Batman und Bill

Incredibly touching. After watching a similar documentary on Superman, I was skeptical I would get anything out of this other than some mild entertainment.

The two stories are similar but this documentary was so well done, that I was almost moved to tears by the end.

I highly recommend this film.

If you are a Batman fan, this is the best 90 minutes you can spend learning about the history of the Caped Crusader. This is great story telling straight from the heart. The doc contains all kinds of trivia and history you never knew before. From the creation of the Batman character to the most recent movie, you'll find out things you never knew before.

This is an interesting one-sided argument. However it does ignore any investigation towards Bob Kane's contribution to the creation. Focusing purely on the speculative works of Bill.

A statement is made early on in the film, that Bill was paid as a "Ghost Writer". Perhaps he forgot to look up the definition of that, because if true, it justifies everything Bob did, even if Bill did create it.

And later on, the film shows early design templates that Bob came up with, that apparently Bill developed further. A friend offering ideas and suggestions to someone else's work, is a bit different to plagiarism or whatever else they are trying to suggest. The original templates were developed by Bob, regardless of what changes were made along the journey to publication.

And lets just say for arguments sake, Bill came up with the design. Bob was the marketing business expert who risked actual money and time into publishing him. Comics books were a new medium, and other superheroes had failed. He was the risk taker, who compiled the team of writers, artists and colourist and steered the ship as it were through war time and kept the dream alive.

This documentary needed a deeper look at what Bob Kane added the equation, to balance out the argument and allow the viewer a clearer understanding of how much credit Bill deserves, and for what.

If you are a Batman fan, you have to watch this documentary. It shows how Bob Kane took all the credit for the character which he didn't make and how the original creator of our beloved charter was underpaid and never given the credit he deserved. It is a tragic story of a man who might have been forgotten by history if a few people didn't continue to fight for him even after his death.

Really awesome documentary about the real creator of Batman. Very well-made.