Marc Tyler Nobleman's Blog, page 115

Jerry Siegel "New York Times" obituary (1996)

"Intriguing...inspiring" - International Reading Association on "Bill the Boy Wonder"

The International Reading Association kindly reviewed Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.



An excerpt:

Tantalizingly, there is a story behind the story of the birth of Batman that is every bit as intriguing as the caped wonder. … Not only is this thoroughly researched story of artistic injustice intriguing and almost worthy of a comic itself, but the description of how hard the author worked to uncover details about what happened decades ago is inspiring. He even managed to locate Finger’s granddaughter by following every possible trail, even the most unlikely ones.

Saved some controversy for my blog

Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman contains several revelations, one of which particularly stunned comics fans—and even some regular people.
 
But the full story is not confined to the book. In our post-paper era, I left out some choice discoveries, with the intention of posting them here.

Two of the most compelling: the almost-successful campaign by Bill’s second wife to get his name into the credits of Batman (1989) and the evidence that Bill—at least once—stood up to Bob.

Some notable outfits picked up on these controversial topics:


The Beat (formerly part of Publishers Weekly; The Beat also addresses a third Big Issue I blogged about: are Batman and Robin gay?)


Blastr (part of SyFy, formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel)


Bleeding Cool


Comic Book Resources 

Earlier post with similar bent.

“Defies the odds…stellar, surprising” – Children’s Literature Network on “Bill the Boy Wonder”

In July, September, and November 2012, the Children’s Literature Network covered Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman in varying ways. Working backwards:

The November piece was a review; a flattering excerpt from a humbling assessment:

Defies the odds…stellar, surprising…Nobleman distinguishes himself as a four-leveled talent…he sparkles as an author.  … Be sure to read to the last page. The revelation is a true-to-life happy ending that would make even the Caped Crusader smile.

The September piece was more of an essay on the reason behind and the themes of the book. Excerpts:

Beside the fact that this book is about Batman…this book is about copyright and attribution and acknowledgement, something we all try to teach in our classrooms. While the Internet makes it so easy to pilfer someone else’s work and not give [him/her] credit, BILL the Boy Wonder delves into the effects that has on one man’s life. It’s easy to extrapolate how it might affect others. An extensive bibliography and author’s notes are just as interesting to read as the narrative. Nobleman describes his research, showing that he’s just as much a detective as Bruce Wayne.

High school and middle grade classrooms will value this book for its readability and its discussion-generating possibilities.

The July piece was a short interview—only two questions—with me.

Thank you to the CLN for so much real estate and for the thoughtful analysis of my work.

NPR cutting room floor

After I was interviewed on NPR, Seth Kessler, my longtime friend (and Easter Island traveling companion), somehow got a hold of part of the segment that did not make it on air. He is resourceful that way. 


Here is the transcript:
 
NPR:  Wonder Woman? The Lone Ranger? Pokemon?
MTN:  Yes, Bill Finger created all of them.NPR:  Cucumbers?MTN:  Yes, Bill Finger should get most of the credit for that vegetable.NPR:  That crumb on your face?MTN:  Yes, it was Bill Finger’s idea to put it there on my face.

And you thought you knew the full extent of Bill’s cultural impact.

Bill Finger died 39 years ago today

A few tributes:

Entertainment Weekly held a superhero showdown. In the end, unsurprisingly, it came down to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman) vs. Bill Finger (Batman). Jerry and Joe may have “won” in life (i.e. they got credit and money before they died) but here, Bill won in legacy:


The title bout:

Bill won in this way, too.

Meanwhile, I asked Siri who created Batman. Look whose name came up first.


Yes, probably only because it’s alphabetical, but let’s pretend it’s because it is a smartphone.

Finally, a comic book from my youth whose cover is a vivid memory is The Brave and the Bold #177.


Revisiting it recently, I saw something I had forgotten about. I was heartened how writer Mike W. Barr (a Finger proponent elsewhere as well) closed his tale:

Betsy Birds of a feather

Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman made a list entitled “100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2012,” compiled for the School Library Journal blog Fuse #8 by Betsy Bird.


It is only appropriate. Two of her kind (Robin and Penguin) are in my book.

The Betsy nod is honor enough, yet enhancing that is the company including Don Tate, Gary Golio, Peter Brown, Raina Telgemeier, Mike Rex, Name Dropper, Michelle Markel, and Lemony Snicket. The list also unknowingly contains a hint about an upcoming book of mine. Think Tink.

Thank you Betsy.

Small comment, big effect

The book:


The comment (on Good Reads):

“I just HAD to read this book. It had a GNOME on the cover!”

Gnomes are small. 

Every book cover could fit one.

I Want My Cat in the Hat Back

With appreciation (and, if applicable, apologies) to Sirs Seuss and Klassen.

Baby of Steel

I’m going on faith that this was a moment of bonding, not a desperate, 3 a.m. attempt to bore a fussy baby back to sleep.

 Arvi and Zoe; photo courtesy of my friend (and the mommy) Alyce Bybee