got the credit he deserved. Bob Kane always hogged the spotlight while it was Finger’s ideas that made the Caped Crusader what he is. Bottom line: Finger was basically the Nikola Tesla to Kane’s Thomas Edison.
Fortunately, it seems Finger has started to get more official credit for his work, starting with BVS in 2016.
Batman without Bill Finger.
A thousand salutes to Bill Finger for his contributions to not just the Batman mythos but the comic book genre as a whole.
Thank you, sir
This is from the Famous First Edition tabloid-sized reprint of the real Batman #1. I had a copy when I was a kid, it’s long gone but my local comics shop bought a collection with a bunch of the large books and they let me grab this photo. Presumably copyright DC Comics.
Oh, and mad props to both Bill and his granddaughter Althea for keeping his memory alive!
I watched the Bill Finger documentary on Hulu. That story is one of the saddest ones I’ve ever heard. That’s not how a man who’s so important to the creation of Batman should have spent the end of his life. On the positive side he accomplished more than most people ever will in their lifetime. I’m just glad he finally got the credit for all of his hard work.
I actually remember reading an issue of Wizard in the 90’s (remember that magazine fellow old timers?) and I remember an article where they talked about Golden Age writers often not being credited and said for example the early Batman stories were written by Bill Finger, not by Bob Kane.
I heard (and might be rumor) that after that DC threatened to sue them if they mentioned that again which as far as I know they never did.
When I read that Wizard I had no idea the underlining story to that sentence we would learn decades later.
From Bob Kane and Tom Andrae (1989). Batman & 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.”
