Geek Start A Go Go- The Cape Creator
Posted By Bill Ostroff on February 17, 2014
In 1939, Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27. For 75 years, the world has thrilled to the adventures of this superhero without superpowers, who can be both the fearsome Dark Knight and the daring Caped Crusader. For 75 years, only one creator has received the credit, the by-line, even though there were two. Before he ever signed his first deal to produce Batman stories, official creator Bob Kane already had his secret collaborator, Bill Finger.
Seeing Kane’s initial design, Finger suggested going with darker colors instead of red; a scalloped, bat-like cape instead of unwieldy DaVinci wings; a cowl instead of a domino mask; and a bat-head look to that cowl. Bill Finger named Bruce Wayne, made Batman a detective, created Commissioner Gordon, named their city Gotham, gave Batman a cool car, thought the hero needed a partner, conceived one fantastic villain after another, wrote Batman’s origin, and authored many, many tales before his sudden death just short of his 60th birthday. Under his own name, he wrote the very first Green Lantern story and co-created the superhero Wildcat, but during his lifetime he never became well known for his most influential work, his critical role in creating one of the most famous, most beloved, and most inspiring heroes known by billions throughout this world.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Bill Finger’s birth, 75th anniversary of Batman’s first appearance, 50th anniversary of the “New Look” that changed not only Batman’s appearance but the stories themselves, and 25th anniversary of the film Tim Burton directed, the motion picture that proved audiences still welcomed Batman. 2014 is the year to tell some truth.
For his 100th birthday, we’re making a special tribute film to celebrate Bill Finger and to teach the world about him. At the very least, we will produce a short that includes interviews with fans, family, and some of the few surviving pros who knew Bill. A more successful campaign will let us conduct more interviews and produce a more valuable, more powerful tribute.
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