Here’s What Batman Would Have Looked Like Without His Real Creator

If you’ve ever seen or read anything related to Batman, you’re familiar with the following five words: “Batman Created by Bob Kane.” Which, as Ty Templeton points out, is probably one of the most flagrant lies in comics.

Pretty much everything you actually think of when you think of Batman came not from Bob Kane but from Bill Finger. Finger came up with the design of the suit, the Batmobile, Commissioner Gordon, Robin, and pretty much everything else. For his labors, this being the “Golden Age” of comics, he got diddly; he’s not even credited in the original comics he wrote. Finger’s contributions weren’t acknowledged until well after his passing in 1974.

Kane didn’t exactly get a great deal either: “Batman Created By Bob Kane” does not translate out to “Bob Kane’s estate gets a check.” He sold the character lock, stock, and barrel to DC, although despite a total lack of financial stake in the character, that didn’t stop him from trying to deny Bill Finger, or the artists who actually drew most of the Batman comics he put his name on, credit. Which made artist Ty Templeton wonder… what if it had just been Kane creating Batman?

The full comic, which is sixteen panels, is hilarious but it also gets the point across quite effectively; without Bill Finger, Batman would be another trivia question and comics as a whole would be the poorer. Templeton is trying to rally support for Bill Finger to get a Google Doodle on what would have been his centennial: You can help out by emailing proposals@google.com and asking for a Bill Finger doodle.

Via Ty Templeton