A BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to Batman’s co-creator — featuring Athena Finger…
By JASON CZERNICH
Writer Bill Finger was born on this day in 1914 — 112 years ago. You probably know him as the man who, along with Bob Kane, co-created Batman in 1939. For decades, Kane was the only person acknowledged as the inventor of Batman, until Finger officially got his due in 2015.
The legend of Bill Finger looms large in the comic book industry and has served as a tragic cautionary tale for other artistic talents in the field. It’s not enough that he should finally receive credit for his role in crafting one of the most enduring fictional characters of our lifetime—we need to remember the man himself and keep his memory alive for future generations.
Athena Finger
Who better to help 13th Dimension in this endeavor than Athena Finger, the granddaughter of the writer himself? I recently spoke with her on Messenger, and here are 13 ways to honor Bill Finger that we came up with:
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1. Ask People If They Know Who Bill Finger Is. Pretty much anyone in modern society can tell you who Batman is, but what about the writer who helped shape him in his formative years? According to Athena Finger’s website, he was: “An American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, and the co-architect of the series’ development. Although Finger did not receive contemporaneous credit for his hand in the development of Batman, Kane acknowledged Finger’s contributions years after Finger’s death. Finger also wrote many of the original 1940s Green Lantern stories… and contributed to the development of numerous other comic book series.”
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2. Recommend a Bill Finger Story to a Friend, and Keep Asking for Bill’s Stories to be Kept in Print or Made Available Digitally. But there are too many good ones to choose from! How does one decide what to recommend? The first telling of Batman’s origin? A tale from Batman #1? There are plenty to choose from! I recommend starting with Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1, which collects Batman’s early appearances from Detective Comics and the Batman monthly series.
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3. Watch the Documentary Batman & Bill. This 2017 documentary is a great way to get an overview of the creation of Batman and how efforts were made long after Finger’s death to finally get him official credit as the Caped Crusader’s co-creator.
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4. Watch And Support Podcasts That Speak the True History Of Batman. Such as Ryan Daly and 13th Dimension contributor Chris Franklin’s Batman: Knightcast on the Fire and Water Podcast Network.
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5. Point Out Bill’s Name in the Credits in Movies and Shows. Next time you go out to see a film with Batman in it, and you are waiting for a mid-credits scene that may or may not occur, take note of the creator credits, a component of superhero films that has been evolving in recent years. You’ll see Bill Finger acknowledged, plus creators who came after him and have added their bits and pieces over the years.
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6. Request That Your Local Convention Have Some Batman History Representation. Your local comic con can be a great place to meet creators, pop-culture celebrities, and acquire more comics. Why not advocate for them to have booths that inform fans about the history behind Batman and other aspects of comic history?
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7. Ask Comics Historians to Participate in Podcasts or Streaming Shows. Comic book historians, independent scholars of sequential art, are becoming increasingly important to the medium, especially as we lose more and more older industry professionals over the years. Maybe if there had been more historians earlier, Bill Finger could have gotten proper credit even sooner.
From Batman’s first appearance in 1939’s Detective Comics #27. Art by Bob Kane.
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8. See Leonard Schwartz’s play, Co-Creator: Bill Finger – The Man Behind the Bat. I caught the original production of this play years ago and do not know if it will be remounted anywhere anytime soon. If you do see it playing in your area, it is well worth checking out this theatrical depiction of Finger and the early Batman artists.
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9. Visit Bill Finger Way in the Bronx! He has a street named after him?! Yes, and you can read more about it here.
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10. Read Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, by Marc Tyler Nobleman. This book was one of the most visible efforts to get Bill Finger officially recognized for his role in the Dark Knight’s birth. This is required reading!
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11. Observe How Obscure Elements of Finger’s Work Have Been Elevated. Even Kite Man, a Finger co-creation with Dick Sprang, is getting the spotlight! Hell yeah!
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12. Talk About Many Other Characters Bill Created, Including Non-Batman-Related Ones. Finger contributed tons of characters to the Batman mythos, but did you know what he created outside of that? He co-created classic JSA member Wildcat and Superman supporting cast member Lana Lang, among others.
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13. Salute the Winners of the Bill Finger Award at the Eisners! Finger wasn’t just an inventor of comic book characters, he was a pioneer in comic book writing — utilizing meticulous research, helping establish the basic formula of a superhero story, and implementing genre tropes such as larger-than-life visuals, like giant replicas of everyday objects, into a tale. The idea of the award, given out every year, is to spotlight writers who have not received proper due for their work. 2025’s winners were Don Glut and Sheldon Mayer.
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MORE
— A BILL FINGER Birthday Celebration With His Granddaughter. Click here.
— Glorious! BILL FINGER, JERRY ORDWAY and THE FIRST BATMAN. Click here.
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JASON CZERNICH was born smack dab in the middle of the Bronze Age of Comics. Early memories of Power Records and other Batman merchandise, as well as watching reruns of the 1966 Batman series on TV38 in Boston, imprinted on him heavily. Today, he lives and works as a clinical social worker in central Massachusetts with his wife, child, cat, and beloved French bulldog.
