"Citizen Conn" by Michael Chabon

The 2/13/12 issue of The New Yorker featured fiction called "Citizen Conn" by Michael Chabon.

art by Jashar Awan

The abstract: "Short story about the attempts of a female rabbi at an assisted-living facility to reconcile two estranged comic-book artists."

From the first sentence of the story, I thought it was an analogue for Bill Finger and Bob Kane. The name of the artist who was wronged is Morton Feather (sounds like Finger?) and the name of the writer who did the wronging is Artie Conn (Kane?).

In the Finger-Kane dynamic, Kane was the artist (at the beginning, anyway) and Finger was the writer (though he also designed Batman's costume). Job-reversal aside, however, Chabon's story read like an alternate history had Finger not died in 1974 at age 59 but instead lived till old age, as Kane did.

However, Chabon's camp confirmed that the story was actually influenced by the relationship between fellow comics creators Stan Lee (Conn) and Jack Kirby (Feather).

Funny—rather tragic—how such a misinterpretation was possible. In the Golden (and Silver) Age, too many four-color greats were got.

From Cheshire to Chile to Cheshire

Today was my first day (of four) speaking at the inviting International School Nido de Aguilas in Santiago, Chile. It is also my first time in South America.

The campus is staggered down a rolling, grassy plot nestled at the base of olive-colored hills that look as soft as pussy willows. The students are appreciative and attentive. I was impressed with the ones for whom English is a second language. They seemed to be as engaged as anyone else.

The school exudes academic strength. Outside, I passed a group of students placing small mirrors on the ground and then doing something with a tape measure. I asked what the game was. No, one told me, it was a science experiment.

One of the highlights was an unexpected reminder of home—original home, that is. In my presentation, I mention that I grew up in Connecticut. One boy said he is also from Connecticut—and then specified the town of Cheshire. That’s my town, too. In my eight years of author visits nationwide, I can’t recall anyone else saying s/he was from Cheshire. I had to come all the way down to Chile to come across that.

track with mountains in background

another view of track

fantastic basketball court from same level

fantastic basketball court from above

mural designed by a former student who is now a staff member

same mural from farther away

flashback to Guam (scroll down to blue poster)

Evolution of my school visit "schlep list"

On occasion, a host at one of my school visits gets a panicked look when s/he sees what I bring for my presentation. Rather than come right out with what that is, I’ll trace the evolution, for fuller effect:

2004

1. portable whiteboard to draw on, plus the marker and eraser
2. slide projector (you read that right; more below)
3. the slides
4. small drawing to tape to the bottom of one of the students’ chairs before they enter the room; at the end of the presentation, I ask them to check for it to determine which student will randomly win a copy of one of my books
5. the tape
6. the book to randomly give out
7. my presentation outline
8. handouts:

feedback form to be copied and distributed to students

feedback form to be copied and distributed to teachers

referral form (to fax to other schools; probably no one ever used it)

list of publications that publish work by young people (to be distributed to students)

notes:

I don’t know why I thought the schools wouldn’t have a whiteboard, and a much bigger one at that.

Well past the ubiquity of PowerPoint, I really did buy a used slide projector on eBay. Though I expected to spend no more than $5, mine cost $68.

I carried it in one of those familiar, cavernous IKEA bags:

 
It was especially annoying to lug around when it was raining. Once I left it in the car overnight before a visit and it was so cold out that once inside the school it took 20 minutes for it to “thaw.”

The slides were more expensive than the projector.

If the kids sat on the floor instead of chairs, I’d tape the small drawing to one of their rears. Do not believe that.

2007

I finally began using PowerPoint, reselling my slide projector on eBay (for a loss at $44) and adopting the infinitely more portable flash drive. I had been postponing making this switch because I was worried that it would be complicated to make my first PowerPoint; I ended up throwing it together during one hourlong nap of my toddler daughter.

2008

I stopped distributing forms and instead e-mailed versions of them. Soon I would stop doing this as well, hoping word of mouth would ignite even without the thrill of paperwork.

2010

I was no longer referring to my text outline while speaking; by now I referred only to a printout of the slide show, and even then only occasionally. Soon, for my standard presentation, I would stop using notes altogether.

