Across the ever-expanding world of comics, one title never fails to grasp attention from fans and collectors alike – Detective Comics #27. Debuting in 1939, this issue featured the first appearance of one of DC Comics most enduring characters, Batman. For many years, the creation of the Caped Crusader was credited solely to artist Bob Kane. However, many fans felt that writer Bill Finger, who also contributed to the series, deserved credit for this as well. Over the years, many articles and books detailing Finger’s contributions to the series and creation of the character have been written. In 2015, DC Comics officially named Finger a co-creator of Batman, marking the first time in comics history that the credit line of an A-list character was amended. But just who was this writer that gained such support from fans, even posthumously? 

Milton “Bill” Finger was was born on February 8, 1914 in Denver Colorado. After moving to the Bronx in New York City, Finger attended DeWitt Clinton High School. Interestingly, Kane also attended DeWitt but the pair never crossed paths while at the school. After graduating, Finger was working as a part-time shoe salesman with aspirations to be a writer. During this time, Finger and Kane officially met and discovered their shared love for newspaper strips and comics. In 1938, Kane offered Finger a position with his studio. The pair worked together to create the kid strip “Rusty and His Pals,” and later “Clip Carson.” Following National Comics’ success with Superman in 1938, editors were searching for similar heroes. Kane came up with “the Bat-Man,” which Finger recalled “looked very much like Superman with kind of ... reddish tights, I believe, with boots ... no gloves, no gauntlets ... with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope. He had two stiff wings that were sticking out, looking like bat wings.” 

Influenced by Lee Falk’s The Phantom, Finger suggested giving the character a cowl, a cape, adding gloves, and removing the red sections. He later wrote the initial script for Batman’s debut in Detective Comics #27 as well as the character’s second appearance, while Kane provided art. Batman was an instant success and Finger went on to write many of the early Batman stories, forming his personality into a combination between “Douglas Fairbanks, Sherlock Holmes, The Shadow, and Doc Savage.” In his autobiography, Batman & Me, Kane described Finger as “a contributing force on Batman right from the beginning... I made Batman a superhero-vigilante when I first created him. Bill turned him into a scientific detective.” Finger went on to devise Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, and later named his sidekick Robin. He also named Gotham City and contributed to the creation of such villains as Catwoman, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Clayface. While Kane and Jerry Robinson created the Joker, Finger did write the first Joker issue in Batman #1.

Aside from Batman, Finger collaborated with artist Martin Nodell to create the original Green Lantern Alan Scott, who debuted in All-American Comics #16 in 1940. He later worked on titles such as Superman, Superboy, Wonder Woman, Flash, Atom, Challengers of the Unknown, Tomahawk, and many others. For a brief period, Finger worked at Marvel Comics contributing to Captain America and creating the All-Winners Squad. As a screenwriter, Finger co-wrote the films Death Comes to Planet Aytin, The Green Slime, and Track of the Moon Beast. He also contributed scripts to many Warner Brothers TV detective series, including 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, and The Roaring Twenties. In season two of the live-action Batman TV series, Finger co-wrote the episode “The Clock King’s Crazy Crimes/ The Clock King Gets Crowned.” 

Finger was married twice, once to Portia Finger and later to Lyn Simmons. He had one son, Frederick, with Portia, but also served as stepfather to Simmons’ son Steve. After previously suffering from heart attacks, Finger passed away on January 18, 1974 at the age of 59 due to occlusive coronary atherosclerosis. Finger was posthumously inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame, Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame, and received an Inkpot Award in 2014. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In honor of his contributions to comics, Comic-Con International established the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing in 2005. For many years, Finger’s granddaughter Athena, sought to have Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment credit Finger as co-creator of Batman. Her efforts paid off in 2015, when the change was made to the credit line by DC Comics. 

His first formal credit appeared in Batman and Robin Eternal #3 and Batman: Arkham Knight Genesis #3 in October 2015. This change was heavily influenced by the 2012 book, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman by Marc Tyler Nobleman. Throughout this novel, Nobleman suggested that Finger was actually the person behind Batman and its mythos. The release of this book inspired other comic book historians and industry figures to offer their thoughts on Finger. After DC Comics made the change, Finger received credit in season two of the TV series Gotham as well as 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He now also receives on-screen credit for the co-creation of Batman in other DC film and television projects. Nobleman’s book later inspired the 2017 Hulu documentary Batman & Bill. This film, directed, written and produced by Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce, explores the creation of Batman with a focus on Finger’s lack of credit.

Although considered under-appreciated by some while he was alive, Finger continues to make history to this day. On December 8, 2017, Finger became the first superhero creator with a street named after him in New York City. The corner of 192nd and Grand Concourse is know formally known as “Bill Finger Way.” This intersection was chosen for its proximity to Poe Park, a place where Finger and Kane would regularly meet to discuss Batman. Attendees for the unveiling included New York Councilmember Ritchie Torres, Nobleman, Athena Finger, Steve Simmons, and Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series).  

Nobleman expressed his excitement over the unveiling by saying, “Bill Finger made history. Team Finger corrected history. Now the Bronx takes the lead in honoring that history by installing this sign.” For over 75 years, Batman and the world of Gotham City have served as an integral part of comic history. Now, 40 years after his passing, Finger has cemented himself a place in that history as well.