Marc Tyler Nobleman's Blog, page 121

Bill Finger's alma mater newsletter

Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman made the newsletter of the prestigious high school from which Bill graduated in 1933, DeWitt Clinton in the Bronx.

The “Bill the Boy Wonder” font: chosen with care

The interior text font of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman is Aldine 401 by Bitstream.

The book’s designer, Martha MacLeod Sikkema, told me that it was chosen “to give the page a period newspaper look, to match the dark post-Depression tone of the story. FontShop says it was designed by A. Tagliente and Francesco Griffo in 1929.”

Tracking down a childhood record

One of the challenges of Internet research is looking for something whose name you don’t know.

As a kid in the 1970s, my sister and I loved a record of songs about animals. It was long gone from my family when I tried to find it again. I wasn’t sure what it was called but I remembered that it included covers of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and “Rockin’ Robin.” I particularly liked a song called “Come to My Farm”; having never heard it elsewhere, I presumed it was an original. So that was where my 2007 search began, and where any search should begin: with the most specific information you have.

But a Google and an eBay didn’t find trace of the song or the record. (Even five years later, a Google still doesn’t turn it up unless you hit upon a special combination of keywords. Obscurity now!)

My next tactic was to take advantage of one of the greatest assets of the Internet, an asset so simple that many seem to overlook it: asking people. Never before have we had almost instant access to anyone who is not an A-list celeb (and even some of those are reachable on Twitter).

Looking to prove (or debunk) a recurring rumor about the Nazis? E-mail professors of German history.

Looking for descendents of a deceased person you’re writing about? Poke around on Facebook (unless the last name is common).

Looking for a non-famous record you loved three decades ago? Contact everyone online you can find who collects kiddie records.

This kind of outreach takes only minutes. It’s free to e-mail, of course. And you can ask as many people as you want at the same time at no cost and with no diminishing returns. Chances are you’ll find someone who knows, or someone who knows someone who knows, pretty quickly.

As I did.

So now I may be the only person in the world with "Come to My Farm" on my iPod.

WIRED GeekDad on “Bill the Boy Wonder”: “buy this book”

WIRED GeekDad 8/13/12

“Readers…will be fascinated to read the author’s note for its story of how Nobleman tracked down the various surviving members of Finger’s family, including finding that his proper heir was not the person DC thought it was. So the book has already corrected that injustice; we can only hope it leads to more public awareness of Finger’s involvement and thus corrects another. … Buy this book; it’s a great read.”

BillFinger.com

On a lark, I checked BillFinger.com, expecting it to be “domain not found.”

Yet it was found, found to redirect to Tales of Wonder (talesofwonder.com), a Georgia company that is “one of the largest direct market retailers of trade paperbacks, hardcover books, and merchandise related to the comic book industry.”

Tales of Wonder's Andy Eaton explained: “We registered BillFinger.com because we carry classic collections of his work. I suppose the kind of person who would know his name is our kind of customer.”

Hopefully they will have a whole new batch of customers now:

Andy went on to say “We have other classic creators registered with us, but it's early and I'm going to take a pass on looking them up.” (I tried Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko...none worked.)

"Call Bill Finger" (to the tune of "Call Me Maybe")

One of the catchiest songs of 2012 is "Call Me Maybe."

One of the blockbusteriest movies of 2012 is The Dark Knight Rises.

Perhaps it was inevitable that these two pop culture juggernauts would come together somehow. (After all, we've already seen a Superman/Justin Bieber mashup.)

But the Batman/Jepsen fusion is almost certainly not in a way you would expect:

The "Call Bill Finger" lyrics below are about the co-creator of the Dark Knight and set to the tune of "Call Me Maybe." If you don't know what some of lyrics mean, the answers are easily found in Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.

And after the lyrics, you will see how they could help you win something cool for your school...