2012

I now show up with just a flash drive in my pocket, sometimes my camera in another pocket (though I often slum it with my iPhone camera instead), and sometimes some of the last of the Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman postcards. At times I also bring a giveaway. And at times, upon noticing upon my arrival that I have no props, my host gets that slightly alarmed (though fleeting) look I teased about at the top of this post.

I can’t help but smile when I think back to my heavy loads in the early days, especially when I now jaunt into schools encumbered only by this:

Batman and Robin gay? Bill Finger said...

In the controversial 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham claimed that Batman and Robin were gay and that their comic book stories were (perhaps subconsciously) promoting a homosexual lifestyle.

In 1972, Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator of Batman and Robin, gave an interview that remained lost until 2008 and unpublished until 2011; in that interview, to my great surprise, Bill was asked about the sexual orientation issue. Here is his response:

What about his claim that Batman and Robin were homosexual fantasies?

I knew many homosexuals but I certainly didn’t think of Batman in those terms. I thought of it in terms of … Frank Merriwell and Dick Merriwell, his half-brother, who was the kid he was taking care of. … In America we always talk about the Western hero and the pioneer kind of man—the Davy Crockett types—as being loners. They’re never really. They always have a sidekick. … Certainly there’s no homosexual relationship. It’s just part of the American syndrome. … It was just that the author realized that you’ve gotta have somebody to talk to. Sherlock Holmes had Watson—were they homosexuals? Baloney. You just can’t have your hero walking around thinking aloud all the time. He’d be ready for the men in white coats after a time. So we created a junior Watson and that’s all [Robin] was.

Incidentally, Bill's only son Fred (who died in 1992) was gay.

Interview at Author Turf

Brittney Breakey at Author Turf interviewed me and included my favorite kind of question: one I haven't been asked before. Three examples:

What element would you add to your writing space if money wasn’t an issue?

Easier to write before or after you were published?

What’s one rule you’re dying to break?

And here's an excerpt:

The work is done. How do you recharge?

The work is never done! But if I allow myself a break, I love to go for a run while listening to music. Running and writing go well together—both solitary, both invigorating, both something we all start to learn to do from a young age but can refine with practice.

Best of the blog 2011

This blog launched on 2/19/08.

Every February 19 (starting this year), I will share what I feel have been the best posts of the previous year (so saying it's the best of 2011 is a slight fudge since it doesn't include January and part of February 2011 and does include January and part of February 2012...you get it).

Without further hullabaloo:

research

• the building in which Batman was (most likely) created
• why didn't Bill Finger (co-creator of Batman) serve in WWII?
• Bill Finger named co-creator in DC Comics publications
• my bridge to Charlesbridge
• how to find an elderly woman
• before I had heard of Bill Finger
• Facebook as a research tool
• map of Superman's Cleveland
• was Bill Finger an alcoholic?

speaking

• going, going, Guam
• an argument for author visits

promotion

• pitching a picture book by blog
• interviewed by NBC
• interviewed by PBS
• hamster and gerbil at a book signing
• a book signing at a supermarket

publishing

• picture book tips and tricks
• nonfiction readers want new stories
• Bookball (as compared to Moneyball)
• first-ever interview with David and the Phoenix author Edward Ormondroyd
• surprising Edward Ormondroyd with his first school appearance ever
• books for kids need not be about kids
• back matter to the forefront

miscellaneous

• interviews with and rare photos of 100 "lost" stars of superhero entertainment
• how to use Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman in curriculum
• my PSA for PBS Guam
• what to remind yourself if you can't seem to start writing
• trying to landmark a Bill Finger building in New York City
• how I became a published author
• how I became a professional cartoonist
• Moses...or Superman?
• my take on Chris Barton's YA nonfiction title Can I See Your I.D.?
• I know where more original copies of Action Comics #1 are
• figuring out why hundreds visited my blog after searching "Superman's first home"
• more proof that Batman is more popular than Superman

The Batman Encyclopedia

In recent times, superhero universes (DC, Marvel) and the most popular solo characters (Superman; Batman; Wonder Woman; even a villain, the Joker) have been the focus of their own encyclopedias.



