Marc Tyler Nobleman's Blog, page 124

Super ‘70s and ‘80s sound-offs

A year ago today, I launched my massive series featuring interviews with an even 100 “lost” superhero stars.

Mondo comics site IGN covered it. The article (by good man Joey Esposito) is called “Unsung Superheroes: The Interviews.”

I enjoyed two reader comments in particular:

It is high time to recognize Bill Finger as CO-CREATOR of BATMAN! Why it takes a highly dedicated historian/intellectual comic geek to make us realize the TRUTH about Batman's creation?
—sharkpaul

Wow someone has alot of free time.
—blakmarvel79

Thank you, sharkpaul!
And blakmarvel79, yes, we all start off with free time. But many of us choose to devote some of it to hard work for others' enjoyment.

The Golden Age at San Diego Comic-Con

San Diego Comic-Con panels about Golden Age creators earned a nod on Slate, in an article by Seth Stevenson. He mentioned both I was part of:

One of the more touching themes I've noticed at Comic-Con has been the effort to grant forgotten comic book creators their due. Panel after panel has paid solemn tribute to comics legends of yore. ... There was a panel devoted to Bill Finger, the co-creator of Batman, who was denied official credit by his schmucky partner Bob Kane. Complaining that they don't expect to see Finger's name listed in the credits for the new Batman movie, the panelists urged us to give a symbolic "finger" when Kane's name appears [emphasis mine]. Another panel recounted the sad tale of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who invented Superman but then sold the rights for $130—70 years later, this is still the subject of an ongoing lawsuit.

I was that urging panelist but the finger I suggested giving was quite literal; in fact, I provided it to attendees:

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 – Bill Finger rises!

AKA the Foam Hand Rises! (You will see what I mean below.)

Bill Finger took me to the biggest pop culture convention in America, if not the world: Comic-Con International, commonly known as San Diego Comic-Con, commonly hashtagged as #SDCC. Thanks, Bill—it was well worth it and I’ll go on a second date anytime.

Before I went this figure got me suitably excited:

And though I worried when no line had formed outside the room before my first of two speaking appearances (“Batman’s Biggest Secret: The Bill Finger Story,” 7/12/12), a stampede of people soon showed up. I took these photos during my presentation (while they watched the trailer for my book Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman):


On top of a robust turnout, this presentation was so rewarding for multiple reasons, and here are three:

reason #1: It was the first full presentation I’ve given on Bill the Boy Wonder. The book has snuck into other presentations for the past year or so but finally gets a presentation of its own.

reason #2: I gave out a quirky promotional item I produced exclusively for SDCC:

This is how I first envisioned it, but full color turned out not to be possible (and the book cover would be too small anyway):

At the end of the presentation, I announced that I had 25 foam hands to give out then and 25 more the following day, with a condition: to accept a Finger hand, a person had to guarantee me that s/he would wear it at SDCC…and hopefully beyond. In fact, I asked those who see The Dark Knight Rises to “give the Finger” when they see “Batman created by Bob Kane” appear on the screen. I was swarmed with interested volunteers and wish I had enough for all. (I also wish I will see a person who flips the foam finger during the movie credits...)

reason #3: I spotted a man who was wearing the promotional item I handed out at last year’s SDCC, a T-shirt of which I distributed only about ten (and which was also yellow):

On 7/13/12, I sat on the panel “Siegel and Shuster and Finger,” run by the Moderator King, Mark Evanier; my companion was the gifted Larry Tye, author of the well-written cultural biography Superman, which has been reviewed everywhere except your high school newspaper.

photo by the utterly nice Jenni Holm;
unfortunately Larry is not in frame but I will be getting others

As I had done during my presentation the night before, I took a photo of both sides of the packed room...

...and first one then two people flashed the foam Finger hand they got the night before!


