Batman & Bill

Growing up as a child, I always saw the name of Bob Kane as the creator of Batman. I never imagined someone else was working with him or had contributed to the concept of creating Batman. I'd seen interviews with Bob Kane, and it always seemed that the Kane wanted to talk about himself and never said much about Bill Finger or Jerry Robinson, although they certainly contributed.

The key word here is contributed. From other documentaries, it comes across as though Kane had the main idea, and that Finger and Robinson helped out. But how much? It's a toss of the dice, but if you're to believe this documentary by Nobleman--who did the research--and Argott, who filmed it--then Finger had a greater hand in the creation of Batman than anyone else realized, as did Robinson.

When I watched Batman & Bill, it came across to me as a well-balanced, insightful, and rather sad look at how the comic book industry was run, and also the characters in that industry who would do each other out of the credit in order to get a larger paycheck. That was Bob Kane. I'm not disputing that Kane was the one who originally came up with the idea. His idea, his risk, yes.

But Finger, apparently, suggested the major changes in the costume, the cowl (Kane originally had a domino mask and the costume was red), and the gadgets that Batman used, many of the rogues gallery, all of which Kane seemed--seemed--only too happy to take on as his own creative ideas. It is sad that Finger was--and there is no other word for it--cheated, IMO, out of what should have been half his legacy.

This documentary sheds new light on the legend of Batman, its creators, and the men who created him and brought him to life. Highly recommended.