October 24, 1915. On this date Bob Kane was born. You probably dont recognize the name but you will recognize his comic book creation...Batman. He was born Robert Kahn but after high school changed his name to Bob Kane. He joined the Max Fleischer Studio, known for bringing Popeye and Betty Boop to the silver screen, as an animator trainee in 1934. In 1936 he started freelancing, working on various comics for the next few years. In 1939, after the success of Superman in Action Comics, editors were looking for the next great superhero. By this time Bill Finger had joined Kane as a writer. Kane showed a new character to Finger called the Bat-Man. He wore red tights, a small mask, no gloves and had two stiff wings on his back. It was Finger who suggested a cowl instead of the mask, a scalloped cape instead of the wings and a gray, black color pattern for his suit instead of the red and black. Finger also gave the name Bruce Wayne to Batmans alter ego. In a contract with DC Comics only Kane is mentioned as the creator of Batman but Kane credits Finger as being a contributing force from the beginning. When Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27 in May of 1939 he was an immediate hit. Over the next few years Kane was the head artist but hired others to provide color and background, eventually hiring ghost artists working under his supervision to keep up with the demand for more Batman stories. Finger would also create Batmans protege, Robin, realizing the need for someone that Batman could work with and confide in. Dick Grayson (Robin) would first appear in Detective Comics #38 in April of 1940. Kane continued in the comic book business but as that work tapered off he moved into television animation creating the characters Cool McCool and Courageous Cat. He wrote two book on his experience with creating and nurturing Batman throughout the years and was the creative consultant for the first three Batman movies starting in 1989. Kane died in November of 1998 at the age of 82.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:01:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015