Batman’s uncredited co-creator Bill Finger died 40 years ago and
never got to attend San Diego Comic-Con. In celebration of Batman’s
75th anniversary and what would have been Finger’s 100th birthday,
Comic-Con International is bringing his only living descendants, special
guest Athena Finger and her son Benjamin, to the con for the very first
time. Athena will speak on convention panels to share about her
grandfather, his work, and the ongoing push to get him the recognition he
deserves. A “Credit Bill Finger” Facebook page, presently
emphasizing the need for the TV series GOTHAM to acknowledge the man who
named Gotham City, is but one of the many ongoing
efforts.
Born two years after Bill died and only 15
when her father, Bill’s only son Fred, left this world as well,
Athena grew up facing peers and even schoolteachers who thought she was
lying about her grandfather’s importance, so she learned to keep
quiet about what should have been a wonderful thing to share. Publicly,
Bill Finger was thought to have no descendants left until Marc Tyler
Nobleman, author of BILL THE BOY WONDER: THE SECRET CO-CREATOR OF BATMAN,
discovered her in 2007 while researching his book on Bill. Since then, she
has slowly made herself known to comicdom, although without ever attending
her first comic-con until BATMAN AND PSYCHOLOGY author Dr. Travis Langley
started THE CAPE CREATOR campaign to create a tribute for Bill in time for
this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Following a successful Kickstarter
effort, Athena has followed a journey of discovery, meeting with some of
the few people left alive who could tell her more about the grandfather
she never knew. Even though she has been without a computer since hers
died months ago, she stays active online with a very busy phone. Athena
Finger lives in Florida with her son and teaches math at Broward
College.
Athena and Benjamin will speak on two panels,
meet and greet fans in the autograph area, and make a special appearance
at
Friday evening’s Bill Finger Awards
ceremony.
Panel descriptions, signing schedule, image
links, and contact information appear below.
PANEL
DESCRIPTIONS:
Thursday
11:30-12:30 Spotlight on Bill Finger, the Co-Creator of
Batman—2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the
movie
Batman, the 50th anniversary of Batman's "New
Look," the 75th anniversary of Batman's debut, and the 100th
anniversary of the birth of Bill Finger, the Caped Crusader's uncredited
co-creator. Not only did Bill Finger breathe life into Batman, Robin,
Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Gotham City, and one fantastic villain after
another, he co-created bat-free icons such as Green Lantern, Wildcat, and
Lana Lang. Bill's only living descendants
Athena
Finger (
The Cape Creator: A Tribute to Bill
Finger) and her son
Benjamin invite
you to celebrate the life and achievements of the man who first put the
dark in the Dark Knight.
Dr. Travis
Langley (
Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy
Knight) moderates a bat-tastic panel, featuring Bob Kane's
biographer
Tom Andrae (
Batman and Me),
writer
Mark Evanier (Bill Finger Awards),
actress
Lee Meriwether (
Batman: The
Movie's Catwoman), author
Marc Tyler
Nobleman (
Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of
Batman), and Cartoons Arts'
Jens
Robinson (son of Joker co-creator
Jerry
Robinson), plus special messages from legends like
Neal
Adams,
Denny O’Neil, and DC's last
surviving Golden Age artist, Wildcat co-creator
Irwin
Hasen.
Friday 2:30-3:30 Comics
Arts Conference #8: Who Created Batman?—Who really created
Batman? Was it the Caped Crusader’s officially credited creator, Bob
Kane, or was it his secret collaborator, Bill Finger? What did editor
Vince Sullivan, artist Jerry Robinson, writer Gardner Fox, and others
contribute when first shaping Batman mythos from the Dark Knight’s
debut in 1939 until he gained a young crime-fighting partner, a clownish
arch-foe, and a feline femme fatale one year later? Pulling from
interviews, biographies, personal communications, and external evidence,
experts conduct a forensic investigation into this question of historical,
cultural, and ethical importance.
Dr. Travis
Langley (
Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy
Knight) asks
Tom Andrae (
Batman
& Me),
Athena Finger (
The Cape
Creator: A Tribute to Bill Finger),
Marc Tyler
Nobleman (
Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of
Batman),
Denny
O’Neil (
Batman),
Brad
Ricca (
Super Boys),
Jens
Robinson (CartoonArts International),
Arlen
Schumer (
The Silver Age of Comic Book
Art),
Michael Uslan (
The Dark
Knight films), and
Nicky
Wheeler-Nicholson (
granddaughter of DC Comics’
founder) the basic question: Who built the bat?
Room
26AB
SIGNING SCHEDULE:
Athena
Finger and Dr. Travis Langley will sign or simply meet and greet fans in
the main autograph area, with appearances by fellow authors and other
Golden Age creators’ granddaughters.
Thursday
AA20
01:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Friday AA21 10:00 AM - 02:30 PM
Saturday AA21 10:00 AM - 02:30 PM
Sunday AA21 10:00 AM - 01:30 PM