Other Bill Finger-esque stories to be told

Since Batman & Bill premiered in 2017, people who learned of my efforts to get credit for Batman co-creator and original writer Bill Finger have contacted me with stories of other unsung creators, inventors, and pioneers (some of whom, like Bill, were cut off from their legacy). 

Some of these folks reached out to me just as an FYI. But most are asking for one of two things: advice on seeking a resolution for their cause or an author to write a book on the secret(s) they know.

The list of people/concepts I want to write about is already too long for me to finish in one lifetime, so while plenty of these proposed subjects seem worthy, I don’t plan to pursue any at the moment. 

Therefore, though I’m not a licensed matchmaker, I’m posting a list. If any journalist, lawyer, or fellow writer would like to look into any of these stories, email me and I’ll see about making an introduction. 

NOTES: 

• I’ve researched none of this so make no claims to the authenticity of any of this.
• I included the name of a creator/innovator in question only when that name is already publicly connected to the IP/incident in question.
• This is only a partial list of subjects I’ve been pitched. (I did not include ones that seem more like conspiracy theory than viable claim.)
• As more subjects come in, I will add to this list.

characters:

• G.I. Joe doll
• Kimba the White Lion (as unacknowledged inspiration for The Lion King)
• Spawn
• Super Mario Bros.
• Power Rangers/Gene Pelc
• The Walking Dead/Kingdom Hearts (allegedly from the same creator)
• Gladiator (2000 Academy Award for Best Picture)
• Finding Nemo (2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature)

creators/inventors/pioneers:

• George A. Wyman, first person to cross the U.S. by motor vehicle (motorbike, 1903)
• Lotte Reiniger, director of one of the earliest animated feature films (released in 1926, 11 years before Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
• a person whose photographs of writer Robert Graves and poet Laura Riding are being used without permission in a film
• Rear Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, commander-in-chief of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor on 12/7/41
• J. Warren Bowman, pioneer of the baseball card industry 
• Leo F. Ferris, NBA co-founder and 24-second shot clock co-creator 
• Larry Shinoda, designer of the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray
• Gene L. Coon, Star Trek writer
• Otis Davis, first person to wear a Nike tennis shoe
• Big Wheel (debuted in 1969)
• solid-handled balisong knives (butterfly knives)
• Boston (the band)
• singer of many pop songs including “Girl You Know It’s True,” released by Milli Vanilli (a group that, as you probably know, hid its own secret)

No Google doodle for Bill Finger’s 100th birthday

At precisely midnight overlooking today, February 8, I tweeted this:

 

But as the world can see, the passionate movement to get Bill Finger the Google doodle for this milestone did not succeed.

Greatly appreciated support from The Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, Washington Post, Spectator Tribune, Tablet, The Beat, Comic Book Resources, IGN, Bleeding Cool, Comics Alliance, Den of Geek, ComicBook.com, many more sites, Kevin Smith (and his popular podcast Fat Man on Batman), Brad Meltzer, and other notables was not enough to convince Google how culturally significant this day—this man—is.

Most bafflingly, the tremendous outpouring of support from the public was not enough. I cannot thank you all enough. A sampling of early-morning tweets:

• Is there really no Google Doodle at all on Bill Finger’s birthday? Very disappointing.
• So sad that google didn’t come through.
• Insult to injury, @GoogleDoodles. All those proposals for Bill Finger’s 100th and you go with no doodle at all today.
• Your efforts for the likes of Finger, Siegel and Shuster remain incredible and admirable. Sorry Google didn’t come through.
• Well Happy 100th Birthday to Bill Finger. Pretty disappointed @google didn’t do a doodle to celebrate and honor the true Batman creator.
• So, Google hasn’t heeded the petition to have a Google Doodle to celebrate Bill Finger’s 100th birthday.
• happy birthday to Bill Finger, although google didn’t produce, you however did sir!
• Booooooogle

When I saw the (cool) Olympics opening day doodle yesterday, February 7, I worried.

So I did a quick study.

• The only years Google ran an Olympic doodle daily were 2000 and 2012 (both times for the summer games).
• In 2002, they ran a winter doodle on only some of the days.
• In 2010, they ran a winter doodle only on opening day.
• I reasoned that although this doodle actually went online on the evening of February 6, it was probably not technically running two days in a row. I believe it posted when it did because it was already the next day in Russia, where the Olympics are taking place.

It is bummer enough that there is no Bill doodle but somehow even worse that it’s not because there is an Olympic doodle. Seeing the regular Google logo sit motionlessly on the screen stings like a snub.

To be clear, I don’t feel Google owed me anything. But I do feel that we all owe Bill Finger something—and I thought Google was a bunch of geeks (term used lovingly)? Shouldn’t they have wanted to do this even without the massive petition?

Excerpt of my 1/31/14 email to the Google Doodle team leader Ryan Germick:

With only a week and a day till the proposed date for a doodle in honor of the 100th birthday of Batman co-creator Bill Finger, I realize that if it isn’t already in the works, it may be too late. But I’m an optimist.

Thus a brief update on the wildly enthusiastic and pervasive coverage this campaign has generated in the media (not to mention the thousands of tweets/posts/comments/etc.). As of the last time I wrote, the coverage was primarily in the pop culture press, but in the weeks since, it has crossed over into the mainstream. [I listed the press.]

Even some of the coverage is getting coverage. And I’m even seeing quite a few referrals on my blog from foreign-language sites that have run a story.

Huge, sincere thanks for your consideration. Fingers still crossed...

The e-mail I sent today:

Thank you for considering a doodle for Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator of Batman, on his 100th birthday (today). Many people are already contacting me disappointed that the campaign did not work.