In our superhero-saturated modern culture, that is not so surprising.

However, in 1954, Bill Finger had the idea first. (That was his thing.)

Bill Finger named co-creator in DC Comics publications

Happy (what would've been your) 98th birthday, Bill.

My gift: credit, in the form of the following list of statements acknowledging you as co-creator of Batman. All statements were either published by DC Comics or said by a DC Comics associate in good standing.

“Now that my long-time friend and collaborator is gone, I must admit that Bill never received the fame and recognition he deserved. He was an unsung hero. … I often tell my wife, if I could go back fifteen years, before he died, I would like to say, ‘I’ll put your name on it now. You deserve it.’”
—Bob Kane, Batman and Me (1989), page 44

“The Darknight Detective debuted in #27, the creation of Bob Kane and Bill Finger”
—Paul Levitz, DC Comics President 2002-2009, Detective Comics #500 (published by DC Comics, 1981), inside back cover

“Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for National Comics, the company that would eventually become DC Comics.”
—DC Comics press release “DC Comics Names Legendary Batman Artist Jerry Robinson Creative Consultant,” 10/26/07

“Last February, The Batman lost a father. One of his two real fathers, that is. …his chief fame will always rest on his co-creation of the Batman legend.”
—Carmine Infantino, DC Comics Publisher 1971-1976 (during which time Finger died), Famous 1st Edition: Batman #1 (published by DC Comics, 1974), inside front cover

“Bob Kane and Bill Finger combined to produce a character that fit right into the Detective Comics bag, but changed the entire direction of the magazine and of the comics industry itself.”
—uncredited editorial, World’s Finest #184 (published by DC Comics, 1969)

“…Bob was only 23 when he and collaborator Bill Finger sat on a bench outside of Edgar Allan Poe’s house and talked about a different kind of comic character”; also refers to Finger as Bob’s “most important collaborator” and details some of the iconic aspects that Bill alone contributed
—Jenette Kahn, DC Comics President and Editor-in-Chief 1976-2002, “Bob Kane 1915-1998,” published in DC Comics titles

“…best scripter in the business and the true cocreator of Batman”
—Julius Schwartz, DC Comics editor 1944-1986 and Editor Emeritus 1986-2004, Man of Two Worlds (2000), page 155

“I’m glad somebody’s writing about him. You ought to call it The Father of Batman. You wouldn’t be wrong.”
—Carmine Infantino, personal interview 2006

“It was such a great creative effort by so many people over so many decades that really ‘created’ Batman. But you still have to look at Bill Finger as one of the two essentials. It’s Kane-and-Finger—and I say that in one breath—who were there at the beginning.”
—Michael Uslan, producer of the Batman movies and close friend of Kane’s, “Unmasking Batman,” Wizard #135 (12/02), pages 88, 90

“The Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing falls under the auspices of Comic-Con International … The [first annual] 2005 awards are being underwritten by DC Comics … Bill Finger (1914-1974), the unsung hero and co-creator of Batman, scripted the first and many of the best Batman stories during the Golden Age of comic books. He created many of the series’ most notable characters, including the Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, and Two-Face, and he made significant refinements to Batman’s concept and persona. Finger wrote the scripts that introduced the Bat Cave, Batmobile, Batplane, and Batsignal. Many terms he created, such as the Dynamic Duo and Gotham City, have become part of our lexicon.”
—from the official site of Comic-Con International

“Created by Bob Kane in collaboration with writer Bill Finger…”
—Batman: The Dark Knight Archives, Volume 2 (published by DC Comics, 1995), inside front flap

“Bill Finger was one of the true innovative talents and legendary figures of the comic industry … He collaborated with Kane on the development of Batman…”
—Batman in the Sixties (published by DC Comics, 1999)

“There was Bob Kane, 22 years old in May of 1939, and Bill Finger …Kane produced the art … Finger wrote the scripts. … So Kane and Finger fashioned something old, something new in the Batman.”
—Rich Marschall, Batman Archives, Volume 1 (published by DC Comics, 1990), Foreword, page 4

In Fifty Who Made DC Great (published by DC Comics, 1985), Bob Kane and Bill Finger biographies are side-by-side. Kane’s subtitle is “Batman Takes Wing.” Finger’s is “The Darknight Detective Emerges.” Neither is described as “creator” or “co-creator.”

