Batman writer Tom King expressed his controversial opinion that other Batman creatives “should be credited as creators of Batman.”
King took to Twitter to respond to a tweet from TNT Drama asking folks to “quote tweet this with your most controversial Batman opinion.”
Quote tweet this with your most controversial Batman opinion. #BatWeek pic.twitter.com/jPbcz3Bv7K
— TNT Drama (@tntdrama) November 26, 2019
Tom King stated, “O’Neil/Adams, Englehart/Rogers, and Frank Miller should be credited as creators of Batman.”
He added, “At this point their contributions to who “Batman” is equal and maybe surpass Kane/Finger.”
O’Neil/Adams, Englehart/Rogers, and Frank Miller should be credited as creators of Batman. At this point their contributions to who “Batman” is equal and maybe surpass Kane/Finger. https://t.co/CBfObRFyDA
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) November 30, 2019
King’s opinion was met with skepticism.
Just to name a few… You forgot about Dick Sprang, John Broome, Carmine Infantino, and Julius Schwartz. All made equally important contributions to the evolution of the character. Hence why the idea of layering new “created by” credits could never, ever work.
— Landry Quinn Walker (@LandryQWalker) November 30, 2019
Not sure about “creators” as they worked on existing material, but maybe “improvers”? 😉
— Francesco Francavilla (@f_francavilla) November 30, 2019
It’s called ‘contributor’, and that’s what they are. Valuable contributors. Just like King is a valuable contributor now. New takes on a character can be an improvement, but is built on broken ground. Imo, this is a bad take in light of how ugly creators rights battles have been.
— JB (@jayBeNimble) November 30, 2019
you did say controversial. 😉
hard disagree from me.
the people who created the character created the character.
the people who created seminal stories using the character should get credit when those stories are adapted into other media.— Fabian Nicieza (@FabianNicieza) November 30, 2019
Wow, reading the thread only confirms the simple truth:
CREATOR CREDIT IS FOR THOSE WHO INVENTED THE CHARACTER(S).
It’s work-for-hire. Our job is to try and build on that.
Doing our job well means earning/deserving an “Adapted from a story by” credit.
Extra $ would be nice, too.— Fabian Nicieza (@FabianNicieza) November 30, 2019
Definitely not creators. I think everybody acknowledges how important they are to the development of the character, but they are not creators.
— Bobby (@Noejoseppie) November 30, 2019
Without Kane/Finger you wouldn’t have had your shot so why don’t you put some respect on their names for creating the character no matter how ‘different’ he is today???
— molly lebeau-wayne (@brucewaynehoe) November 30, 2019
Batman’s Origin
Batman was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. In The Steranko History of Comics, Bill Finger details a phone conversation with Bob Kane about how Batman came to be.
“[Kane] had an idea for a character called Batman, and he’d like me to see the drawings, I went over to Kane’s and he had drawn a character who looked very much like Superman with kind of…reddish tights, I believe, with boots… no gloves, no gauntlets…with a small domino mask, swinging on a rope.”
Finger continued:
“He had two stiff wings sticking out, looking like bat wings. And under it was a big sign…Batman.”
He then details how they made adjustments to the character’s design:
“I got Webster’s Dictionary down off the shelf and was hoping they would have a drawing of a bat, and sure enough they did. I said, ‘Notice the ears, why don’t we duplicate the ears?’ I suggested he draw what looked like a cowl. He experimented with various cowls. I suggested he bring the cowl nosepiece down and make him mysterious and how show any eyes at all. I was very much influence by The Shadow and Doc Savage, The Phantom, things of that sort.”
He continued:
“I didn’t like the wings, so I suggested he make a cape and scallop the edges so it would flow out behind him when he ran and would look like bat wings. He didn’t have any gloves on. We gave him gloves because naturally he’d leave fingerprints. They weren’t the gauntlet type; the came later on. We discussed Batman’s potential. My idea was to have Batman be a combination of Douglas Fairbanks, Sherlock Holmes, The Shadow, and Doc Savage as well.”
What do you make of Tom King’s comments? Do you think other Batman creatives should be credited as creators of the character?