Batman: 10 Real Life Heroes Who Helped Bill Finger Get Credit

True justice is rarely served as often as it is in the movies, and in the case of Milton “Bill” Finger, co-creator of Batman, justice required many helping hands. In the Hulu documentary Batman and Bill, author Marc Tyler Nobleman begins by saying “On every Batman story since the first in 1939, there was only one name on the credit line… Bob Kane. Here’s the thing about that credit line: it is not true.”

Over the course of several years, Nobleman sought to uncover the mystery of why Batman’s co-creator went publicly unnoticed, and help Bill Finger earn the long-overdue recognition he deserved. Along with Nobleman, and in no particular order, here are some of the real-life heroes involved in the fight to see Finger properly credited.

11 Dishonorable Mention: Bob Kane

Though Kane fought for many years to discredit Finger’s involvement, he later provided recorded admission that his former partner was in on 50-75% of Batman’s creativity.

Biographer Thomas Andrae, the co-author of Kane’s autobiography, convinced Kane to acknowledge Finger’s importance in his book. This testimony would prove crucial to Finger’s legal team when the time came to contest the credit line.

10 Marc Tyler Nobleman

Nobleman is a veteran writer of children’s books, including ‘Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman’, and ‘Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman’. Nobleman relates that he began his Bill Finger research unsure of where it would lead, but knew he wanted to be able to tell a great story.

Interviewing well over 200 people, Nobleman began to uncover the stories of Finger’s reclusive life from the writer’s friends and family. While contesting the credit line to Batman’s creation would require a blood relative, Nobleman’s research earned widespread praise throughout the entertainment industry, with Batman alum Kevin Conroy among those showering the author with gratitude.

9 Jerry Bails

In 1965, Bails served as a moderator on the first “official” Comic-Con in New York City, which was also Finger’s first and potentially only public appearance. Bails later began a campaign for Finger’s credit line when he came to realize it couldn’t just be Kane responsible for all of Batman’s stories.

After confirming Finger’s involvement with DC Comics, Bails subsequently wrote an article titled ‘If the Truth Be Known: A Finger In Every Plot’ and sent it to Batman fans around the country. Though Kane wrote a scathing take-down of the article, claiming it to be false, Bails successfully began to bring Finger’s name into the public view.

8 Michael E. Uslan

As a producer on every Batman movie since 1989 and the first instructor to teach a university-accredited course on comic books, Uslan has earned the respect of comic book fans worldwide. What fans may not know is that Uslan met Finger at that fateful first convention in New York.

As Uslan recalls, he entered the sketchy hotel and went through the bar area with his friend, where they met DC comics writer Otto Binder. Binder asked them “how would you like to meet the creator of Batman?” Thinking they were going to meet Bob Kane, they were surprised when Binder instead responded “meet Bill Finger.” Thanks to his longtime experience with pioneering change, Uslan was a supportive voice in Nobleman’s march towards justice.

7 Jerry Robinson & Carmine Infantino

Nobleman interviewed many respected figures within the comic book industry, perhaps none more notable than Robinson and Infantino. The legendary artists each confirmed Finger’s role in co-creating Batman, with Infantino saying “He’s genius, literally genius… He’s the Batman. Everything that you’d think was good, that’s Bill.”

Robinson was previously involved in his own controversy with Kane over receiving credit for the creation of the Joker, claiming he and Finger had imagined the iconic villain. In Batman & Bill, Robinson empathized with Finger’s plight, saying “they take away their humanity when they take away their credit.”

6 Lyn Simmons

Finger’s second wife proved invaluable to Nobleman’s research, offering valuable insights into Finger’s personal life as well as detailing the long fight she carried on after his death.

When the 1989 smash hit Batman was in production, Simmons wrote a formal letter to the producers asking for Finger to receive credit in the movie. As noted in the documentary, the family wasn’t seeking monetary compensation, only that he was named alongside Kane. The Warner Bros. legal team didn’t deny his involvement with Batman but “politely declined” to become involved in a legal matter to pursue the change.

5 Charles Sinclair

A former writing partner of Finger’s on the 1960’s Batman television series, Nobleman considers Sinclair to be one of his greatest finds, as he provided a heartbreaking glimpse into the reclusive Finger’s later years.

During the writing of the series episode “The Clock King’s Crazy Crimes,” Sinclair noticed Finger was acting uncomfortably. When pressed, Finger asked if he could receive top-billing for the Batman story they were co-writing. Sinclair agreed and when the pair watched the episode together, Sinclair noticed the happiness Finger displayed when he saw his name appear first on the screen, saying “it was the high point of his creative life.” Tragically, Sinclair would find his friend dead in his New York apartment in 1974, having died poor and alone.

4 Travis Langley

Psychology professor and author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight, Langley sought to bridge the knowledge gap between fans and Bill Finger by introducing Athena Finger, Bill Finger’s granddaughter and only living heir, to the world via the Comic-Con convention circuit.

While Nobleman was the person who first approached Athena about her grandfather, Langley encouraged her to step into the limelight and engage with fans, allowing everyone to hear the struggles her family had faced. After opening up her story to the world at large, Athena successfully earned the public support of comic book fans everywhere.

3 Alethia Mariotta

Despite the growing public support and Warner Bros./DC’s own admissions of Finger’s legacy, contesting a credit line would still require legal expertise. Thankfully, the Finger family knew an attorney they could trust: Athena’s half-sister Alethia Mariotta.

Mariotta assisted with the enormous legal responsibility of contesting the credit line by using copyright law. Knowing they had ground to stand on but also that taking on Warner Bros. in litigation could bankrupt them, Mariotta devised a strategy to only make it appear like they were willing to seek litigation while hoping for a resolution. After an intense meeting between attorneys, all sides reached an agreement.

2 Fred Finger

The discovery of Bill Finger’s only son Fred was a huge boon for Nobleman; thinking he’d found the heir he needed, Nobleman was devastated to learn Fred had tragically died in 1992. Despite Fred’s passing, Nobleman was able to speak to those who knew him and learn about the Finger family’s legacy of hope.

Fred actively campaigned for his father’s title, recording a video interview in 1989 and approaching DC personally to seek credit. According to Athena’s mother Bonnie Burrell Van Stephoudt, “We had spent years trying to get the credit for him. Fred really just wanted Bill to have recognition. Fred went to DC alone… They treated you like you were family but gave you nothing in return for it.”

1 Athena Finger

“She’s Batgirl.” There are no truer words than those from pop-culture aficionado Kevin Smith regarding Athena Finger’s importance. When Nobleman discovered Athena during his research, he not only found Bill Finger’s only remaining heir, but also a person scarred from a history of grief.

Athena relates that growing up with the Finger name wasn’t glamorous and despite Bill’s achievements, people didn’t believe her when she said he co-created Batman. Additionally, she had an estranged relationship with Fred, whom she learned was HIV positive when she was only 10 years old. Feeling excluded from Fred’s life and subsequent death 5 years later, Athena admits feeling apprehensive about taking on a responsibility as massive as her grandfather’s accreditation. Yet in 2014, on the 100th anniversary of Bill Finger’s birth and the 75th anniversary of his creation, Athena successfully took the fight to Warner Bros. to reclaim her grandfather’s creation and put to rest the demons her family had long suffered.

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