Batman: The Complete History (published with DC Comics, 1999) introduces Kane and Finger on the first page in equal measure, never stating Kane alone is the creator

“He…laid the groundwork for a legend.”
—Batman in the Seventies (published by DC Comics, 2000), memoriam to Bill Finger

“[Bob Kane and Bill Finger] co-created the feature and Bill wrote it.”
—Jerry Robinson, one of the first people besides Kane or Finger to work on Batman, joined the strip the year of its debut, in the 1970s was the driving force in convincing DC Comics to give Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster credit and money for Superman, named a DC Creative Consultant 2007, The Comics Journal #271 (2005), page 80

“Bill Finger deserves co-credit for the creation of Batman, simple as that.”
—Jerry Robinson, “Unmasking Batman,” Wizard #135 (12/02), page 90

See also: Bill Finger, the Superlative Man.

School visit snafus

One author. Hundreds of kids. Sometimes remote locations. Computer equipment. Slippery cafeteria floors.

What could go wrong?

A few of the possible mishaps an author might encounter (I mean "an author sometime somewhere has encountered") on the circuit:

• PowerPoint equipment set up upon arrival, but not working
• PowerPoint equipment not set up upon arrival
• PowerPoint equipment not present at all
• PowerPoint equipment set up in middle of sea of students sitting on floor, but no remote (meaning you must meander through the kids to change each slide)
• No microphone with a big group
• No microphone with a small group
• Microphone battery conks out mid-presentation
• LCD projector bulb burns out mid-presentation
• Power goes out mid-presentation
• Ceiling tile plummets to the floor mid-presentation (this has really happened to me; luckily and amazingly, it didn't hit anyone)
  
• Principal not told there would be a presentation
• Teachers not told there would be a presentation
• Students told there would be a presentation but were expecting someone way more famous than you
  
• Classroom teachers don’t remain with students during presentation
• Presentation scheduled during students’ usual lunch period
• Presentation scheduled immediately after gym or recess of kids of pre-deodorant age
  
• Presentation in room next to a loud activity (such as band practice)
• People regularly coming in and out of the room during the presentation—and letting door slam each time
• Presentation in gym and basketball hoop blocking screen (this has really happened to me; it actually took some work for me to convince the organizer to raise it)
  
• School changes audience make-up in an impractical way without giving you warning (such as grouping kindergartners with sixth graders)
• Accidentally saying a word you shouldn’t in front of the kids (this happened only once to me and the word wasn’t so bad that I felt guilty when it slipped out)
• No available parking space in school lot
• Forgetting flash drive in school computer when leaving
  
• Forgetting flash drive at home
  
• Leaving the same time the buses are so you get trapped behind them for 30 minutes

Authors—please add to the list in the comments.

All of this is said with affection. None of this—even all of this—is enough to deter me from continuing to do as many school visits as possible. It is one the greatest joys and perks and privileges of my job.

Everything worthwhile involves a challenge at some point. And most things at one time frustrating become funny in hindsight.

A 365 180°

The store brand for natural foods juggernaut Whole Foods is called 365.

So naturally, I pitched them my book 365 Things to Do Before You Grow Up.

While waiting to hear from Whole Foods, I tweaked the pitch for Wegmans (whose store brand is called Wegmans).

And it was Wegmans, not the expected Whole Foods, that ultimately carried the book. (Actually, Whole Foods has not formally said no.)

World War II in elementary school

On 1/19/12, I spoke at Stonehouse Elementary in Williamsburg, VA, a town home to events significant to the American Revolution. After, as I was leaving, a fourth grade boy asked my host, the school librarian, for a book on another war, World War II. (Actually, he asked for “another” WWII book.)

Because of my (still-in-progress) efforts to get my WWII nonfiction picture book manuscript Thirty Minutes Over Oregon published, this lifted my spirit and reconfirmed what I’ve been saying: WWII is a topic both appropriate for and of interest to students in upper elementary. (Mine is not the first picture book written about a WWII incident, though given the resistance from some editors, sometimes it feels like it is.)