Know you’re busy, and know it’s the weekend, but willing to squeeze in a two-minute interview for my blog to give the fans (including me) a pinch of rationale? If so, here are the questions:

• I tried to keep up with the many hundreds of tweets, posts, comments, etc., but do you have a sense of roughly how many emails you got requesting a doodle for Bill Finger?
• I didn’t find trace of any other doodle campaign that seemed to grow as large. In terms of size, how did this grassroots effort compare to others you’ve seen?
• Why did you decide not to do a doodle for Bill today?
• What about next year?

And a tweet to him (in response to a Batman-related tweet of his from just a week ago):

[IMPORTANT NOTE: For Bill’s sake, please do not also tweet him!]

Ultimately, Athena Finger, Bill’s lone grandchild, said something that made me feel a little better: “It would have been super cool if it happened but I really love the attention it brought to Bill and our cause; I have met some of the most amazing people in the last month and hearing their stories trumps anything Google did or didn’t do.”

 

art by Ty Templeton 

More response/backlash.

A Bill Finger memorial in Poe Park in the Bronx, part 3 of 3

Part 2.

Here is my proposal for a Bill Finger memorial in the Bronx:

Goal: Install a modest memorial statue in Poe Park for Bill Finger, the uncredited co-creator, original writer, and visual architect of perhaps the world’s most popular superhero, Batman.

Background: I am the author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, which has generated extensive media including NPR’s All Things Considered and Forbes, and has made best-of-the-year lists at USA Today, Washington Post, and MTV. Unprecedented in both subject and format, the book is the first to reveal the full and startling true story behind the creation of Batman in 1939—which took place right there in the Bronx! Finger is like the Bronx itself—too often both are unrecognized for their cultural contributions. An installation to Finger would actually serve a triple purpose: help right a wrong, boost Bronx/NYC tourism, and make pop culture history. It would be the first memorial honoring a superhero creator in NYC, the Superhero Capital of the World.

Why Bill Finger? He’s the main mind behind one of the most influential fictional icons in world history yet his onetime partner, cartoonist Bob Kane, took full credit for Batman. Finger designed Batman’s costume; wrote the first Batman story and many of the best stories of his first 25 years (including his groundbreaking—and heartbreaking—origin); wrote the first stories of popular supporting characters including Robin and the Joker; named Bruce Wayne, Gotham City, and the Batmobile; and nicknamed Batman "the Dark Knight," which has influenced the titles of two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Yet while Kane never wrote a Batman story, Finger never saw his name as co-creator in a Batman story.

In 1974, after a career in which most of his work was published anonymously, Finger died alone and poor. No obituary. No funeral. No gravestone.

No kidding.

Finger was largely responsible for one of our greatest fictional champions of justice. It is time for justice for Finger himself.

Why Poe Park? Finger and Kane used to brainstorm Batman stories there; see documentation below and attached. In the early 1940s, Bill lived on the Grand Concourse just north of Poe Park. Also, appropriately, Poe was the father of the modern detective story and Batman is known as the World’s Greatest Detective. The Batman-Poe Park connection was recently covered in the New York Times (though the article mistakenly states that Batman was created in Poe Park).

Why now? True, this is not the best time. The best time would have been while Finger was alive. But since we can’t go back, this is the next-best time. There are untold thousands of Batman fans worldwide clamoring for DC Comics to add his name to the Batman credit line. DC may not be able to do that at this time, but we can pay tribute to Finger’s legacy in another meaningful and bold way.

Batman’s significance (beyond the obvious):

Batman is iconic even to those not interested in comic book culture. To a relative few, Batman may seem like just another superhero; however, he is one of the most recognizable fictional characters in world history (let alone the most lucrative superhero of all time). He’s in a class by himself and therefore, so is his original writer/visual architect.

I know New York has been home to countless notable people and historic events. But not many accomplishments (certainly few cultural accomplishments) can compare to the magnitude of Batman’s influence—and it all dates back to a humble start in an unassuming apartment in the Bronx, thanks to the mind of Bill Finger. The Batman imprint at DC Comics puts out at least thirteen Batman-themed comic books every month. (The next most popular, Superman, has only four.) Batman currently appears on the list of the top 20 highest-grossing films of all time...twice (and it’s not just teenaged boys making those movies break records). Batman has starred in TV animation since 1968 and almost continuously since 1992. The examples go on and on.

Target date: 2014 (75th anniversary of Batman, 100th anniversary of Finger’s birth, 40th anniversary of Finger’s death). We would be able to piggyback on other media, though this being an unprecedented project will almost certainly generate media on its own.

Legal aspect: Though Kane’s contract with DC prevents DC from officially co-crediting Finger, DC does give him credit for every story he wrote. What’s more, I have extensive documentation from publications produced or sanctioned by DC Comics crediting Finger equally with Kane for Batman. (Also, this is almost certainly a partial list.) I have annotated my book, the result of five years of meticulous research, line by line. Some of the evidence in Finger’s favor comes from the unlikeliest source: Kane’s 1989 autobiography. Bill the Boy Wonder was published in July 2012 without incident. My previous nonfiction superhero book, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, was also about a DC Comics character. My hunch is that DC Comics wants to do more for Finger but they are contractually restricted, so they are pleased when others step up to do what they can’t.

Cost: I plan to use Kickstarter and private sources.

Sources for the Batman-Poe Park connection:

Batman & Me, Bob Kane and Tom Andrae, Eclipse Books, 1989, p. 41: "We used to hang out at Poe Park." This is Bob Kane’s autobiography.

The Steranko History of Comics, Volume 1, James Steranko, Supergraphics, Reading, PA, 1970, p. 44: "He asked Bill to meet him later at Edgar Allan Poe Park to discuss a new strip." This is one of the definitive resources on comics history, and the only book to publish an interview with Finger in his lifetime.

