DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee has issued the first public statement from the company on its relationship with the estate of Bill Finger, who many credit with co-creating Batman, since the dust-up over DC Comics Talent Relations Director Larry Ganem’s statement at WonderCon that the Finger family was "all good" with how DC was handling the issue ("Batman Creator Credit Battle Begins"). First, he clarified DC’s recent inclusion of Bill Finger’s name on the July cover of Detective Comics #27 (see "DC Giving Finger Cover Credit") by describing it as business as usual. "Speaking specifically of that particular cover, we always list the writers' credits on the cover, and he scripted that issue," Lee said to CBR on the opening night of The Batman Exhibit at the Warner Bros. VIP Studio Tour, which was put together as part of the year-long Batman 75th Anniversary Celebration (see "75th Anniversary of Batman Celebration").
Lee also noted the history of the singular credit for Kane and how DC’s been handling its relationship to Finger. "No one is denying Bill's massive contributions to the DC mythology--not just Batman," he said. "It's never been our take that it was only Bob Kane. But the credit by Bob Kane, that's a very specific thing, and has been around since the creation of Batman, over 75 years ago. It's hard to talk about this publicly other than, we love what Bill Finger has contributed to the mythology, and we've always acknowledged and compensated him and his estate for that work."
In the interview, Lee declined to discuss whether or not the company is considering any changes in how it credits the creation of Batman. So despite fervent hopes from those in Finger’s camp that the cover credit on the new release of Detective Comics #27 might have been an indication of DC changing its position on Bill Kane as sole creator, that appears not to be the case, and the recent award of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to Kane (see "Kane Star Roils Controversy") reinforces that there’s no change contemplated for now.
