FILM REVIEW: Batman and Bill

Batman and Bill

Batman and Bill is a new documentary exclusively distributed by Hulu. It’s partially about Bill Finger, the silent ghostwriter behind the creation of Batman: a comic, film and TV franchise that some of you might have heard of. But the movie isn’t a straight biography. Instead, we follow author Marc Tyler Nobleman as he fights to finally get Finger the credit he deserves for his creation of the Caped Crusader.

Nobleman was a huge comic book fan as a kid, and still is as an adult. In a way, he patterns himself after the warriors he read about when he was young, morally at least. He considers himself a detective, inspired, of course, by Batman. But he really has his work cut out for him. The only way he can get Bill any credit is by finding a direct heir, something which proves quite difficult.

Outside of comic book circles, Bill Finger’s name is barely known, if at all. If, for some reason, people outside of comics fandom know anything about Batman’s creation, they almost certainly think of Bob Kane, for so long thought of as Batman’s sole creator and initial creative force. In fact, at least according to Batman and Bill, he had very little to do with the creation of the character.

When National, the publisher that would eventually become D.C., realized how popular their Superman character had become, they clamored for more of the same success, as a large corporation is wont to do. So they went to Kane, one of their house artists and asked him to come up with a new character. Kane came up with Batman, but his initial sketch bore little resemblance to the character most of us would come to associate with the superhero. The character had a red costume, a tiny mask similar to the one Robin would eventually wear, and large immobile bat wings. Finger came in and suggested that the character have darker colors, wear a cowl and have a bat-cape instead of the stiff wings. Essentially, according to this documentary and other sources, Finger built the character and the world in which he lived. Finger also created most of the villains and supporting characters, as well as Gotham City.

One would think that, at least in the twilight of his life, it would have been rather easy for Bob Kane to acknowledge that Finger at least helped in the creation of Batman. And he did mention the guy occasionally, but he always made sure to severely underemphasize Finger’s contributions. What is it about the desire to be known as the sole creative force behind something?

Film directors do this all the time, downgrading or sometimes not acknowledging the writers who worked so hard in service of their vision. Kane was able to realize all of his dreams. He became rich, he became famous, he was able to stop drawing comics. Finger would die penniless in the early 70’s in a tiny New York apartment. Kane started to acknowledge Finger in the late 80’s and early 90’s, around the time the Michael Keaton Batman movie was released. This was also the period when he wrote his autobiography. But by then it was too late. Finger had been dead for nearly fifteen years by that point. He died thinking he would never be recognized for his contributions.

And so Batman and Bill partially becomes a movie about self-invention and self-mythology. The narrative that Kane wove about himself was largely fictional, but the myth survived, and so did it really matter if the truth was buried?

Nobleman has great enthusiasm for his self-assigned mission. The documentary is peppered with his own home movies of interviews with people who knew Finger. He genuinely enjoys interacting with the people he meets. Eventually, he does find a living heir to Finger’s estate. She becomes a reluctant but earnest ally, and the two of them make it their mission to have the “created by” credit changed on all future Batman licensing. If you looked carefully at the credits for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, you know how it all worked out.

Still, even if you go into this doc knowing the ending, you’ll enjoy the details of the mystery as it unravels. Batman and Bill is a tightly-woven drama that keeps you crossing your fingers, hoping that the good guys will win and justice will triumph.

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