Even better, the librarian told me it’s not just this boy; the subject is wildly popular with many of her students—and it’s not yet a topic in the classroom. In other words, just because a subject is not on the curriculum (how you doin’, Boys of Steel) doesn’t mean kids don’t and can’t learn about it in school.

"Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood"

On 7/31/11 (okay, I’m behind, but with, I think, good reason), PBS announced the first animated spinoff—indeed the first spinoff of any kind—based on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s cutely called Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, it’s scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2012, and I wrote one of the first round of episodes.

According to the press release, the show is

based on the next generation of the original Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood characters. All of the original characters have grown up and now have preschoolers of their own. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood stories revolve around a four-year-old Daniel Tiger, son of the original Daniel Tiger, and his preschool friends.

My episode is about a fruit festival, and I will bedevil you by not revealing more as of yet.

I was thrilled (and, naïvely, surprised) to see the enthusiastic reaction in the press to this show. I should not have underestimated the appeal Mr. Rogers still has.

I suspect there will be much more to blog about the series as we near its launch, but for now, I can say I am honored I’ve now been a small part of such a cherished American and educational institution.

Go get 'em, Tiger!

Great ideas for schools #13: Bully box

In the main office of Waller Mill Fine Arts Magnet, an elementary school in Williamsburg, VA, where I spoke on 1/19/12, I saw a simple yet inspired way to combat bullying—a box for students to anonymously report hurtful behavior.

While I’m all for being creative in approaching this serious issue, at first I was skeptical (but not critical) of this particular method. The box is in plain sight of the office staff. I asked if kids were hesitant to use it because it’s not really anonymous when others can see them dropping in a note.

One of the staff told me the kids do use it—often in groups. Then I realized it may well be especially effective situated in such a prominent location. Every time a bullied student leaves the office, s/he’s reminded that the school is looking out for her/him. And every time a bully leaves the office, s/he’s reminded that the school is out for her/him.

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...

The cover for my 2012 picture book on Batman

Thirty-eight years ago today, Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator of Batman, died. No mainstream publication ran an obituary.

Twenty-two weeks from today, you will see my humble attempt at rectifying that.

Here's the first preview:

Batman hits the streets

Normally I don’t simply repost interesting images I’ve seen online, but here I’m breaking my own rule because I’ve recently come across two related to Batman (and related to each other in a way, since they’re both a form of street art).

One of many brilliant works by British chalk artist Julian Beever.

I don’t know the origin of this one. But it is a welcome warning.

The drinking problem problem

Same Bat-tale, same Bat-chatter.

Several claims about Bill Finger (uncredited co-creator of Batman) are widely repeated in circles where people know who Bill Finger is:

• Bill was as much if not more of the creator of Batman as Bob Kane—TRUE (subjectively but widely accepted)
• Bill was notoriously late when it came to deadlines—TRUE
• Bill was bad at money management and often dependent on advanced checks—TRUE
• Bill died poor, alone, and anonymously—TRUE
• Bill has no heirs—FALSE (and much more about that to come in future posts, not to mention the book itself)
• Bill was an alcoholic…

This one is more of a gray area, but my vote is FALSE.

I understand that this does not gibe with the presumption: a writer whose Big Idea was for all intents stolen and who then toiled most of his career without proper credit seems a prime candidate to be a boozehound—especially in an era when writers and alcohol went together on practically a romantic level.

But I don’t believe Bill drank to excess on a regular basis, and I don’t believe this is revisionist history. I interviewed most of the surviving people who knew Bill well and their statements carry infinitely more weight than reheated rumors from comics aficionados, be they fans or pros.

In 2008, Bill’s longtime writing partner Charles Sinclair (who has been consistent and balanced with most of his recollections) told me “Bill…enjoyed a drink [but] was not an alcoholic. He might’ve occasionally moved toward being borderline.”

Also in 2008, Bill’s second ex-wife Lyn Simmons said with even more conviction that Bill was not addicted to alcohol.

In an interview with writer/editor George Kashdan published in Alter Ego #93 (5/10), Kashdan said the same.

