Bill Finger made history…multiple times. Including three times (to date) after his death.
In 1939, he wrote the first Batman story (after designing the costume).
He was the only comic book writer to write an episode of the 1966 TV show.
In 2015, he was officially (and finally) named a co-creator of Batman. This is the first time in comics history that the credit line of an A-list character has been corrected.
He became the focus of Hulu's first original documentary (Batman & Bill, 2017) which is also the first film based on a nonfiction picture book.
On 12/8/17, Bill Finger made history yet again. He is now the first superhero creator with a street named after him in New York City. Bill Finger Way runs along the southern border of Poe Park in the Bronx. The street sign is at the corner of East 192nd Street and the Grand Concourse. (To get there using GPS, put in the address right across the street: 2580 Grand Concourse, Bronx.)
Here is the big moment:
The event began at 10 am and lasted about an hour. The speakers:
Jens Robinson, son of Jerry Robinson, co-creator of Robin and the Joker
Travis Langley
Lenny Schwartz, playwright, Co-Creator
Roberto Williams, playwright, Fathers of the Dark Knight
Julian Voloj
George Gene Gustines, New York Times
Abraham Riesman, Vulture
Rocco Staino, School Library Journal
Danny Fingeroth
Paul Castiglia
Thomas Sciacca
Art Cloos
Lucy Aponte, Director of the Poe Park Visitor Center
Delmo Walters, Jr.
Scout and her mom Stephanie, who came the farthest: Utah
my college buddies Mark Lehman and Steve Ostrower
At least two attendees reminded me that I was a bit pushy (my word, not theirs) when I was researching…but they said it with a smile and now have a greater understanding of my rationale. After the unveiling, a group (Athena, Benjamin, Alethia, Danny, Travis, and Art) took a tour of Poe's cottage. Glimpses:
amNewYork 12/7/17
Councilmember Ritchie Torres
Athena Finger
Steve Simmons
Kevin Conroy
Looks like I'm grinning back at Bill.
Steve and Athena pulled the string to
unveil the sign.
The joy visible here is precious.
Bill's great-grandson Benjamin
Steve and fellow Finger advocate Travis Langley meeting
George Gene Gustines of the New York Times
Councilmember Torres received this letter from DC Comics
the night before the unveiling. No DC reps that I know of attended.
I was the last person from the unveiling to leave.
I turned around to take one last photo of the site and
did not see till I checked the photos later that I
inadvertently captured someone taking a photo of the
hours-old sign.
Some photos are courtesy of Julian Voloj…who is in the process of making some Bill Finger history of his own… I have been lobbying for a NYC memorial to Bill Finger even before my book was out. This process was not easy. But like so much else about this story, persistence finds a way.
My remarks: My name is Marc Tyler Nobleman. I'm the author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, the 2012 biography of writer Bill Finger, and I appear in this year's Batman movie. No, not Justice League. Not The Lego Batman Movie. Not the direct-to-video Batman vs. Two-Face. I'm in the Hulu documentary Batman & Bill. For years I said "Batman's biggest secret is not Bruce Wayne." Not anymore. Bill Finger wrote the first Batman story in 1939 and hundreds more over the next 25 years—including his heartbreaking (and groundbreaking) origin. He even designed the costume. But his name never appeared in the credit line in his lifetime. Meanwhile cartoonist Bob Kane drew only a fraction of the stories and for only the first few years and did not write a single Batman story in his life, but from the start, he was the sole person credited. Holy fake news, Batman! This street renaming is a love letter to four B's: Bill, Batman, the Big Apple, and, of course, the Bronx. Bill wasn't born in the Bronx, but Batman was. According to my research, it happened on Kelly Street. Then Bill built the Bat-world from all over the borough. In 1940-41, Bill lived at 2754 Grand Concourse. In that period, he wrote the first stories with Robin, the Joker, and Catwoman and he named the Batmobile and Gotham City. In 1941-42, he lived at 50 East 196th Street, during which time he wrote the first appearances of the Scarecrow and the Penguin and introduced what he would later name the Batcave. Right here in Poe Park, he and Bob would sit on benches and