Man Says His Father Drew Batman First
After years of court litigation and bargaining agreements, Bill Finger has finally been acknowledged by DC Comics as a co-creator of Batman. His involvement in the creation of the Dark Knight was highly documented and was known to a lot of people involved in the Batman title.
However, both Kane and Finger's originality is yet again being tested as Frank Foster III is trying to prove to everyone else that his father, Frank Foster II, is the sole creator of Batman.
Frank III claims that Batman was allegedly created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in Detective Comics #27 which hit newsstands on March 30, 1939. However, Frank III also claims that his father already created the character as early as 1932. In one of his father's sketches, a muscular superhero wearing a mask that has small pointed ears and slits for eyes was depicted as the character named, "Batman." The notations were dated 1932--which predates the first appearance of Batman, Superman even, by seven years.
Foster III wishes to sell his father's artwork and that it be given a home preferably in a museum in hopes that his father's legacy will not be forgotten. He is convinced that his father came up with the idea for Batman long before anyone else did.
Foster II passed away last 1995 at the age of 86. Since then, Foster III held on to his father's drawings in hopes that DC Comics will acknowledge his father's works. According to him, he was afraid of battling for creator rights as he didn't have a deep pocket to go against DC Comics and Time Warner. Despite that, Foster II created a website that details the events that led to his father drawing a bat-themed superhero. The website was aptly named www.originalbatman.com. Moreover, the site claims that "they" stole Batman from Frank Foster II.
Heck, while we're at it, maybe I should also file a claim for intellectual property ownership over Batman. My grandfather was born on 1931 and family anecdotal provides that he always wore a black cape. hikhikhik
Source: bostonglobe.com
Paolo Ollero, 28, working law student, a comicbook enthusiast and a Batman historian, is one of the co-founder of The Dark Knight Philippines -- the premier Batman group in the country. He also contributes reviews and write-ups in Geekend Gladiator and Flipgeeks.