Amazing World of DC Comics #1, uncredited article, DC Comics, July-August 1974, p. 28: "Bob asked Bill to meet him later at Edgar Allan Poe Park to discuss a new strip"

Famous 1st Edition (Batman #1) # F-5, Carmine Infantino, DC Comics, February-March 1975, inside front cover: "They agreed to meet later at Poe Park, to work out the details"

interview with Julius Schwartz (longtime DC Comics editor who grew up in the Bronx): "Edgar Allen Poe Park, and there were benches there. And Bill Finger and Bob Kane would meet and plot stories"

I will do all I can to help make this happen and hope to have your support and collaboration. People dressed as Batman will come on a regular basis and take photos with it...

9/10/25 very belated addendum: No statue (yet), but in 2017, we did get a street sign.

A Bill Finger memorial in Poe Park in the Bronx, part 2 of 3

Part 1.

The story so far: I proposed installing a memorial to Bill Finger in Poe Park.

What happened next:

Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Art & Antiquities in the NYC Parks department, strikes me as a sharp, candid guy. I’d wager he knows more than anyone else about the history of New York parks (and the history of the history commemorated within them). He has the tone of a man used to fielding the same questions again and again over years—patient with an underlying irritation. Yet he kindly devoted time to me until I better understood the nuances of the parks system policy on installing monuments.

The policy, generally speaking, is this: no.

In Kuhn’s 22 years in the monuments division, 30 sculptures have been installed. I didn’t know if that is a lot or a little; apparently, it’s a little. Kuhn said that for years, NYC Parks has been moving away from sculptures due to factors including maintenance costs. 

In other words, it’s not me, it’s them.

I inquired about the possibility of putting a small memorial to Bill inside the Poe Park Visitor Center, but that, too, is under NYC Parks jurisdiction.

I mentioned Milwaukee, where fans raised more than $85,000 for a statue of the Fonz from Happy Days. Thousands turned up for its unveiling. 

meeting the Bronze Fonz, 2011

I mentioned Detroit, where fans raised more than $56,000 for a statue of Robocop. (Robocop. He doesn’t come close to the iconic status of even Batman’s supporting characters.)

Kuhn said that the NYC Public Design Commission in NYC considers pop culture-related sculptures in other cities to be bad examples of public art. (To be clear, I am not proposing a statue of Batman or even Bill Finger but rather an artistic tribute to Bill Finger.)

More facts I was fascinated to learn about New York and monuments:

• they do monuments only for people who are already widely known (“Think Gandhi”)
• certain people who got a monument then “became a trivia question,” prompting certain other people to request that such monuments be removed
• the potential to boost tourism is not a consideration in greenlighting a monument
• all park monuments are funded privately and endowed in perpetuity
• it’s easier to install a monument on private property
• it’s prohibited for monuments to include copyrighted characters (Central Park is home to a statue of Alice in Wonderland, but those characters are public domain)

The first criterion does not resonate with me because there are people whose names are not household but whose accomplishments are known worldwide. (For example, quick—who invented the cell phone? Sneakers? Pizza delivery?) I don’t remember the exact words of Kuhn’s response, but the gist was “Even still…”

Kuhn repeatedly said that New York has been home to many notable people and moments. (I would love to see a list of people who have been proposed and rejected.) More than once he cited singer Rosemary Clooney [aunt of actor George Clooney...who played Batman]. Kuhn said Clooney gave her first concert in Poe Park...and has no monument there.

He meant this as a reason to justify not approving a monument to Bill Finger in the same park, though that also did not resonate with me, for two reasons.

First, the cultural impact of Bill’s creations clearly exceeds the impact of the contributions of some of the “many notable people.” I know Rosemary Clooney was a beloved performer in her day, but today, is her name as well known or her influence as pervasively felt as Batman’s? (I’m not saying she’s a trivia question, but Batman debuted in 1939 and grows more popular with each new generation.)

Second, that fact that many notable people have made history in New York should not factor into any individual decisions. If someone deemed more notable has not been nominated, that should have no bearing on a nomination for Bill—or anyone else. I’m not suggesting “first come, first served.” I’m simply suggesting that each person be evaluated in and of himself, not in contrast to any number of others who could sustain a monument.

This reminds me of a yearly phenomenon regarding the Best Picture Academy Award nominations; there is always an underdog and always at least one “snubbed” film—but that is not the underdog’s fault.

Also, according to the NYC Parks site itself, “Rosemary Clooney is reported [emphasis mine] to have made her public debut at the Poe Park bandstand.” I don’t know how they don’t know for sure if Clooney indeed performed there, but we have multiple published sources for Bill’s connection to the park, including Bill himself.

I feel it is short-sighted for the NYC Parks system to decline Bill Finger in large part because they did not already know who he was. I provided what I objectively feel is substantial evidence why he deserves a memorial in New York—and it should have been enough even if I had just said “He was the main mind behind Batman.” Such a memorial would have deep meaning for many.

As of now, I am pursuing four other options, three in New York, and all of which you’ll read about here before long.

Part 3 (the proposal itself).

A Bill Finger memorial in Poe Park in the Bronx, part 1 of 3

Though Bill Finger was the co-creator of one of the most recognizable fictional characters in world history, almost nobody appeared to notice when he died. Even, at first, his only known child, son Fred. (Scribbled on the medical examiner report: “No family.”)

During my research about Bill (which began in 2006), almost no one I asked knew what had happened to him after he died. The most anyone thought they knew was that Bill did not have a funeral.

That, sadly, turned out to be true—and he has no gravestone, either.

Yet Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman goes beyond his death for six pages. This is noteworthy for any man—especially a man who seemingly vanished from Earth with no fanfare.

And the story of Bill’s afterlife is not done yet.