Click play, scroll down, and sing those lyrics over Carly's:



"Call Bill Finger"

Superman was a big hit
Red undies, cape, really fit
Bob Kane thought he could do it
So he went home to draw

Bob’s hero—hungry for fame
Red suit, stiff wings, really lame
Well, all except for his name
There was promise in that

He needed someone
Who could make it more fun
Ideas second to none
Where you think he’d find this zinger?

That’s when it struck him
To fix his Batman
No need to worry
Just call Bill Finger

It’s hard to look right
At Bob’s version
But help is in sight
Just call Bill Finger

That’s when it struck him
To fix his Batman
Just point a finger
Right at Bill Finger

And all of Bob’s design
Did not last long
And this was because
He called Bill Finger

Bob took Batman and dropped by
A comics editor guy
Who thought this Batman would fly
But Bill was in the way

Bob chose to lie and to steal
So he could cut a deal
Did he think how Bill would feel
Left out in this way?

Bob went back to Bill’s
Knowing he had mad skills
To write tales with big thrills
Bill was writer, Bob was ringer

Bob took all credit
And kept a secret
No Batman stories
Showed sign of Finger

It’s hard to believe
Bob could do this
He pushed his partner
Into the wringer

Bob took all credit
And kept a secret
No Batman stories
Showed sign of Finger

And for a bunch of years
This continued
But one day fans learned
About Bill Finger

They thought injustice had occurred
And they felt so bad
And they felt so bad
And they felt so, so bad

They wanted Bill’s name on Batman
Wanted it so bad
And you should know that
They became so, so mad

It’s hard to look right
At Bob Kane, yeah
But here’s his picture
So try it maybe?

Hey, I just wondered
And this is crazy
If there’s a way to
Change Bill’s legacy

And all the many times
Bill’s been mentioned
Means it is time for
A big correction

Because Bill came into Bob’s life
We now have Batman
We now have Robin
We have so much to love

All Batman stories that you see
Are missing something
Bill’s name should be there

Hey, one day maybe…

Lyrics without music is like Batman without Robin.

So the challenge is yours:

Film you and your friends singing this song in a creative way. Be original! Be safe! Make us laugh! Make us cry!Upload the video to YouTube. If you are kids, you must get parental permission first. Must.Title the video "Call Bill Finger" ("Call Me Maybe"). This is also a must.
Post the link to the video and your location (state only) in the comments section of this post. Do not include your name(s).
In taking this challenge, you may win something fun for your school. I need to be able to contact any winner(s), so please ask a parent (not you!) to email me at the address at the top right of my blog; that email should also include the link so I know who is who. Win what? Here's a hint. More details to follow.
Notes:

To be eligible to win, you must sing the complete song.Rehearse before filming. Each line in my version has the same number of syllables as in the original, but you will still need to find the right rhythm for certain lines.There may be more than one winner, depending on my schedule.
Have fun!

"All Things Considered" covers All Things Bill Finger

In May, I pitched Guy Raz, weekend host of All Things Considered (one of NPR's signature shows), a segment on Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman. He said he had not received the copy of the book we had sent. He said they book three months in advance and do not book many books. He said sorry, but no.

On 8/8/12, armed with recent coverage from Forbes, Washington Post, and MTV, among others, I pitched Guy again. He kindly said call me, and during the call he said he would try to get me on. (He still had not seen the book.) The next day I hand-delivered a copy at the NPR office in Washington DC (by freakish chance I was already going to be across the street), at which time he said he thought it would work out. Later that day I heard from his producer. The day after, at 10 a.m., I was in the studio recording my interview.

This is what I said.

Huge thanks again to Guy and his gracious producer Walter Ray Watson.

"How to Be a Baby by Me, the Big Sister"

This is emphatically not a Batman or Superman or even nonfiction post.

Rather it is a letter of recommendation for the 2007 picture book How to Be a Baby by Me, the Big Sister (and Sally Lloyd-Jones and Sue Heap).

The book nails the voice of a girl who is approximately six years old as she schools her baby brother in the ways of the world as she knows it. My favorite lines (emphases hers):

When you’re a baby, it’s not good because you don’t have any hair.