brainstorm Batman adventures. But when Bill passed away in 1974 at age 59, many if not most Batmanians had never heard his name. He had no mainstream obituary. No funeral. No gravestone. No kidding. When I began my book in 2006, I was led to believe he also had no heir. His only child, his son Fred, died in 1992, leaving no offspring known to comics historians. The biggest moment of my research was when I learned that was not true: Fred did have a child, a daughter, which meant Bill had a granddaughter. I found Athena Finger, then she found the courage to fight along with her sister Alethia for her family's birthright. In 2015, after 76 years of inaccuracy, DC Comics added Bill's name to Batman. Justice has no expiration date. One of the most instrumental people in my research was Bill's longtime writing partner Charles Sinclair. Charles gave of his time many times to articulately tell me about Bill. Yesterday I learned that on November 15, at age 93, Charles passed away. Let's take a moment to honor Bill's old friend and my new friend Charles. Thank you all for joining us to celebrate. Fingerheads have come from as far as Utah—anyone farther? Special thanks to Athena and Benjamin for flying in from Florida. We're all indebted to New York Councilmember Ritchie Torres and his staff, especially three R's—Ronn, Rafael, and Raymond—for spearheading this tribute to two of the Bronx's most distinguished sons: the Dark Knight and the mind behind him. Batman is more than one of the world's most successful superheroes. He's one of the most iconic fictional characters of any kind of all time. That makes Bill Finger one of the most influential creators of all time. He died too soon to see that family and fans have reclaimed his legacy, so the unveiling of "Bill Finger Way" is bittersweet. Bill Finger made history. Team Finger corrected history. Now the Bronx takes lead in honoring that history by installing this sign, the first memorial to a superhero creator in New York, the Superhero Capital of the World. Next step: a statue!
In mid-November, I ping-ponged between six states to speak at seven venues over ten days. It was supposed to be seven states, but the day before I was scheduled to set out, what was to be the first stop, a young author's festival in Pennsylvania, was canceled. The rundown: 11/9/17 screening of Batman & Bill at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference, Phoenix, AZ 11/10/17 travel day 11/11/17 morning: speak at a B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) convention, Marlborough, MA 11/11/17 evening: speak to adults at a synagogue (in fact the synagogue where I became a bar mitzvah in 1985, Temple Beth David), Cheshire, CT 11/12/17 morning: speak to kids at the same synagogue 11/13/17 school visit, Providence, RI 11/14/17 school visit, North Dartmouth, MA 11/15/17 travel day 11/16/17 desk day 11/17/17 panel/signing at the National Council of Teachers of English convention, St. Louis, MO 11/18/17 screening of Batman & Bill at the Memphis Fantasy and Comic Convention, Memphis, TN In sum: librarian conference to Jewish youth group to synagogue to schools to teacher conference to comicon. The breakdown: AASL Getting there was less exhausting than the last time I went. Before the conference, I was interviewed on air by Dan Spindle, an ABC affiliate news anchor who earlier in the year had tweeted love for Batman & Bill.
My only commitment at the conference was to introduce the first kidlit conference screening of Batman & Bill, the first documentary based on kidlit, and do a Q&A after. This was a huge honor. Thank you to all who attended, especially for not leaving when you learned there was no popcorn. Here is the room while people were still trickling in:
After the 7:30 pm screening, I met up with fellow kidlitters Jenni Holm and Dan Santat simply to pose for this almost-midnight photo.
BBYO This organization was the defining experience of my high school years. This was the third time I've had the privilege of speaking at a BBYO event. I love telling the teens that my best friends in BBYO are still my best friends today—and they loved it, too.
synagogue I was the two-day writer-in-residence for Temple Beth David, the synagogue my family belonged to when I was growing up. Another honor. The one night I was in town happened to coincide with an annual Cheshire fundraiser called Lights of Hope.