The emotional highlight of the panel for me: after I announced that Bill Finger’s lone heir, the granddaughter born two years after Bill died in 1974, began receiving some Batman royalties thanks to my project (and after the money had wrongly been going to other people for 15 years), the audience applauded.

After the panel, Larry and I signed books side-by-side; first Superman and Batman teamed up, now authors of books about them:



That afternoon, my lovely associates (sisters Christy and Molly) and I distributed the remaining Finger hands to fans gathered around the five Batmobiles parked outside. But not before posing ourselves:


I took this photo to capture two Finger hands “in the wild” and was later pleasantly surprised to notice a third one in the background:

Giveaways may just work after all!

That evening, I attended the Eisner Awards (the Oscars of comics) with particular interest in seeing the Bill Finger Awards, which are given out during the larger ceremony:

Friends and associates I got to chat with during SDCC (* and in some cases, whose spouses I met):

Chris Duffy *
Jenni Holm *
Matt Holm *
Michael Uslan *
Mark Evanier
Charlie Kochman *
Dave Roman
Raina Telgemeier
Josh Elder
Jamie Coville
Michael Dahl
Dan Santat
Barry Lyga
Bob Greenberger
David Siegel
Marc Zicree
Karen Manne (we go back to grade school!)

Had been in touch online but met in person for the first time:

Gerard Jones
Arie Kaplan
Larry Tye
Ray Feighery
Donnie Lemke

Plus it was an honor to meet Scott McCloud after years of referencing Understanding Comics in my presentations on the art and humor of cartooning.

Other glimpses:

Meeting Gerry Jones (Men of Tomorrow; center) and Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton)...

The signs announcing my appearances...


The black-and-white version of the Bill the Boy Wonder cover, which was also not imprinted on the palm of the foam hand because it, too, would have come out too fuzzy...

"Bill the Boy Wonder" - the site

Charlesbridge, publisher of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, kindly built a site for the book. I got to populate it with content that repurposes material from the book in fun and different ways. I even got to create the world's first games with a Bill Finger theme. (No one was in line behind me.)

The site has been up for months but I've waited till now to mention it here because certain parts (spoiler alert!) could not be uploaded till after the book released earlier this month.

Here are select screen shots:

"A quest 70 for justice years in the making"...sorry, but I love that.

I wanted to feature a Bill Finger trading card even though
(unlike the Finger games) I was not the first to do so.







More games are forthcoming (but possibly here instead of there).

My favorite part of the site may be the little swoosh of animation on the welcome page. When I suggested this sequence, I did not think it would be easy enough to take the time for. I'm so glad I was wrong. Below are stills. To see it in motion, either print and clip out these four covers and make a mini-flip-it book or simply click here.

Books Boys Can’t Resist

I was honored to stumble onto the star-studded lineup of authors who presented at the weeklong 27th Annual Children’s Literature Conference at Shenandoah University in Virginia.

It was a stretch to tie my books Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman into the theme of “Books Boys Can’t Resist,” but I managed.

Author presentation slots were staggered so only a couple of us were on site on any given day. Mine was 6/28/12 but the fun began the night before when I had dinner with a lively group including our kind host Karen Huff and an author I’ve corresponded with but not met before: the inexhaustible and inspiring Phil Bildner.

A highlight: it was the first time I can recall that my name has been on a mug.

Two weeks earlier, my name had been on a T-shirt. I’m hoping bagel slicer is next.

The bathrooms were decked out with quotations from authors of books for young people.


They didn’t miss a spot.

Here is who else was down Shenandoah way to give a presentation at this well-run event:

Avi
Danny Brassell
Sneed Collard
Ralph Fletcher
Brian Floca
Daniel Kirk
Jarrett Krosoczka
Melinda Long
Gary Schmidt
Bob Shea
Charles Smith, Jr.
Dan Yaccarino





Each author was treated to a large and striking painting inspired by one of our books. Mine was soaring. I was stunned to learn that all of them were done by a single artist.


And they sold some serious book.






