Creators: Bob Kane

Creators

A growing list of influential artists, writers, poets, filmmakers, and creatives.

Bob Kane

I've already covered the creators of Superman, the original superhero, now I'll show my respect for part of the Dynamic Duo that created that weird creature of the night... Batman!  Kane was another Jewish kid with bold ideas and a pen in his hand.  He was high school friends with Will Eisner, and spent much of his earlier career freelancing his skills as an artist (kinda like me).  After Superman bounced onto the scene, Bob along with so many others rushed to create their own costumed superheroes.  Bob's idea came from 3 specific sources:

Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro (from "The Mark of Zorro")

Da Vinci's Ornithopter design

and "The Bat Whispers" from 1930, which gave Kane this...

and this...

and whatever the HELL that is.

So, when Kane put it all together he got...

...this.

Needless to say, we're all glad that his writer pal Bill Finger gave him a few suggestions to improve the look of it.  So by May of 1939, kids would get to look on the stand and see something from their nightmares swinging off the page.

 

For 10 cents back in 1939 you could buy the first issue of Batman.  Kane and Finger went on to establish the look, feel, and prowess of their new detective, and quickly found that their character struck a chord with its readership.

Though fairly crude, his artwork became a standard of comic work, and like all artists got better with time.

I love Bob's Joker.  There's no silliness here, he's just downright scary.

and he'll kill you!

Robin was apparently supposed to be the Watson to Batman's Sherlock.  but why didn't he wear pants?

Besides, Batman works better alone.

To make a long story short (too late) Bob the humble artist left a pretty enormous impact on the world with his funnybook idea.  That's my plan too.

 Long live the Bat-Man!