Early in the book’s development I knew that I would propose erecting a memorial in Bill’s honor in the Bronx, where he was living when he mo-created (mostly created) Batman in 1939. I envisioned this specifically in Poe Park, where Bill and Bob brainstormed early Batman stories.

from Bill the Boy Wonder; art by Ty Templeton

I suspected that navigating New York City bureaucracy would be a challenge, but for me, that’s hardly a deterrent.

(My first attempt to commemorate a key Bill locale, the privately owned Greenwich Village apartment building in which he lived for much of the 1940s, was not successful.)

In June 2011, I began chasing my Poe Park memorial dream, aiming for an unveiling in 2014—the 75th anniversary of Batman and what would have been Bill’s 100th birthday, not to mention the 40th anniversary of his death.

I started the conversation with the director of the Bronx Tourism Council, then heard nothing for months. In early 2012, a different contact at the BTC reached out. In July 2012, I heard from a third, the new director of the BTC, and began again, getting the green light to resubmit a tweaked version of the proposal I’d sent a year before. We exchanged a few emails after that.

(At some point I also checked back with the Bronx Historical Society, whom I’d contacted during my book research; I learned—as I supposed—that they have no governance with respect to memorials.)

It wasn’t until early November 2012 that the director told me she was not in a position to approve this. She suggested I contact Bronx elected officials. This included a senator, an assemblyman, and a councilman. I emailed them, asking for their support. I heard back from none of them.

In February 2013, I was rerouted again, this time to the Poe Park Visitor Center Coordinator. She also fielded my proposal, and she also reported back that she’s not the one with decision-making authority.

She directed me to Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Art & Antiquities in the NYC Parks department. He was the person I should have been in touch with all along.

His response: let’s talk.

It’s my nature to read positively into such short, cryptic suggestions. My nature, however, is flawed.

Part 2.

The latest on my picture book “Thirty Minutes Over Oregon”

The quest continues for a publisher for my nonfiction picture book manuscript about a man who flies—but not with a cape. (As was typical for WWII pilots.)

What also continues: praise for that manuscript, called Thirty Minutes Over Oregon (which may be retitled Thirty Minutes Over America).

courtesy of Julia Sarcone-Roach

My determination to bring this story to a wide audience was already sky-high but comments like the following fuel it even more:

“It’s so, so cool, and so moving. In a way, it reminds me of the mega-bestseller Unbroken—but for picture-book readers!” — editor, major publisher

“It’s touching and speaks nicely about ideas of nationalism and patriotism (both here and abroad), and multiculturalism, all in a really interesting way.” — editor, another major publisher

“I am blown sideways, gobsmacked, dumbfounded. What an extraordinarily moving story. It simply must be told. I can’t believe it hasn’t been picked up—that is a travesty! And I love how Marc promotes/pitches it on his blog; why, it’s heroic! His passion for the story is palpable—contagious even. He is a gifted storyteller. This tale zigs, it zags and then…whoosh, it dives and hits!” — writer

“The best argument for continuing to write children’s nonfiction I’ve heard.” — Julie Winterbottom, former Nickelodeon Magazine editor

“The story about World War II, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon, has to be published. I am amazed that the story exists and we don’t know about it. That’s what I mean, his passion is contagious.” — Michelle Haseltine, middle school teacher

collected after my keynote at the Nevada Reading Week Conference (though Thirty Minutes Over Oregon took up maybe 5 or 6 minutes out of an hourlong presentation, it got more feedback than anything else I discussed):

“Very interesting—this is great history no one knows about. I hope it will be published soon.”

“I am interested in Thirty Minutes Over Oregon. Hopefully it will be published.”

“Want to read Thirty Minutes Over Oregon.”

“Especially poignant was the publishing process story of the Japanese [pilot] who bombed Oregon.”

“The Japanese bomber story was amazing.”

“Hope the Oregon book goes public.”

“Loved his story about Thirty Minutes Over Oregon and hope it gets published.”

“Interesting Oregon bombing story!”

“The sad story of a great story not yet finding a publisher.”

This was not specifically about Thirty Minutes Over Oregon but is relevant:

“I loved your book [Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman], and your #nerdybookclub post. The more middle grade nonfiction picture books, the better.” — Adam Shaffer ‏@MrShafferTMCE

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman is about persistence.  

Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman is about integrity.  

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon is about redemption, and that’s a theme I can’t recall seeing in picture book nonfiction.

Will it take flight in 2013?

Pitching a Batman book to places named Gotham

Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman tells a true story that took place in Cleveland. I contacted hotels there to pitch the book as part of a hometown pride package deal, and there was interest.

Now I'm doing the same with Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, except the venue has changed. That one took place in New York—probably the most challenging city in America to organize anything like this.

Still, I try, and here are the venues I approached:

Gotham Bar and Grill

Gotham Hall

Gotham Hotel

Gotham Comedy Club

(This Gotham Hall is in Los Angeles.)

If you know of any other venues with "Gotham" in the name, no matter where they are, please let me know. And check back to see if any say yes...

Siegel and Shuster action figures (mail-in bonus: Bill Finger!)

Over the last fifteen years, the range of action figures produced has diversified in wild ways, in part thanks to companies like McFarlane Toys, NECA, and Accoutrements. It's not just G.I. Joe and Star Wars anymore:



Because of this, and because of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, I was inspired to pitch the idea of superhero creator action figures, starting, of course, with Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Bill Finger. Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde got the nod, so why not some 20th century creatives with significant cultural impact?

Action figures are traditionally a province of superheroes, so it’s a no-brainer both thematically and strategically to give creators of some of these characters the same treatment. Plus such figures could be put to good use beyond pleasing fanboys.

Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and their families have been involved in litigation over Superman on and off since 1947; Bill Finger never got that far. A portion of proceeds of figures made of them could go toward legal fees or simply into a fund for the heirs. Would not be big money, but every little bit helps.

