Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman Hardcover – Illustrated, July 1, 2012

The last page of BILL THE BOY WONDER: THE SECRET CO-CREATOR OF BATMAN includes quotes from some deceased comics industry legends. One, artist Jerry Robinson, says that "Bill was the greatest comics writer of his time, and maybe since." The other, editor Julius Schwartz, states that "Bill Finger was the genius of comics." Strong words about a guy most people have never heard of. But, with the help of exhaustive research and illustrations by industry veteran Ty Templeton, author Marc Tyler Nobleman set out to prove them true. The result was this children's book, which tells the story of two comic-book fans, writer Bill Finger and cartoonist Bob Kane, who together developed a superhero called The Bat-Man. Though most of the concepts for the character were actually Finger's, Kane negotiated with DC Comics to get sole credit for its creation and subsequently became wealthy while the anonymous writer pounded out incredibly creative scripts, and further developed Batman's world, for a modest income. The little book continues through Bill's career up to his death in 1974 and ends with his general acknowledgement in the industry and among fans as Batman's co-creator--though he has only just recently started getting official credit.BILL has proven itself quite popular with primary-school children, which somewhat surprised me, because the text is long on some pages, there is some comics industry jargon, and the emotional content would appear to be too deep for kids. A lot is implied that would only be evident to adults. And the lengthy text-only coda would only be interesting to adults. Despite all this, kids have showered Nobleman with praise and thanks; the author himself, an acquaintance of mine, happily sent me links to photos of posters, cards, letters, and thank-you notes. Still, to my mind, BILL succeeds even better as a book for adults, for fans of comics and Batman. Bill Finger's name is still unknown to the general public and to Batman fans who don't read comics, and he's never before had an actual book devoted to him. So, this one is most welcome; I was excited about it when I first heard it was coming, especially from Nobleman, who did an excellent job with his previous effort, BOYS OF STEEL: THE CREATORS OF SUPERMAN. A lot of comics fans have been passionate in their desire to see Finger co-credited with creating Batman, and BILL is something of a nicely illustrated hardcover pamphlet for Nobleman's own public crusade. But children obviously have been drawn to the long-overdue story of a shamefully unsung creative person. So I recommend this slim volume for kids like those, plus comics fans and those who champion the underdog.

This minimalist biography in graphic format is one of the few chances the general public has had to become aware of a man who made an enormous contribution to the creation and growth of one of the iconic figures of American popular culture. Finger's quiet - in fact largely anonymous - talent as a writer and innovator continued throughout his life, and it has gone largely unrecognized for too long beyond his lifetime. Marc Tyler Nobleman takes gentle, understated aim at the injustices that have been perpetrated upon the creative people in many of the fields of the popular arts. Finger spent his professional career as masked as the hero he helped create and it's well past time that the service he did for our collective imagination and our inclination to dream big dreams, was recognized. Thanks Mr Finger - and thank you Marc.

In all the time I'd read notices about this book, I'd never ever gotten the impression that it was written as a children's book. But now, I look at the Product Details section of the Amazon description of it for the first time, and there it is right at the start:Age Range: 8 - 12 yearsGrade Level: 3 - 7Every page of the story is fully illustrated, like children books are, with oversized panels to echo the comic book motif. The artwork is clean and drawn in a realistic but simplistic style, presenting both specific key scenes in Finger's life as well as a few spreads spotlighting his most important work on Batman.The Author's Note at the end is what really helps elevate this children's book to one readers of all ages will find worthwhile. Beyond his interviews with family and comic book industry colleagues, Nobleman's search for biographical information on and photos of Finger was quite challenging. At the time of publishing, he was only able to locate a total 17 photos of Finger. He later found out from his second wife that "We weren't photo people." And in hoping to find an heir of Finger's that could receive his modest royalty checks from DC Comics, he reveals both a sad and a happy ending.I was shocked when I opened my package to find an oversized children's book. But was relieved that this turned out to be a satisfying biography shining a spotlight on a man that I never knew about but am now so grateful to. He wrote the earliest adventures of my childhood hero which Kane didn't always draw (Kane hired ghost artists, among them Jerry Robinson, to help draw those early Batman stories). It makes me a little sad knowing what Kane never shared with his collaborator. But through this modest book, Bill Finger finally gets some long overdue recognition.