After, I was humbled to discover a blog post by an attendee; here’s an excerpt:

Today’s authors (I’m sure) will become two of my favorites. Marc Tyler Nobleman inspired me with his dedication and passion. His attention to detail and his desire to right the wrongs of the world (at least the world of Superman and Batman) are honorable and inspiring. I didn’t know there were people out there like him. Boys of Steel, a story about the creators of Superman will grab my boys! He gives me a great entry into interesting non-fiction. The story about Oregon in World War II, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon, has to be published. I am amazed that the story exists and we don’t know about it. That’s what I mean, his passion is contagious.

(Her next paragraph sings the praises of the other author, Phil Bildner.)

This is officially a Conference Authors Can’t Resist.

Comics Cube interview: "What sets your book apart?"

The Comics Cube ran five Bill Finger questions by Ty and myself. An excerpt:

In your opinion, if you were doling out percentages, how much of Batman is Kane and how much is Finger?

Marc: Creatively, 97% Bill. He designed the costume, wrote the first story, wrote the first stories of most of the supporting characters (Robin, Joker, Catwoman, etc.), wrote Batman’s groundbreaking origin, developed the bat-motif (Batmobile, Batcave, etc.), named Gotham City/Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson…whereas Bob did not write a single Batman story in his lifetime and farmed out so much of the art to ghosts. Some believe Bob didn’t even choose the name “Batman.” Yet Bob chose Bill to work on Batman. So in that sense, maybe Bob does deserve a higher percentage…

Cyn-sational coverage

The all-helping and most kind author Cynthia Leitich Smith invited me to guest blog for Cynsations. I revealed three of the crazier tactics I tried while researching Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman and Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman:

staking out a New York City apartment building on the hunt for the resident who dated back the longestping-ponging between three New York City surrogate's courts on the hunt for a will that may not even have existed
going through hundreds of archival photos at three locations on the hunt for a photograph that almost certainly did not even exist
All took time but all yielded something worthwhile...two jackpots and three fun stories to recount.

Plus: contest to win a signed book!

Goodies in the Picnic Basket

Deborah Sloan’s blog The Picnic Basket sends 25 copies of a new book to the first 25 who request it; in exchange, she asks that those people post a review.

Recently, she kindly offered Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman.

Of the 25 copies sent, 13 people so far have come back to post a review. I am more than humbled by every one of them.

Excerpts:

I love nonfiction biographies and this book is one of the best! Nobleman is a skilled writer … It will be the rare reader who closes the book without being “wowed.” Nobleman’s Author’s Note allows the reader to glimpse his research process and it reads like a darn good mystery. … What a tribute! What a story! What a book! 5 (out of 5) stars

The story was so interesting that I couldn’t stop without reading the whole book and I would think students would feel the same way. 5 (out of 5) stars

Absolutely outstanding in all respects! Sure bet to get the attention of the most reluctant reader. Definitely a 5++++++!

The prose is beautifully written, the pictures are lovely, and the underlying themes of justice and redemption are compelling. … This is a must-have book for every elementary and middle-school library that will be gobbled up by avid and reluctant readers alike. 5 (out of 5) stars

This book is simply amazing. To think I’d actually be glued to a book about the creator—sorry, co-creator—of Batman! … completely captivating. Nobleman is a very skilled writer and knows how to find obscure stories and make them completely fascinating. This book deserves nothing less than a 5.

From the end papers to the text type to everything in between the cover and the author’s note, this falls nothing short of an exemplar model of juvenile literature. The potential for critical discourse around this book are endless. By the end of the author’s note a tear of sadness at the unfairness of it all fell from my eye to the phrase “he just didn’t live long enough.” And then I started right back at the beginning again, admiring the cover, and reading it from top to bottom. … I can only imagine how much Milton would have loved this book. 5 (out of 5) stars

I asked one of my 5th grade students who loves superheroes and graphic novels, and is an inspiring illustrator, to read it. Almost 40 minutes later he came to me and replied, “Milton Finger deserves credit.” His four words were powerful and insightful. Reading this book changed him a little bit, gave him something he didn’t have before, the same way I felt.