What do you think?

"The Dark Knight Rises" and "Bill the Boy Wonder"

Batman is one of our greatest fictional champions of justice, so it is cruelly ironic that the story of where he came from hides a gross injustice: the man largely responsible for him receives no official credit.

What’s more, co-creator and original writer Bill Finger is the one who first called Batman “the Dark Knight,” yet Bill’s name will not appear in the credits of The Dark Knight Rises (nor did it in The Dark Knight). The nickname “Dark Knight” is so iconic that the word “Batman” doesn’t even need to appear with it; meanwhile, the mind behind it is left in the dark.

Yet I came up with one way to link Bill with the movie and hopefully do some good for my book in the process.

I individually e-mailed the following flyer to hundreds of independent bookstores across the country:

 
Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman publishes July 1.

The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20.

My proposed course of action for the bookstores is simple:

1. Ask the nearest cinemas if they will hand out the flyer to people who buy tickets to TDKR.

That’s it.

If even the smallest fraction of moviegoers goes for the same-day incentive, I’d consider this effort a success. In part that is because the smallest fraction of the projected audience of the movie—1.939 zajillion—is several nations unto themselves.

As it stands, I couldn’t figure how to extra-sweeten the deal for the cinemas…but they have nothing to lose, either.

Perhaps they’ll view this as value-added, serving their customers some historical perspective with their blockbuster. Perhaps they’ll feel a moral obligation to do their part for Finger when so many (but not Finger) will be making so much on his genius. Perhaps they just like Batman.

Bookstores, if you set the discount, and cinemas, if we provide the flyers, who’s in?

A Beethoven-Justin Bieber duet

In between my presentations at a Georgia school, the librarians were admitting frustration when kids ask for books about famous entertainers or sports stars of the moment. Some school and library market publishers produce such lightweight biographies because those books might attract a student who is otherwise not a motivated reader. And most anyone in education would rather a young person read a celeb bio than nothing.

However, I understand their frustration when, in the very same room, there is so much actual literature—including biographies of people whose accomplishments are more significant, not to mention time-tested—to choose from.

I was struck with an idea. What about creating two-in-one biographies, one on a contemporary figure and one historic—perhaps both from a similar field? In a music-themed title, one half of the book could be about Beethoven and the other Justin Bieber. Kids who pick up the book for Bieber may stick around for Beethoven.

But it may be even more effective to avoid themes; in some cases, themes would be too limiting. Who from pop culture, for example, could be paired with Joan of Arc?

Completely random pairings might seem bizarre at first, but would likely have the biggest payoff:

• Rosa Parks and Ryan Seacrest
• Clara Barton and Taylor Swift
• Harriet Tubman and Chris Colfer
• Matthew Henson and Suzanne Collins
• Thomas Jefferson and Shaun White
• Jackie Robinson and Chlöe Grace Moretz
• Alexander the Great and Jennifer Hudson
• Nelson Mandela and Eric Stonestreet

Creating profoundly unlikely team-ups is huge fun. Try it!

This proposal echoes a strategy some parents employ when trying to expand kids’ food repertoires: sticking both a noodle and, say, a piece of broccoli on the fork at the same time—noodle first. To get to the noodle, the young person has to go through the broccoli—and hopefully s/he will find that s/he enjoyed doing it.

4/20/12 addendum: See first two comments below for an elaboration on this last paragraph; in short, I am not equating the “serious” figure with broccoli in a negative way; rather I am trying to show that both the serious figure and the broccoli are worth getting to, even if by a bit of trickery! I’m trying to break their respective stigmas.

Martha's Vineyard Children's Book Festival

Like to read? Shore you do!

The first annual
Martha’s Vineyard
Children’s Book Festival

It will give new meaning to “beach reading.”

20 award-winning, untanned authors and illustrators
6 schools
1 billion grains of sand
1 historic day…

THE CO-SPONSORS: 

Local Bookstore(s)
Corporate Contributor(s) *
and/or
Generous Patron(s)

THE AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS:

TBD. But awesome ones.

THE SCHEDULE:

Chapter 1—School Visit Round Robin

What it is: three back-to-back author presentations per school:

8:30 a.m. author 1
10:00 a.m. author 2
11:30 p.m. author 3
12:45 p.m. lunch with authors (perhaps a select group of writing-focused students who applied/were chosen in advance)

Chapter 2—Beach Book Bonanza

What it is: an open-to-the-public afternoon of book-themed fun on the beach, including continuous book signings and the following activities (with more possibilities below at **):

2:00 p.m. sand character building contest (forget sand castles—kids make a sand sculpture of their favorite children’s book character; authors are judges)
3:00 p.m. kids vs. authors beach volleyball
4:00 p.m. aerial photograph (kids positioned to spell out “I’m Needing Beach Reading” or similar)

Prizes for all winners (hint: prizes are not waterproof).
Advanced sign-up and parent on site required for all beach events.
Other spectators encouraged!
In event of rain, alternate yet equally fun activities and indoor location to be announced.

Chapter 3—Sunset Panels and Performances

What it is: family picnic on the beach while listening to humorous, helpful, and unpredictable author panel discussions moderated by Local Celeb TBD, followed by an unprecedented, all-author variety show:

5:30 p.m. author panel 1
6:00 p.m. author panel 2
6:30 p.m. author panel 3

Panels can be themed or random. Themes can be straightforward (Funny Picture Books, Real Life Thrills, Debut Authors) or silly (Bald or Balding Authors, Do Talking Animals Need Clothes?, Books in Space).

7:00 p.m. “America’s Got Authors”—the authors team up and perform skits and songs based on their books; warning: audience volunteers may be called on at random!
8:30 p.m. book signings
9:30 p.m. tuck authors in

THE DIFFERENCE:

What makes this book festival one-of-a-kind?