Excellent book on one of the most influential comic writers in history. The book starts off illustrated like a comic and finishes with a great author's note containing some additional info. It's mistakenly said the book is written "for children" simply because of the comic book style format. On the contrary, it was clearly a creative choice and as a result the book is easily approachable for all ages. Every Batman fan owes it to themselves to check it out & learn the truth about who REALLY created the hero they know & love.

If you are interested in the creation of an iconic character in comics, this book is for you. The style appeals to young and old.

This book is great for kids looking for an understanding of the true version of the creation of Batman, and not the popular version.But, let's be very clear here, this is definitely a children's book. If we want a true adult biography of the great Bill Finger, we're going to have to wait.

Cool book, but came dirty. I cleaned it with a damp soft cloth - was a gift.

A short great look into the true father of Batman, Bill Finger. If you are unfamiliar with who Bill Finger is and are a batfanatic like me this is a must read!!

After over 40 years worshipping the name Bob Kane and his wonderful creation Batman I fell across a revealing fact in a DVD called Batman and Bill. After seeing what I had seen I had to amend a great travesty that had been the centerpiece of my own personal cave of comic books and paraphernalia honouring Bob Kane and the figure of Batman.This book is done in the style of the amazing Stan Lee and tells of a more harrowing story of a great injustice to an amazing man who's story was not told correctly.This book does my cave honour by telling the truth of exactly what happened and how the world was changed for many children and now adults of the true story of the creation of Batman and the boy Wonder

"Batman - Created by Bob Kane" is a tag any Batman reader will be familiar with as it appears in the credits box of every Batman comic ever published. But Bob Kane didn't create Batman - Bill Finger did. Who? And that's what's so criminal about it. How unfamiliar so many Batman readers are with the name Bill Finger.This is Marc Tyler Nobleman's second book on comics creators who were unfairly treated and bilked by DC Comics after they created their signature characters, the first being Boys of Steel about Superman's creators Siegel and Shuster. Assisted by the brilliant artist Ty Templeton, Nobleman writes a brief but well-researched book about Batman's secret co-creator, Bill Finger who was responsible for nearly everything about the character that has made him popular.Kane created "Bat-man", a character whose initial sketch is included here and is completely unrecognisable from the Dark Knight of today. Finger didn't so much revise the drawing and reject it entirely and designed Batman from scratch by first getting rid of the hyphen to make him Batman, and then gave him the iconic cowl/helmet, getting rid of Kane's bright red outfit, blonde hair, and actual bat wings to provide him with the outfit we all know and love today.Finger even went further, creating Bruce Wayne's origins - the Monarch Theatre, the Mark of Zorro, Joe Chill in the alley, Martha's pearls, young Bruce lying between his dead parents. Finger did it all. And Kane, because he had the contacts and Finger didn't, took Batman to publishers and the character became a hit. As was the practice at the time, Kane hired writers and artists to anonymously write and draw Batman, all the while taking credit for it, which is partly why Finger didn't object initially to Kane taking credit for his work.Incredibly it wasn't until the 1960s towards the end of his short life that Finger decided to stand up for himself and began to tell people the extent of his involvement in the character. Kane denied it all, claiming he created everything about Batman, but in later years ceded that Finger should have more credit to his name - but neglected to change the contract with DC that stated his name appear alongside Batman's as creator. Artist Jerry Robinson also said Finger assisted him in creating such iconic villains as the Joker, the Riddler and Catwoman. It seems Kane had nothing to do with anything, but still told people it was all him.Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman is a brief book that reveals the sham that led to Batman's true creator to be left in the shadows while a cheap huckster maneuvered his way into the position he holds today for many unassuming comics readers as the fake father of Batman. It's a short but interesting look at Bill Finger and his career that underlines an important fact that should be more well known - Batman was created by Bill Finger.

Excellent

Awesome book wish it was longee

I don't know how many people have heard of Bill Finger, but he was directly responsible for making Batman the success that he is today. Unfortunately the co creator, Bob Kane, refused to acknowledge Finger's contribution for years, and never attempted to include him in the considerable financial rewards that came from this character.This book tells Bill Finger's story in a graphic format for the first time. You may think that this won't be an interesting way to tell a story, but somehow it works.The anarchist definition of capitalism is "a centralised swindling machine", and it is all too appropriate in Bill the Boy Wonder.