As we mentioned back here, Bob Kane was voted a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As has just been announced, the ceremony will be a week from today — on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 11:30 in the morning. The location is in front of the Guinness World Record Museum which is located at 6764 Hollywood Blvd. and the guest speakers will include filmmaker Zack Snyder and DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Jim Lee. The Batmobile from the new Batman v Superman movie will be also be there.
Anyone who wants to attend can do so, just by getting there early and finding a place to stand behind the barriers. The event will be live-streamed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame website. More details can be found on this page.
When the star was first announced, a number of folks were threatening to picket it with signs saying things like WHAT ABOUT BILL FINGER? As you probably know, Finger was the writer of the first Batman story and most of the formative ones and there seems to be a widespread belief that he was as much the creator of the property as Kane, if not more so. Kane himself in his autobiography said he should have given his old friend and collaborator a co-credit…but the fact is, he didn't. As far as I know, DC and its corporate overlords are still contractually obligated to credit Kane as the sole creator. The press release for Kane's star describes Kane as the creator but does include the following…
Batman's first adventure was called "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," and was written by Kane's frequent collaborator, Bill Finger, who over the years would make many significant contributions to the Batman universe.
The press release also says, "Bob Kane continued to illustrate Batman's comic book adventures until his retirement in 1968," which of course is not true.
Last month, DC announced some sort of agreement with the family of Bill Finger (I assume that means his granddaughter) by which Finger will receive increased recognition for his contributions, including credit on the TV series Gotham and in the Batman v Superman movie. That is not the same as acknowledging Finger as co-creator but it is a major step.
Before that, I had been thinking that when Kane's star was unveiled, I'd round up a posse and make some signs and go protest the injustice to the late Mr. Finger. But the new arrangement to credit Finger in some ways wherever possible makes me a lot less militant on the matter…and the fact that I just had a new knee installed makes me unable to do all the walking and standing that a demonstration would involve. ..so I won't be there protesting. I still think though that if Kane deserves one, Finger deserves one. Maybe the next time a Batman movie is to be released, Time-Warner can use its considerable clout to arrange that.