• first-ever children’s book festival on Martha’s Vineyard
• possibly first-ever book festival on a beach?
• co-created by authors who have been to multiple festivals nationwide and have seen what works and what doesn’t
• authors sign and speak as usual, but also have a more interactive role throughout the day—including opportunities to step outside their author roles
• diverse schedule includes both enrichment for every public school on the island and programming for the public
• unconventional events such as kids vs. authors volleyball and author variety show likely to attract mainstream press

THE REST:

* among the corporate sponsors to pursue:

Six Flags (they run a summer reading campaign)
Vineyard Vines
Whole Foods
Stonyfield Farm
Ben & Jerry’s (maybe they’d even make a special flavor for the occasion such as Kidlit Choclit or Bookberry Muffin, only far more clever)
Melissa & Doug 
New England Patriots
Boston Red Sox
Read Kiddo Read
Nickelodeon
Scholastic
Blackboard
Life Is Good
Bright Horizons
Staples
BJ's Wholesale Club
Cape Cod Chips
Children’s Hospital Boston
Stride Rite
New Balance
Edutopia (a George Lucas company)
Domtar
other literacy-minded companies, particularly ones based in MA

** other possible activities:

• summer snowball fight (would require storing snowballs from winter in freezers and bringing them to beach in coolers; takes effort but huge payoff)
• kids vs. authors tug of peace
• print books vs. e-books reading race
• dunk an author booth (for charity?)
• shoreline scavenger hunt (find items related to the authors’ books)
• summer-themed quiz bowl on children’s books
• get photo taken in scenes from favorite books (those painted lifesized scenes with a hole where you stick your face); or maybe kids can design and paint their own?
• something green, i.e. cleaning up a beach, but must also relate to books somehow

If you are a possible Corporate Contributor or Generous Patron who wants to be part of the next generation of book festivals, I look forward to hearing from you.

Google doodle: Bill Finger

As anyone with a computer knows, Google is one of those rare brands willing to vary its logo. They have tweaked it to pay tribute to everyone and everything from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to Pac-Man.


 
So on 3/27/12, I pitched them (proposals@google.com) this:

You'd be lavished with undying praise by legions of geeks everywhere if you did a doodle in honor of writer Bill Finger (2/8/14 - 1/18/74), the uncredited co-creator (and, objectively, dominant creative force) behind Batman, even though cartoonist Bob Kane unconscionably took all the credit. Bill is widely considered to be the greatest comics writer of his generation (the Golden Age)...and the biggest martyr in comics history.

Bill died alone, poor, and unrecognized (no obituary, no funeral). I wrote a book on him to help preserve his culturally significant legacy.

While we are too late for this year's birth and death anniversaries, I think a date that would make an even bigger statement would be July 20—the date The Dark Knight Rises, the next Batman movie, comes out. It would be poignantly appropriate since it was Bill who first called Batman the "Dark Knight" back in Batman #1 in 1940...yet Bill’s name will not be in the film credits...

To be continued…I hope.

I'm feeling lucky.

12/9/13 addendum: I have since proposed this again, now emphasizing that 2014 is a triple Batman anniversary:

• 75th anniversary of Batman
• 100th anniversary of birth of Bill Finger
• 40th anniversary of death of Bill Finger

Please show your support for this idea by emailing proposals@google.com.

"Boys of Steel: The Movie"

No, I have no big announcement. But this 1/18/12 USA Today article boosted my hope that, before long, I might be able to say "They are (finally) making a movie about Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the co-creators of Superman":

The article points out the recent flood of period pieces from Hollywood. Since 2008, I have pitched Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman (which, incidentally, also made it into USA Today) to select movie producers. Some were intrigued but none made offers. The two most recurring reasons:

1. It would be difficult to obtain the needed permissions from DC Comics.
2. Period films are expensive to make and are not likely to be mainstream hits.

I understand the first concern (though certain Hollywood heavyweights have the clout to get it done), but this article deflates the second. Period films based on true stories nominated for 2012 Oscars included The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, War Horse, J. Edgar, and A Dangerous Method, not to mention fictional period films including The Artist, The Help, Hugo, and Alfred Nobbs.

So why not My Week with Jerry and Joe? Red Capes? The Geek’s Speech? It doesn't get much more mainstream than Superman.

Realistically speaking, potential complications involve more than DC Comics. In March 2012, a friend who works in Los Angeles reported the following:

I recently met Ilya Salkind [a producer on the Christopher Reeve Superman movies] at a comic convention. When I asked the status of his Siegel/Shuster film, it took him a full minute to register what I was asking. He then rolled his eyes and said it's dead due to all the legal troubles with the families.

Still, nothing seems insurmountable considering people have already overcome challenges to make biopics of other innovative and/or literary types, some obscure; to name but a few: Flash of Genius, Finding Neverland, Miss Potter, Shadowlands, A Beautiful Mind, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

I remain convinced that we will one day see Siegel and Shuster on the big screen. Their story is at once inspirational and heartbreaking and resonates even with people who have never read a comic book. I've seen it time and again at presentations I've given about them nationwide.

Plus Jerry and Joe changed the game for Hollywood so the least Hollywood could do in return is give them their time in the spotlight.

Calling Ron Howard...

Need by March 31: Jewish teens who like to write (and travel)!

I was thrilled to learn of an annual weeklong youth program that sounds like an irresistible cross between America’s Got Talent and sleepaway camp. It’s billed as “the premiere arts experience for creative Jewish teens.” It’s been running for years.

Then I was honored to be invited as of its ten artists-in-residence in Houston this year.

But we’ve just encountered a problem and we need to solve it by the end of March (yikes!): we need more teens. Do you know any who like to write?

