Legends revealed: Bill Finger’s living heir and screen credit

Twice in back-to-back columns, “Comic Book Legends Revealed” at Comic Book Resources covered revelations that came out of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.

First, the decades-long rumor that Bill left no heir.

He died in 1974 with only one child, who himself died in 1992, and as far as most in comics knew before I began my research, this was the end of the Finger bloodline. Yet F is for Finger…and false. I found his lone grandchild, a granddaughter born two years after he died. For more on this debunked myth, check out these posts and the book itself.

Second, the decades-long presumption that (short of successful litigation) Bill could not earn a screen credit in a Batman film.

Each post generated some lively discussion in the comments section. And though it may not seem so at first, these two legends are linked. How this may play out is still on the horizon.