It was one of the most peaceful and beautiful public displays I've seen—all the more special because it takes place in my hometown. school visit #1: Wheeler School, Providence, RI This was my third visit to this handsome school; the first two were in 2010, when arose a most curious situation involving the most valuable comic book of all time. I'm on way to becoming a regular! Thank you again, Dana Hahn and Liz MacMillan, for making it happen. school visit #2: Friends Academy, North Dartmouth, MA Something happened at this school that caught me (and everyone else there) by surprise and will keep the community buzzing for a while. After an assembly during which I told the Bill Finger story (culminating in the surprise discovery of Bill's granddaughter Athena Finger and the subsequent fight for credit), a teacher said she can add another twist: Athena was her student...in 1984...at this school!
with teacher Gayle Balestracci
Then a second teacher told me she taught Athena (and her sister Alethia). Yet another teacher showed me Athena's photos in archived yearbooks. Hundreds of student-made tiles bedeck the walls of the school (an annual tradition), and we found the one Athena designed many moons ago. My new young friend Beckett escorted me to it. They sold a lot of books:
And drew a lot of chupacabras:
I'm particularly excited about instances where a nonfiction story I wrote leads to a nonfiction story I'm a firsthand witness to or, similarly, when I'm part of any author-related happening that becomes a story in and of itself. Thank you again, Janice Griffin, for your efforts to bring me to your wonderful school. NCTE
At my book signing, at least ten teachers ate crickets. Yes, I brought crickets (three flavors: salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, bacon and cheese) to NCTE.
During my book signing on 11/17/17, I displayed them tastefully in three Starbucks oatmeal cups and offered any teacher who ate one a second free book. (Though turns out we didn't have enough, so we instead offered bragging rights.) My editor Nancy Paulsen was my right-hand woman. The inspiration for this promotional dare was the title character in The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra, whose unconventional appetite includes an insect that is even more repellent to the average human: the cucaracha (cockroach). The hashtag #bugforbook took over Twitter.
A four-part sequence:
This woman agreed to do it...only if I did it with her:
It was wonderful that one teacher tweeted that he would do anything to get kids reading, and this teacher expressed a similarly wonderful sentiment:
#notreally But Nancy and I were pleasantly surprised at how many people were willing. Huge props to these good sports and others we may not have captured. But the inciting incident that got me to NCTE was not the prospect of forcing unsuspecting educators to swallow bugs but rather a panel I proposed called "Funny, You Don't Seem Educational!" Its purpose: discuss the educational value of humorous picture books. My partners, my posse, my people: Erica Perl, Audrey Vernick, Tammi Sauer, Liz Garton Scanlon, and Josh Funk. Our moderator: Susannah Richards, who is so tireless I think she was moderating another panel in another room at the same time. We laughed and we learned from each other.
The only time I've been the tallest except
when posing (as an adult) with third graders
The evening festivities: back-to-back events hosted by Penguin Young Readers.
First was a cocktail party with authors and teachers in which teachers had to play "Two Truths and a Lie." Not many guessed my lie:
Answer hint: Dr. Seuss did not have children. Then a lovely dinner.
The arch, from farthest to closest: On 11/16/17, I enjoyed dinner with Chris Barton, Jenny Ziegler, Dan Santat, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Lisa Yee (first time meeting in person after being connected online for years), and Christina Soontornvat (first time meeting in person). The restaurant:
When making plans and coming from different hotels, Chris texted "Together or separate, we can all make our way toward Polite Society." I think he may have been talking about more than a restaurant… comicon We screened the film, I signed movie posters, and I gave a talk to a receptive audience.
Thank you again to Joe Thordarson and the folks at 901 Comics for your interest and hospitality! Six states + seven venues + ten days would normally equal 23 hours of sleep needed to recover, but not me. Not this time. I powered through, in large part thanks to the protein I got from eating two crickets.