Great book with many uses for YA readers. … (I had this book and had to share and did not get it back until today. Too good not to pass along.)

I felt privileged to share this book with my students and uncover this special secret with them. I read this biography to my second graders in two sessions. They were mesmerized. The activity guide and discussion questions were a great resource, but I easily fit some of the themes of this book into my current curriculum/lessons that very day! 5 (out of 5) stars

I love how not one but two people almost affectionately call Bill by his given name, Milton (though he would have hated it).

MTV Geek on “Bill the Boy Wonder”: “fiendishly clever”

Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman was reviewed on a division of MTV.com.

As a member of the first generation to grow up with MTV, I find this, simply, super fun. (Like many my age, I remember the first video I saw on MTV: “Private Dancer” by Tina Turner.) I want my MTV Geek!

The title of Valerie Gallaher’s review gets the cheek just right: “Mommy, Why Didn’t Bill Finger Get Credit For Batman?” And I’m honored that she calls my approach “fiendishly clever” and illustrator Ty Templeton’s work “lavish.”

Consulting editor and all-around children’s publishing maestro Harold Underdown’s kind response: “OK, folks, when was the last time that MTV reviewed a children’s book? And it’s a Charlesbridge book, making this even cooler, if possible.” (Harold used to work at Charlesbridge.)

“Is the story of the true co-creator of Batman, who was snubbed countless of times in retrospectives of the Caped Crusader from the 1960s, the movie "Batmania" of the late 1980s, and beyond, … worth the bio treatment?” Valerie asks close to the beginning of her review.

She closes her piece with a response to herself: “…ask anyone both in the U.S. and abroad who Batman is, and I'm betting most will know. I think that makes him—and the quest to accurately pinpoint his origins—somewhat important, don't you think?”

Authors/illustrators dressed as superheroes

Halloween time machine!

Welcome to the first known gallery of children’s/YA authors and illustrators in superhero costumes (a few got in on a technicality).

This is a simply celebration of the kind of childhood passion that can take you from this...

...to this:

It is also a warm-up for/safe alternative to San Diego Comic-Con, held every July; this year I am doing a presentation, a panel, and a signing. (By default I dress as Bill Finger: button down, pants, receding hairline.)

To all who contributed: Bountiful thanks. I appreciate your time and your gracious spirit. You are already a creative hero to kids. Now kids will see you as a hero in a totally different light/suit.

To authors/illustrators first learning of this now: If you have a qualifying photo, please e-mail it anytime. I will eagerly add it.

And now I hereby present the Justice League of…Authordom!

Peter Brown as Superman
1984
Hopewell, NJ

Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler as Superman
age 5 or 6
San Francisco

Sarah Darer Littman as Robin
age 22 or 23
New York City
Halloween party during her post-college Wall Street days
Her college roommate was Batman.
Her Robin cape was tablecloth.

Bruce Hale as Tarzan
age 9 or 10
Palos Verdes, CA

Tom Angleberger as Superman’s delicious foe the Boxing Hot Dog

Chris Barton as Batman (center)
age 4
Dallas Zoo
The boy on the right is wearing the pants to a different Batman costume.

Adam Rex as Darth Vader
1980
Phoenix, AZ

Meghan McCarthy as Spider-Man (Spider-Face?)

Alan Gratz as Starman
2002
Dragon*Con
Atlanta

Ralph Cosentino as (almost) the Green Hornet

Andrea Beaty as Superman
Taken in Metropolis…Illinois.

Amy S. Hansen (and family) as Mrs. and Mr. Kent and baby Kal-El (Superman)
1998
Seabrook, MD

Michelle Knudsen as Princess Leia

The technicalities, original creations, and other exceptions:

Go Wild West, young men. I’m counting the following trio because some people consider cowboys heroes, and because some superheroes are cowboy-themed, and because these are fantastic photos.

