Who really created Batman? Was it the Caped Crusader's officially credited creator, Bob Kane, or was it his secret collaborator, Bill Finger? What did editor Vince Sullivan, artist Jerry Robinson, writer Gardner Fox, and others contribute when first shaping the Batman mythos, from the Dark Knight's debut in 1939 until he gained a young crime-fighting partner, a clownish arch-foe, and a feline femme fatale one year later? Pulling from interviews, biographies, personal communications, and external evidence, experts conduct a forensic investigation into this question of historical, cultural, and ethical importance. Dr. Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight) asks Tom Andrae (Batman & Me), Brad Ricca (Super Boys), Athena Finger (The Cape Creator: A Tribute to Bill Finger), Marc Tyler Nobleman (Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman), Denny O'Neil (Batman), Arlen Schumer (The Silver Age of Comic Book Art), Jens Robinson (CartoonArts International), Michael Uslan (The Dark Knight films), and Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson (granddaughter of DC Comics's founder) the basic question: Who built the bat?
Friday July 25, 2014 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Room 26AB