The program:

In short, JCC Maccabi ArtsFest is one of the most enticing opportunities for creative youth I’ve ever seen.

Ten creative professionals in categories including Creative Writing, Acting/Improv, Dance, Musical Theater, Culinary, Visual Art, Rock, and Jazz all descend on one Jewish Community Center for one week to mentor a small group of teens from around the country; the culmination is a variety show where all ten groups of teens get to show off their stuff. It’s not a competition but rather a chance for young people to learn one-on-one from experts in their field; the teens take workshops during the day and socialize at night. Click here to learn more and to read bios of the artists-in-residence (but first read the rest of this post!).

The problem:

We need more enrollments or my category, Creative Writing, will be canceled—and the deadline is March 31. The program is open to Jewish kids from around the world ages 13-16. Cost is based on the city of origin.

How you can help:
Simply spread the word to any family you know with Jewish teens (specifically any who like to write) and any Jewish institution that might be willing to notify its membership. E-mail them the link to this very post: http://noblemania.blogspot.com/2012/03/need-by-march-31-jewish-teens-who-like.html. And please emphasize the need for immediate action!

If potentially interested, please contact one of the following right away:

• Stacie Graff, JCC Maccabi Experience Program Associate, sgraff@jcca.org, 212-710-6435
• Brittany Horwitt, 2012 JCC Maccabi ArtsFest Director, bhorwitt@erjcchouston.org, 713-729-3200 x3327

Thank you for your help. I hope to see your teens in Houston this summer! For my part, I can guarantee an experience that will have a huge positive impact—and be loads of fun, too.

“I have known Marc and his work with children in schools for at least eight years and I can tell you with complete honesty that he is the best, the very best, in inspiring children. He is able to empathize with them (and adults, also) to an incredible degree. As a matter of fact, he becomes a role model for many of them. One wrote in his evaluations, ‘Mr. Nobleman’s name fits him. He is a noble man.’ His books have the same kind of integrity. I cannot recommend him highly enough.”

—Susie Mee, Director, Authors Read Aloud (a Learning Leaders program), New York, NY

Bring back the Sea World superheroes poster!

In early 2010, I began to track down a bunch of former Sea World water skiing superheroes to interview them; I ultimately found more than 40, including seven of the ten in the famous poster above.

Not long after, I began thinking "reunion."

Lest there be any misconception, I was not one of them, so I was not doing this for my own benefit, but I sure would love to see it happen on their account. And sure enough, some of them had the same idea and have something in the works for fall 2012.

However, the kind of reunion I had in mind was not only a personal one but also a promotional one at a comic book convention. Because one of the two Sea World locations that featured the superheroes show was Orlando, and because many of these former show skiers still live in that area, it would seem that the best candidate to host such a reunion is MegaCon.

While speaking with MegaCon's head organizer, who seems open to the idea if circumstances allow, we came to the possibility of reprinting the poster, most likely with one small addition (MegaCon logo?) to distinguish it from the original, and distributing it for free at the convention at which skiers appear.

This poster was not published by DC Comics and does not feature DC licensed art, so I was hoping/expecting that the only real hurdle would be securing Sea World's approval. Sea World said yes if DC did, but because of unspecified legal factors, DC said no.

As you might have guessed, I appealed. DC (nicely) said no again.

The poster has something of a cult following among DC fans and offering a "retro" version in a controlled environment seems consistent with many other reissues and "nostalgia products" DC has approved; one example is the Retro-Action line of DC poseable figures (done in the style of the beloved Mego figures of the '70s), though they are, of course, sold rather than given away.

I think the buzz that reprinting this poster would generate would make whatever obstacles may be present worth surmounting.

Who wants to see this poster reproduced for MegaCon (and, by association, a Sea World superhero skiers' reunion)? I would ask for a show of hands but I don't want the pyramid to collapse...

6,291 unclaimed trunks = ? copies "Action Comics" #1?

Forty-nine storage rooms.

One hundred ten buildings.

Six thousand, two hundred ninety-one trunks.

Millions of items, any of which could be worth millions.

In the 8/8/11 New Yorker, a Talk of the Town piece by Nick Paumgarten revealed that there are 6,291 unclaimed trunks of personal belongings in dank storage rooms below Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a large apartment compound in New York.

These trunks date back decades to the 1940s, when the buildings opened, and of course the reasons they’ve been abandoned vary; the owners of some have died, but most likely most of those reasons will remain as mysterious as the contents themselves.

That is because it does not seem that anyone plans to open them. Well, some have been opened and some have burst open, but the article doesn’t say if there will a systematic cataloguing of the rest of the mass of material.

Which is why I promptly called Rose Associates, the property manager cited in the article.

Thus far, most of what has spilled out of trunks seems worthless—old clothes, canceled checks, ‘70s LPs. But I’m willing to wager that at least one of those trunks, and quite possibly several, contains an original copy of Action Comics #1 (featuring the debut of Superman), Detective Comics #27 (debut of Batman), or any number of other ultra-rare, mega-valuable comics, not to mention other kinds of valuables.

The companies that own the residential complex have been tasked with finding a more profitable use for this storage space. Given the understandably skeeved attitude of the property manager quoted in the article (who describes the air in those rooms as “unsanitary” and who said “I hate to think about the stuff that would come running out” when trunks are moved, etc.), I figured it would be worth a shot to ask if a writer could do research there. For all I know (the article doesn’t say), they might be planning to pulp those trunks.

I didn’t hear back from Rose. I don’t seem have great luck when it comes to New York institutions.

(I proposed holding a signing for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman at the Bronx Zoo both because of the bat connection and because Bill [Finger] lived in the Bronx when he co-created Batman. They said no. More on this in a future post.)