Wendell Minor as Roy Rogers
1949
Aurora, IL

Richard Michelson as Roy Rogers
Brooklyn
“If there has to be a showdown between me and Wendell,
I am ready! (Wendell and I had lunch last week.
Had I known, I’d have insisted we both come in costume.)”

Daniel Kirk as a cowboy

Mark Buehner as a knight
(but not the Dark Knight, or the Shining Knight for that matter)
1966
Salt Lake City

Dan Santat


Aaron Reynolds as Ponch from CHiPS and
(yikes) the Incredible Melting Man from ?
Melting Man: age 9, Okinawa, Japan
Ponch: age 10, New Jersey

Katie Davis as SuperSuki
2005

Andrew Douglas and Marc Tyler Nobleman as the Blue Bagel and Lox Lad
1993 (yes, not 1951 as the graininess implies)
Waltham, MA
Note the Blue Bagel’s accessory: mini-bagel projectiles.
Cower at them, criminal scum!
(I was also Superman and Robin multiple times.)

And somewhere out there is also a photo of a young Shana Corey as Wonder Woman, Kevin Hawkes as a cowboy, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka as someone caped, masked, or both. Please demand to see them!

David Ezra Stein did not have a childhood superhero costume photo
but did have something even rarer: childhood superhero drawings.
Not that you will need a key, but here are Tarzan riding an elephant,
Superman, Spider-Man, and Catwoman. This was in Queens at age 5½.

Nora Baskin’s bathroom windowsill

Excerpted explanations from authors who did not have such a photo (many of which are as funny as any photo would’ve been):

“No superhero pix. The six Scieszka boys went from ghosts and bunny rabbits directly to army men and hobos.”
—Jon Scieszka

“Oh, you have no idea how much I wish that I did have such a picture. But, alas, no . . . (I’m waaaay too old to have had the joy of Underoos.)”
—Bruce Coville

“I was a child in China. No superheroes about to influence me. When I came to the States, it was the brink of WWII. We played commandos. We did read comics, but on the sly.”
—Katherine Paterson

“Yeah, I kind of had a hard time identifying with Wonder Woman as a kid. I didn’t wear my underwear in public.”
—Jenni Holm

“I just couldn’t find one. I knew I had Underoos, but thankfully my parents didn’t take a pic of me in them.”
—Jay Asher

“I’ve been scanning my brain for what my old Halloween costumes were. I found one of Harry Potter, but that’s not exactly right. I was more of the witch/cat/boring variety.”
—Wendy Mass

“I don’t have any photos of me dressed as a superhero. I never went through a superhero phase and I was the youngest, so there are few photos of me anyway. My parents just showed me baby pictures of my older brothers, ‘Here, you sorta looked like this.’”
—Bob Shea

“What a great idea. They didn’t have cameras in my superhero days.”
—Roland Smith

“Oh boy, I can’t wait to see what this turns up… (Curse my parents for not saving that Wonder Woman baton-twirling outfit!)”
—Jennifer Allison

“I was a skeleton every Halloween. And while I don’t have any superhero pix, [I do have a] recent pic of me with a squirrel mask on. Can you use it?”
—Alan Katz

“I don’t have one although I did have a deep and continuing love for Batman and Robin since age 5. And had Batgirl Underoos. No photographic evidence, however. There is also no photographic evidence of me in my Wonder Woman pjs that I currently own and there never will be.”
—Lisa Brown

“My parents never took pics when I was sporting my Underoo-superhero look as a kid. But maybe one of these days I should draw it. (Feel free to replace ‘niche’ with ‘nerdy’!)”
—Paul Hoppe

“Your email made me very sad for two reasons.

1) I don’t have a photo of myself dressed as a superhero.
2) I don’t think I ever had a superhero costume.