In an interview with Charles published in Alter Ego #84 (3/09), he again said he didn’t think Bill drank like an alcoholic and that he never saw Bill drink too much. He also said Jerry Robinson said that he (Jerry) didn’t think Bill had a drinking problem.

In Alter Ego #39 (8/04), Robinson himself said that anyone treated as Bill was might turn to drink, but that wasn’t the case in the beginning (meaning, presumably, that Bill wasn’t drinking when Bill and Jerry met, in 1939). I believe Jerry is elsewhere on record saying he wouldn’t classify Bill as an alcoholic, though I don’t have that handy. (Ah, the permissive beauty of a blog versus a print article!)

A possible counterpoint: In 2006, the late Jerry Bails told me “Drinking was a common out for writers, and Bill was no exception.” To my regret, I didn’t ask for elaboration, but I think he may have been speaking generally or extrapolating. In any case, Bails did not know Bill as well (or rather as long) as the others quoted here, nor did he live in the same city, and ultimately he did not say Bill was a drunk.

I do realize Bill’s network may simply be protecting their old friend, but some were critical on other issues. Therefore, I suspect that now, decades after Bill’s death, when asked about this by the first person to write a book about Bill, they would see the obligation in setting the record straight, if that was needed.

Everyone agrees Bill drank and most everyone said within safe limits, though some inconclusively. I stand by my FALSE vote and will leave it at that. (The book is for all ages so this is obviously not a topic I am addressing there.)

Part of my rationale comes from what killed Bill. It was not booze, at least not according to the Medical Examiner’s report…which you shall see here as we get closer to the book’s July publication.

3/25/26 addendum: What about smoking?

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?

The books I remember...beyond the stories

We all remember certain books we loved as a child, but often there is no story behind the story; there is just a gauzy recollection of joy.

For me, many classics fall into this category: Goodnight Moon, The Cat and the Hat, Caps for Sale, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day, Harry and the Terrible Whatzit, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Leo the Late Bloomer, Humbug Witch, Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Weirdos, Where the Wild Things Are.

Then there are certain books we remember because of a story surrounding them. These personal stories might take no more than a line to tell, and these books weren’t always favorites, but they nonetheless remain a memory.

These are those books for me.

Moose, an out-of-print 1971 picture book by the prolific, diverse Michael Foreman, is a paean to peace and very much a product of its (Vietnam War) era. Of course, when hearing the story as a child, that allegory completely escaped my awareness.

It contains a scene I remember scrutinizing: a bear set up in a room in the woods. The very idea of this—a room with no walls, human trappings blended in with the trees—was riveting to me, and the detailed drawing amplified it:

It’s no surprise that I love superheroes now, and probably no surprise that this dates back to childhood. I remember loving the chunky, portable format of Aquaman: Scourge of the Sea, not to mention the fact that it was about one of my favorite heroes (and one who was the focus of relatively little merchandising, making this a novelty).

Another superhero book I loved—also chunky, but not portable—is one I pored over in the den in our house; I believe Superman From the 30's to the 70's was a Chanukah gift. As an adult researching Superman’s creators for what became Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, I was startled and angered to learn that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s names do not appear in the book even once.

Like many males of my generation, I gobbled up the Hardy Boys. I remember toting the blue-spined hardcovers to my grandmother’s in New Haven and reading them on her chair until what felt like the middle of the night (but was probably only 9 p.m.). Even then I was attuned to—and interested in—the time period that produced them.

Around age six, I stood in the front hallway of my house and pleaded with my mom to let me take the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Golden Book to school. She wasn’t against me reading it or even owning it but did not feel it was appropriate for a Jewish child to bring in a Christmas book for show and tell. Mom 1, me 0.

The Power of Light by Isaac Bashevis Singer had eight stories, one for each night of Chanukah. I can’t say for sure I read one per night but do remember feeling it would make my Sunday school teacher proud if she were to find out I had it.

Chancing upon the novel Frankenstein's Aunt in my town library, I was fascinated to see a story about an icon told from a different perspective and with characters not in the source material; it may have been the first time I’d seen that. Today it’s quite common to see new interpretations of public domain figures.

