William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".
Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.
You can see in this collection that this phase of the story is hitting midstride. The stories are a bit formulaic and the somewhat hokey, comic banter between Batman and Robin while fighting is an odd centerpiece. Still these stories were being produced on a short timetable and that accounts for some of the more rote aspects. And yet, there is strength in the art, the narrative has continuity and the Joker develops as a truly terrifying and fresh character. It is a tribute to the imagination of this character that the Joker is still a viable villain some 70 years later. The art is more polished than in previous issues and Gotham is a mix of high society and dark noir. This sequence also has plenty of the odd, homoerotic interactions at Wayne Manor. Very enjoyable.
Lots of fun Golden Age Batman reads here, with several stories featuring the Joker. There are also early appearances by the Catwoman and the Penguin. These issues are fascinating from a historical perspective and are entertaining in their own right. Still no Batcave as such yet, just the abandoned barn entrance. The Bat signal is featured here also.
Fun ideas are ruined by rushed pacing and overly convenient escapes, but there are still fantastic explorations of trauma and childhood wonder, with clever twists and schemes. Mostly it's disappointing though.
This book collect early Batman stories from 1942 in World's Finest #5 and #6, Batman 10 and 11, and Batman #62-65.
The story's are pretty but slightly below standard for Batman golden age stories but still above average for Golden Age stories in general.
Some highlights:
The Princess of Plunder (Batman #10): Catwoman's only appearance in the book and she pulls off some very clever heists the dynamic duo has to foil.
Sheriff of Ghost Town (Batman #10): Batman and Robin go to a Ghost Town that's about 50 years behind the times. It's a fun if silly story in which Batman and Robin spend a lot of the story on horseback but it has some nice heartfelt moment in it too.
The Joker's Advertising Game (Batman #11): The Joker uses clues in the classifieds to stage a crime campaign. This is fun and clever, though in later years, this sort of plot would go to the Riddler.
Four Birds of a Feather (Batman #11): The Penguin and three confederates to Florida to work a scam only to find that Batman's down there. Best part of the story, Batman punches out an octopus.
The Secret of Bruce Wayne (World's Finest #6): An earnest reporter is given an assignment to uncover Batman's secret identity. The reporter is actually an interesting character with a very believable conflict between his morality and his need to get the story. It also covers a lot of ground.
The Cop Who Hated Batman (Detective Comics #65): Another interesting character. This time it's a police officer who has a dislike for the Dark Knight. A very engaging story with some nice twists.
The Lowlights of the book:
Crime Takes a Holiday (World's Finest #5): It starts off promising enough as criminals agree to a plan to abandon crime in Gotham. What happens afterwards just doesn't live up to the premise. It falls flat.
Laugh Town Laugh (Detective Comics #62): The Joker isn't amused when he finds out America's top comics have been invited to compete for clues leading to the fortune of the World's funniest man. This was later the basis for an episode of Batman: The New Animated Series, but this one plays out as a very samey Batman story.
The Isle That Time Forgot (Batman #10): A somewhat dumb story that has Batman and Robin getting onto an island with primitives and monsters.
A Gentleman in Gotham (Detective Comics #63): What did we need a Raffles knock off named Baffles? Gets more off putting each time I read it.
The Most Jokerish story:
The Joker Walks the Last Mile (Detective Comics #64): The Joker turns himself in so he can get executed and then he gets a pill that makes alive again so that he can live a normal life as he's already been executed for his old crimes and immediately goes out and starts committing more crimes because he's the Joker.
The other stories are all at least servicable and there's enough good ones to make this worthwhile. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars, round it up to 4.
The art still sucks, the stories are really repetitious, even the ones featuring the famous villains. Anyone wondering why the 60's TV series was so retarded need to look no further then here.
For fans of Batma, its a good collection of his adventures with Robin. The ones with the Joker were the best but I personally liked the one with Mr. Baffle. Beware of the really bad puns though!