You sing songs, but you don’t know the words. Or the tune. (I know the words and the tune AND THE DANCE.)

People have to carry you EVERYWHERE. (This is you being carried EVERYWHERE.)

Here’s What Else You Can’t Do [list culminating with “Actually anything really fun”]

Here’s What Else You Are Scared Of [list culminating with “Actually lots of not-scary things at all”]

And a special plug goes in your mouth. It’s called a pacifier and it’s to stop your scream coming out.

And when you go in the car, you have to sit in a baby-holder with a handle on it. You don’t even face the right way. (I prefer to sit in a seat like a normal person.)

Here’s What Else You Do That’s Illegal [list whose title alone is hilarious and spot-on]

A whimsical read for anyone and especially, of course, anyone with a sibling (older or younger).

My TED talk! On Bill Finger!

Sometimes a career highlight can be summed up in only three letters.

When I heard that TED, the prestigious conference devoted to “ideas worth spreading” in the areas of technology, entertainment, and design, was holding its first-ever talent search across the globe, I hastily submitted my one-minute video pitch on Bill Finger and the tragedy of superhero creators. (It ran a bit over, which would be the beginning of a pattern with me.)

That was in April. In late May, long past the time I thought decisions had been made, I got a surprising email. Of the hundreds who nominated themselves, I was one of 30 chosen to give a short TED talk in New York on June 7.

I travel the country (and, of late, the world) speaking to audiences of all kinds. I love doing it and I rarely get the jitters beforehand.

This was not the case with TED.

Perhaps only TED can make someone nervous about telling a story he has lived and breathed—and shaped and spoken on—for five years.

Part of the reason TED amplifies anxiety is obvious: it is on a world stage. But the biggest part of the reason is that the talks are timed…and you will be cut off.

Speakers could choose a talk length between two and six minutes, but TED said the shorter the better. I went with three minutes.

If there was no fixed time, and instead they’d simply said “Just give a short talk,” I would have been much more comfortable. But it was the fear of being cut short that threw me. So I prepared a talk that could be delivered in just under three minutes…if I didn’t screw up.

At rehearsal I screwed up.

But after, TED curator Chris Anderson and Director of Content Kelly Stoetzel graciously said that it would be okay if I ran a bit over now that they’d heard my approach. In other words, since they knew I would not run, say, three minutes over, I had the leeway to run 30 seconds over.

As for my screwing up, I am not making excuses…except for these two:

1) My afternoon rehearsal took place in the middle of Joe’s Pub in New York while what felt like 50 crew moved equipment around us frantically trying to get everything set up for the live event that evening.

2) I thought that the talk we prepared should be just a teaser since most TED talks I’ve seen are close to 20 minutes. I didn’t realize till the day of that we were expected to present a full, if succinct, talk. That last-minute recalibration also threw me a bit.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I knew one of the other speakers: writer Joshua Prager, who entered my field of vision with his riveting Wall Street Journal piece on what happened to the royalties for the classic picture book Goodnight Moon. (Go read it.) Josh was one of the evening’s highlights and I am going on record to say he will get invited to TED 2013.

Because that’s what this salon was about: finding new blood for the next Big One. A follow-up email from TED explained that fewer than 10% of TED speakers from this talent search would be so honored.



three photos above © TED; used under Creative Commons license

A TED tenet that I didn’t realize existed: ties are taboo for TED talks. Not outright banned but discouraged. At least two speakers who arrived in ties did not go on stage in them. TED = Ties Equal Dry.

My TED talk (which ended up running nearly a minute over):



Comments are being collected under the video of my talk on the TED (not YouTube) page, but only until 8/31/12, so please don’t delay in going there and letting them know if you think I would add something worthwhile to TED 2013 (with a more polished delivery, of course)!

I won’t screw up twice.

“The Thrilling Adventures of Superman” podcast

Thank you to Great Krypton! for inviting me to be a guest on the podcast and for allowing me ample time to rap about not only the Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman but also Bill Finger and even WWII pilot Nobuo Fujita. (He went up, up, and away, too.)