No matter. I will likely try again. After all, in most cases, searching for an Action #1 is as futile as searching for a Bigfoot in your bathtub, but that doesn’t mean one will never be found; and this is a scenario where the odds seem way greater than most any other I can imagine.

The location is right. (New York was the capital of comics.)

The time period is right. (Action #1 came out in 1938 so surely many copies were still lying around when people began storing trunks under Stuy Town.)

And to me, that amount of nostalgia packed all in one place bodes well.

Therefore even I, a person who has trouble concentrating if my finger accidentally grazes a sticky cup holder at the movies, would be willing to become a Detective, slide on gloves, and risk a rat carcass or two if it meant I might discover some Action.

Who’s with me?

Pottery Barn Kids

Over the last several years, Pottery Barn Kids has carried a variety of Superman- and Batman-branded merchandise, some of it retro style.


What better to do after completing a challenging puzzle than take a nap, and what better to do before a nap than read a book?

Therefore, I have pitched PBK my book Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman. The response: "We'll let you know if we're interested."

That was some time ago.

I will be pitching them again with Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.

If they take it, PBK will then stand for "Pow! Bam! Kapow!"

Year of the Bat

In 2010, when brainstorming promotional possibilities for Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, due in July, the Chinese zodiac inspired me to jot down “Year of the Bat” (which is not one of the twelve actual signs).

A Google proved that not only did someone beat me to it, but it happens to be this year.

Which doesn’t mean I won’t still find a way to use that phrase. In fact, the fact that it’s a conservation effort only encourages me.

If for some reason a bat falls to the ground, it won’t be able to take off; rather it needs assistance, such as a person to put a stick at its feet for it to grasp, then lift it so the bat can drop and go.

And like a bat, this idea won’t fly on its own.

Therefore, I’ve already talked with several bat-related organizations and have one idea in particular that I’m trying to, yes, get off the ground. If zoo read this carefully, you might be able to guess what it is.

Trying to landmark a Bill Finger building in NYC

There is no permanent tribute to Batman in New York, the city in which he was created.

As far as I know, there is no tribute to any superhero in New York, the city in which many of them were created—the unofficial superhero capital of the world.

(Nationwide, the only memorials to superheroes that I know of are for Superman—Metropolis, IL boasts a large statue and Cleveland, where Superman was created, is home to a historical marker and recently installed commemorations at the sites of the former homes of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.)

Though the superhero most commonly associated with New York City is probably Spider-Man, Batman predates him by more than 20 years and his Gotham City is clearly a New York analog. Therefore, I feel that the first superhero memorial in New York (and it’s inevitable that there will be some) should be for Batman.

And naturally, I feel Bill Finger should be the focus. (At the least, the impetus.)

So I proposed it.

Of the various buildings in which Bill lived throughout Manhattan and the Bronx, I felt the one to start with was the building that housed his Grove Street apartment.

Bill's Grove Street building in 1935, roughly eight years before he moved in;
source: Museum of the City of New York

It wasn’t where he lived when he co-created Batman. Or Robin. Or Joker. But in my mind, and in the minds of some of Bill’s peers whom I interviewed, this apartment is “vintage Finger.” He loved Greenwich Village and it was probably quite an exotic departure for him to move there from the Bronx. He lived on Grove during Batman’s early success, from late 1943 or 1944 to 1950, during which time he did create the Riddler.

There are distinctions between landmarks, heritage sites, and likely other historical designations, but I’m not informed enough to discuss them. This much I did absorb: that entire neighborhood is already landmarked, meaning no buildings within it can be individually landmarked.

However, that wouldn’t preclude putting up a plaque. As such, I was directed to the company that owns the building and spoke with a kind man named Alex. (The Landmarks Preservation Commission must approve the location, design, and content of a plaque, but the owner of a building must first approve having a plaque.)

Alex knew of the building’s connection to John Wilkes Booth but (unsurprisingly) not of its connection to Bill Finger. He wrote “If we are going to place a plaque, it would also be helpful to combine the more important historical details on the building together with the Batman details.”

Though various notables have indeed passed through the building, I inferred he was referring primarily to Wilkes Booth.

In my proposal, I’d written, “I believe the Batman connection is [more significant than the Wilkes Booth one] because Finger was not a visitor—he actually lived in the building. And as of now, there are no other Batman commemorations in New York, so if we were to install a plaque at your Grove Street building, it would be Batman fan destination #1.” In other words, I felt that a potential plaque doesn’t need to include the building’s other history to be worthwhile.

I sent additional info to hopefully further explain Finger's impact. I acknowledged that he’s no Lincoln, but emphasized that Batman has had as much influence on our culture as a fictional character can.

In early July 2011, which was about two months after first contact, Alex and I spoke again. He said his kids had Googled me and were excited about my proposal, even suggesting that the laundromat currently occupying the bottom level of the building be converted into a Batman store. (I’m all for that.)

This seemed positive.

But the problem, he told me, is that it’s a residential neighborhood already crowded by tourists, and the owners don’t want to encroach upon their residents’ privacy. He did ask where I envisioned placing a plaque but was able to shoot down each of my suggestions. (Street-level stairposts—they have six or eight sides which are too small for a plaque. Stairs—if people trip trying to read it, they could sue. Front door—people need to take the stairs to get to the front door. You get the idea.)

What is the word for such a post with six sides? Hexagonical? No, a hexagonal prism.

His suggestion was to contact the block association to ask if we could install something on the window box on the corner. That seemed weak tea to me but in case it was my last option, I did leave the block association president a voice mail. He didn’t call back.

I tried one more time with the building owner, trying with all my passion to convey the grander reasons for agreeing to this relatively small gesture.

His response: “We have made our final decision. It is not workable for us to have any kind of plaque in front of the building.”

I have begun to inquire elsewhere with promising results.