This is the only cover of this bunch I’m not 100% certain about. I do know that in fourth grade I read a paperback about Squanto. Of all the covers I saw online, Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims came closest to a ka-ching, but I feel the one I read had trees and more color.

Also in 1982, when I was ten and Raiders of the Lost Ark was one, I tried to tackle the paperback novelization, which I got from my dad’s old-fashioned pharmacy/luncheonette in New Haven. A google showed that various covers were produced and at first I didn’t find the one I remembered: blue foil. I started to doubt my recall until I did come across the very one I pulled out in fourth grade free read. The language was tough so I didn’t finish it, but didn’t need to; I knew the film probably line-for-line.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man was another adult novel I read (but this time, at fifteen, I was a ways closer to actually being an adult). In a sense, it relates to the concept behind Frankenstein’s Aunt in that it is an update/twist on an existing archetype. I remember devouring it on my waterbed (sadly true) the summer of 1987 and feeling very grown-up about it.

And permit me to show a few that have no extra story but whose two- or no-color glory compelled me to revisit them with my own children.

The two middle-grade (if that’s what they are?) novels that seemed to linger strongest with me were built around small animals: The Mouse and the Motorcycle and The Cricket in Times Square. I still like my covers better than the various revisions I’ve seen since.


And, of course, this one.

There are more I can’t remember at the moment. I hope I do eventually and will then add to this post.

Bill Finger’s parents

Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator of Batman, gave few interviews. (It’s not that he wasn’t willing; it’s that he wasn’t asked.) And he mentioned his parents Louis and Tessie * precisely zero times.

Tessie circa 1945; I have no photos of Louis

What little is publicly known about Bill’s parents comes from two sources: a sketchy biographical sketch from 1941 (sketchy in that it brazenly whitewashes Bill’s involvement on any level with Batman) and Alvin Schwartz, a celebrated DC Comics writer and old friend of Bill’s who passed away 10/28/11.

From talking to Finger family and to FOB (Friends of Bill) who’d not been interviewed before, I learned that Bill and his parents had been estranged for most of Bill’s adult life.

Bill had also become estranged from his only sibling ** sometime before her wedding—and also, I think, before Batman (1939).

In Alter Ego #98 (12/10), Schwartz is quoted as saying, “[Bill] married Portia because he had to get away from home. He couldn’t stand his parents nagging, the fact that they would show up every payday and take his check.”

[Perhaps this aligns with the comment from that bio in Green Lantern #1 about Bill’s parents wanting him to be a doctor.]

In Schwartz’s 11/8/99 “After the Golden Age” column at World Famous Comics, he speculated that Bill’s dislike of his parents influenced the origin of Batman—namely, that Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered. That is heavy stuff and I hope it wasn’t the case.

Whatever the full story behind the rift, I suspect Bill’s sister sided with her parents; when I tried to find out what had happened between Bill and her, she wouldn’t say, even though this is going back seventy years and even though Bill has been gone for half of them.

** 7/9/12 addendum: Because of the way the earliest biographical sketch of Bill Finger was worded, I originally thought Bill was an only child. Then I learned he had a younger sister. Then via the 1940 census, which was made public in April 2012, I learned Bill apparently had a second younger sister...Gilda, born about 1920.

7/12/15 addendum: Louis was born 10/20/1890. His birth country is, well, take your pick. On two marriage licenses (Rosa, Tessie) and two draft cards (WWI, WWII): Austria. On Bill’s short-form birth certificate: Russia. On 1930 census: Austria is crossed out and Poland written in. Tessie was born 12/28/1892 in New York. Louis died 2/7/61 and Tessie just over a month later, on 3/28/61, both in the Bronx.

* 5/30/20 addendum (based on information I learned in 2013): It turns out Bill’s biological mother was not Tessie but rather Rosa Rosenblatt. She and Louis married in New York in 1912, Bill was born (in Denver, for reasons as-yet unconfirmed) in 1914, and Louis married Tessie in New York in 1916; I have not found out what happened to Rosa. Therefore, Emily, born to Louis and Tessie in 1918, was Bill’s half-sister. This implies that Gilda (again, born circa 1920) is also his half-sister...or another relative, or perhaps even unrelated. 

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.