BATMAN DAY Celebrations Finally Feature BILL FINGER Credit

By Bader Noaimi on Thursday, June 5th, 2014

Every day July 23 is Batman Day, so says DC Entertainment, to commemorate Batman 75^th anniversary.

Participating retailers can mark the occasion by ordering a new and free, (probably New 52-ized) version of the original Detective Comics #27 – Batman’s first appearance, published in 1939.

The cover will be drawn by Batman series artist, Greg Capullo, designed by noted Bat-fan Chip Kidd and scripted by DC veteran, Brad Meltzer.

That’s not what makes this issue special, though. What makes this issue special is that for the first time in the history of comics, Batman co-creator, Bill Finger will be credited on the cover.

DC Entertainment was prevented from ever crediting Bill Finger with the co-creation fo Batman due a legal agreement they made with Bob Kane. Finger’s family and comics book fans have long lobbied DC and the Kane estate to try to get recognition for Finger’s contributions.

Recently, Finger’s granddaughter announced that she would be making efforts to legally get her grandfather the credit he deserved, while fans are petitioning Fox to get Bill Finger credit on the new Gotham TV show which focus on Finger creation, Jim Gordon.

Other promotional Bat-items include a 75^th anniversary Bat-cape, Bat-bookmarks, and Bat-masks influenced by major eras in the Caped Crusader’s visual history.

You know what else is July 23^rd? Comic Con San Diego’s preview night! Batman Day will also coincide with the launch of two new Bat-centric series, Robin Rises: Omega and Grayson.

Also, for the entire month of July, there will be a Batman-themed variant cover for titles that don’t even have anything to do with Batman for retailers to sell on e-Bay.

But since this is an article about Batman’s 75^th anniversary, I am obliged to bring up Superman’s 75^th anniversary last year and whine about how little Superman and his supporting cast got:

Only one full-feature film
His film sequel got hijacked by Batman and Ben Affleck
Still has no television show
Only has 8 Super-family ongoing titles compared to the Bat-family’s “too many to count”
Two hardcover anthology collections, one of which primarily featured stories of Superman being a dark tragic figure, moping about loss and grief
One animated short
Scott Lobdell

SOURCE: CBR, Outhouse

Bader Noaimi is an aspiring writer with a love for all things Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Superman (at least for now). They like to write about social issues in comic book culture and seeks to ruin their friends' lives on the internet. A "Literature" student for nearly all of their life, they want to prove to people that comics are serious business. No matter what their mother says.