Given the fact that the year I was born I had a book called The Great Comic Book Heroes dedicated to me, you’d think I would have fashioned myself a superhero. I so wish I could partake in this. I could fake it with Photoshop if you’d like.

Great fun project.”
—Kate Feiffer

“It’s definitely a cool project. Alas, I have nothing. When you do your spread of unathletic kids reading books, I’ll be much better able to offer something.”
—David Lubar

“My ‘name’ when I order a chai at Starbucks is ‘Batman.’ Always gets a great response and sometimes they draw a little bat on the cup and one time they wrote ‘Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-n/a’ on my order. Every time I walk in the door now, they greet me, “Hey, Batman!” and when they announce that Batman’s order is ready, everyone looks up expecting to see a big guy in a cape or at least a geeky comic book guy, and then it’s just little old me and it always gets a smile.”
—Karen Gray Ruelle

“I don’t have any such pictures. I wish.”
—Tad Hills

“I have no photos of myself as a superhero but if you’re ever needing photos of authors dressed up as clowns, witches, or fat, bald, crying men, I’m your girl!”
—Laurie Keller

“Fantastic idea. I went through a long Wonder Woman period, but no photographic evidence exists. The best I could do is me in Star Trek garb, posing with a toy phaser.”
—Jennifer Ziegler

“I’ve dressed as a cowboy, hobo, snowman, even a can of green beans (my sister was the Jolly Green Giant), but never a superhero.”
—Brad Sneed

“A fun idea but I don’t think I have the goods.”
—Brian Floca

“Well don’t I wish.”
—Deborah Heiligman

“This is a great idea! I wish I had a photo to contribute but my costumed past is sadly lacking in superherohood. (Does Big Bird count?)”
—Julia Sarcone-Roach

“I was never a superhero guy. But I do have this shot on my blog.”
—Mike Rex

“The closest I come to superhero is dressing up as ‘Lady Lovely Locks’ and I don’t think she would pass superhero status (her credentials max out at talking with woodland creatures and protecting her tresses from an evil sorceress Duchess Ravenwaves who oddly wants nothing more than to cut Lady’s hair).”
—Julia Denos

“I was known to use a bath towel as a cap after Batman was over every day, but I don’t think we have any pictures of it. And we lived out in the country and so I never really got to trick or treat much.”
—Michael Spradlin

“I do not have any such photo. I wish I did, though!”
—Eric Luper

“This sounds like so much fun! Wish I had a Wonder Woman costume, but I’m not sure it’d suit me anyway.”
—Maryann Macdonald

“I am mostly walking around with my head hanging, so sad that I never even thought to act like a superhero, much less photograph myself acting like a superhero.”
—Audrey Glassman Vernick

“Oh...I wish I did… I did really want to be included…and believe it or not…you probably don’t know this…but I am Catwoman.”
—Nora Baskin

“Somewhere in the great O’Malley photo archive there is a pic of three O’Malleys dressed as Batman [but said archive is in another state].”
—Kevin O’Malley

“I’m missing out on the Superhero Me. Have no pictures of any kind. Bummer…”
—Loren Long

“I keep my superpowers hidden (to better fight evil).”
—Barbara Kerley

“I don’t have any photos dressed as a superhero. I wish I did!”
—Dan Yaccarino

“I thought I might be able to locate one of me as Aquaman, but all I have is me wearing an Aquaman tee.”
—Phil Bildner

“At age 64, when I was a kid Superman was about the only superhero out there and all of us played him by wrapping a towel around our necks…”
—Terry Trueman

“Zoinks! My organizational superpowers have failed me. There was a picture of me at 3 or 4, wearing a blue fleece with a big white star on my chest, and a blue blanket pinned to my shoulders for a cape. I can’t find it and neither can Mom, but what a great idea. Can’t wait to see everyone’s photos!”
—Tanya Lee Stone