{"id":384,"date":"2009-01-03T21:42:22","date_gmt":"2009-01-04T02:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goldenagecomics.org\/wordpress\/?p=384"},"modified":"2009-06-30T15:38:19","modified_gmt":"2009-06-30T20:38:19","slug":"real-factor-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/goldenagecomics.org\/wordpress\/2009\/01\/03\/real-factor-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Fact…Or Fiction?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Spring of 1946, DC Comics introduced a new title to its readers, Real Fact Comics<\/em>.\u00a0 This anthology title was designed to present short stories detailing the “real facts” of the lives of famous individuals.\u00a0 The title ran for 21 issues until July-August 1949.\u00a0 Not only did the title provide biographical information about historical figures, it also introduced a new character, Tommy Tomorrow (issue 6), to the ranks of DC’s popular heroes (he later appeared in back stories in Action Comics<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Issue 5 of Real Fact Comics<\/em> (November-December 1946) was the only issue to offer a biography of the creator of one of DC’s super heroes, Batman & Robin in a story titled, “The True Story of Batman & Robin”.\u00a0 While this story was supposedly designed to tell the readers the “real facts” surrounding\u00a0Bob Kane’s\u00a0creation of Batman, Robin and their most notable villains, it was more fiction than fact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Real Fact Comics #5 (Nov.-Dec. 1946)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0The image of Batman and Robin on this issue was taken from Batman<\/em> #9 (February-March 1942).<\/p>\n

\""The<\/a>

"The True Story of Batman & Robin" splash panel from Real Fact Comics #5<\/p><\/div>\n

While it\u00a0was admirable of DC to honor one of its creators, this fictionalized version simply ignores the true origins of Batman, Robin, the Joker, and other elements of the Batman family of stories.\u00a0 It is now common knowledge that Bill Finger was the genius behind much of Batman’s creation, from the final costume design, to the well known origin.\u00a0 Indeed, in this story in Real Fact Comics<\/em>, DC allowed Kane to be credited for the creation of every aspect of the Batman, including the costume which Kane draws from a Batman costume sewn by his mother!\u00a0 We all now know that Kane’s orignal costume concept for The Bat-Man was nothing like the version that appeared in Detective Comics<\/em> #27 in 1939 (Batman’s first appearance).\u00a0 It was Finger’s suggestions that led to the final design.\u00a0 I wonder if Kane’s mother ever saw the original concept drawings!<\/p>\n

\""The<\/a>

"The True Story of Batman & Robin", Page 3 (Real Fact Comics #5)<\/p><\/div>\n

The story credits Kane’s fan mail for the idea of Robin, and tells us that the Joker was Kane’s brainchild after visting a novelty store with a friend, who plays a practical joke on Kane by spraying him in the face with water from a fake flower in his lapel.\u00a0 While it is\u00a0clear that Kane was involed in the evolution of the Batman family of characters, Jerry Robinson, one of the earliest artists to ghost for Kane on the feature, created the Joker (first appearance in Batman<\/em> #1, Spring 1940).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finger and Robinson\u00a0together\u00a0had much input into the\u00a0creation of Robin the Boy Wonder for Detective Comics<\/em> #38\u00a0(the first sidekick to appear in comics).<\/p>\n

\""The<\/a>

"The True Story of Batman & Robin", Page 5 (Real Fact Comics #5)<\/p><\/div>\n

The five page story concludes with a mention of the fame and fortune earned by Kane for his creation of Batman and Robin, and even has the pair thanking Kane for bringing them to life.\u00a0 This must have been sad for\u00a0Finger, \u00a0Robinson and the others (i.e. Dick Sprang) who did so much to develop the characters that became household names, and eventually american cultural icons.\u00a0 It is particularly unfortunate for Bill Finger, who was\u00a0responsible for\u00a0many of the Batman and Robin stories during the 1940’s and\u00a01950’s.<\/p>\n

\""The<\/a>

"The True Story of Batman & Robin", Page 5 (Real Fact Comics #5)<\/p><\/div>\n

DC did not formally acknowledge Finger’s work on Batman\u00a0until May, 1964 in the “Batman’s Hotline” letter column in Detective Comics<\/em> #327 (the first appearance of the “new look” Batman).\u00a0 In that column, Editor Julius Schwartz wrote of the next issue of Detective Comics<\/em>, “Invigorated by our ‘new look’ policy, Bob Kane – Batman’s <\/em>originator – has fashioned an extraordinary art job for ‘Gotham Gang Line-Up,’ inspired by the swell script of Bill Finger, who has written most of the classic Batman<\/em> adventures of the past two decades<\/strong>.”\u00a0 While DC chose to perpetuate the belief that Kane was still in charge of the art on all Batman features (which he was not), at least Finger got credit\u00a0for writing\u00a0 the stories for the previous twenty plus years.\u00a0 As far as I know, this is the very first written acknowledgment\u00a0 that Finger was the chief Batman scribe during the Golden Age of Comic Books (and long before Kane’s formal mention of Finger’s contributions).\u00a0 It also confirms that\u00a0Finger was still writing Batman stories into the 1960’s.<\/p>\n

Yes, Bob Kane had a good lawyer when he made his deal with DC for Batman & Robin, and this is the main reason that we did not hear about the contributions of others like Finger until many years later; however, it’s still unfortunate that those unsung Golden Age creators did not profit more from their wonderful creativity.<\/p>\n

UPDATE<\/strong>: June 30, 2009 – For further information about artists other than Kane getting credit, check out Pat Curley’s June 30, 2009 post at the Silver Age of Comic Books Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n