Same went on with newspaper strips (Alex Raymond didn't create Flash Gordon, or write it—he drew it). And the same, even today, with manga.

You know this because you were good friends and he told you? He never sued DC, there's no record that he ever considered it. He never seems to have complained, and he never stopped working on Batman, which was just one of many superheroes he scripted.

Well, Jerry Robinson is often credited with creating both those characters. And none of us knows whether actually Kane or Finger or Robinson is responsible. Bob Kane sold Batman to DC. Finger never tried to get credit. Everything that happened after Kane made the sale is moot in terms of credit. The list of people who…

I wouldn't do that, either. Where did I say I would?

Depends on how you define it. Is calling a character Batman, and putting him in something like a batsuit enough to say you "created" the character? Could an artist today secure copyright for a character just on the basis of that? (The answer is yes.) If you're asking about the "Batman mythos" you are entirely correct…

Both DC and the pulp publishers were going to sue each other until it because obvious it was a coincidence, and the two events happened too closely to each other for one to know about the existence of the other. This is very basic information…if you look at the historical record rather than wanting to scew facts to…

Patterned on Kane? Patterned on Conrad Viedt. And if you look at images as Viedt from The Man Who Laughs, and the first appearances of the Joker, the similarities are unmistakable.

Please lone me the time machine you own that allows you to know this.

Because people like the ones commenting here make outrageous claims. The only people who know what Batman originally looked like are Kane and Finger, and Finger has explained his contributions as refining what Kane brought him, not creating it.

Wow—someone wrote a parody—perfect proof! Get the lawyers!

Finger worked steadily and with good income throughout most of his life. He never left the comics field. He never tried to get credit for his work. Stop making him sound like Oliver Twist.

By your logic, Kane didn't screw Finger out of his legal rights—DC did.

This really is a contested claim, and no way we can answer the question at this point in history. Kane says he created the character inspired by Conrad Veidt The Man Who Laughs. Robinson's daughter (or is it son?) says her father created him inspired by a Coney Island funhouse logo. Look at images of Veidt from The…

Which, for the record, I agree he totally deserves. It's Kane being denied any credit by fans that bugs me.

Uh, the early stories are set in New York, and Gotham was already a nickname for the city. The costume was already there, but Finger did modify it—he tells the story himself.

And I've demonstrated I do, apparently. But none of this info is new; every book on Batman covers it. And no concept art has ever been found.

Uh, you're so wrought up you aren't even understanding what I wrote. There's no question Finger, Robinson and Fox were very important to Batman. But none of the concept art or written proposal remains, so we really don't know the genesis of Batman himself. And, Finger helping out with the design aside, all these men…

Yeah, Kane is much worse for hogging all the credit and financial reward once than Stan Lee is for giving minor credit but no legal rights or financial piece of the pie over and over and over. *rolls eyes*

Except, anyone who has ever read about Batman's creation knows this.

Whole lot of hypotheticals, there. Not denying Finger's contributions, just saying depriving Kane of any credit is silly.