K

KANE, BOB (1916–98). Born Robert Kahn in New York, Kane, a self-professed “superb

copycat” artist, would co-create Batman , one of the world’s most popular comic book
characters. After high school, Kane received a scholarship to the Cooper Union art
school. In 1936, while still in school, he was hired by Will Eisner as staff artist for Wo w
What a Magazine! Kane, who always preferred “slapstick” cartooning, created strips
such as Hiram Hick and Peter Pupp , but also began experimenting with adventure com-
ics. In 1937, Detective Picture Stories published his “Case of the Missing Heir,” which
featured a handsome and clever young millionaire. While earning $25 a week draw-
ing for National Comics, Kane developed other adventure series like Clip Carson and
Rusty and His Pals , modeled after Milton Caniff ’s Terry and the Pirates. To h e l p w i t h h i s
workload, Kane hired his friend Bill Finger to write scripts.
Kane’s telling of the creation of Batman has altered throughout the years. In later
life, he became more generous with his recounting, giving Finger credit as an unap-
preciated co-creator of the icon. In 1938, following the success of Superman , Vincent
Sullivan, Senior Editor of National Comics, told Kane he wanted another superhero.
Hearing how much Superman’s creators were paid, Kane spent that weekend brain-
storming. His fi rst and most prescient decision was to give his superhero no special
superhuman powers so as to distinguish him from Superman. In the end, Kane syn-
thesized a number of archetypes: a bat-based fl ying machine designed by Da Vinci; the
1930 pulp fi lm Th e Bat Whispers ; and Douglas Fairbanks’s performance in Th e Mark
of Zorro. Not fully satisfi ed, Kane called on Finger who suggested some key changes,
most notably, elongating the ears on the mask, making the bat-like wings into a more
practical cape, turning the eyes solid white, and changing the “union suit” from red to
gray. Th e following Monday morning, Kane presented his “Bat-Man” to Sullivan who,