firehose

Q: How do you square what happened to Bill Finger with your love of Batman? Is it a problem? — @MikeFromNowhere

A: You know, it is and it isn’t. I think the record will show that outside of a few years here and there where I just wasn’t interested in what was going on in the comics, there has been very little that has stood in the way of my love of Batman. It is river deep, mountain high for me and Batman, and at this point, I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to change that. But at the same time, there are those moments where I’ll be reading one of my favorite stories, or watching Batman: The Animated Series or Brave and the Bold, and that damn “Batman created by Bob Kane” credit comes up, and I’m just angry about it for the rest of the day.

Jack Kirby said it best, Mike. Comics’ll break your heart.

For those of you out there who may not know why David Uzumeri and I spit out the words “Bob Kane” like we just drank sour milk, the short version is that the guy credited with creating Batman was probably the person who did the least amount of work in that creation, while the people who did the heavy lifting never even got to put their names on the stories they created. It’s not just Bill Finger, of course — Dick Sprang, Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, all those guys got screwed by Kane one way or the other — but while most of those guys thankfully lived long enough to be recognized for their work, Finger, the co-creator of Batman, died in obscurity without ever getting to claim his creation. Even today, you could read Batman comics for years and never see his name.

To be fair to everyone involved, I want to stress that this is in no way the fault of DC Comics. I’m pretty sure that everyone working over there would be more than happy to give Finger the credit he deserves, but thanks to Kane’s contract that specified that he would be credited as the sole creator of Batman until the end of time, they can’t. And the main reason for that, judging by reports from most of the people concerned, is that Finger was a great writer but an awful businessman, and Kane was a moderately talented artist who happened to be an evil genius.

There are plenty of examples, but the best one (aside from the infamous Clown Painting Story) might be the one about how Siegel and Shuster tried to get the rights to Superman back from DC, as recounted in Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s Comic Book Comics:

Immediately ratting out Siegel and Shuster is one thing, and that “fat page rate” that he got for comics he never drew is infuriating, but the kicker is that bit about how he signed his contract when he was underage. It’s a lie that persists to this day, and often shows up in articles where people who don’t bother to do their research breathlessly explain how Kane (and only Kane) created Batman at the tender age of 18. They keep on printing that, even though he was born in 1915 and only co-created Batman to capitalize on the rush for superheroes after Superman’s debut in 1939, largely because Kane stuck with that lie all the way to his death.

Marc Tyler Nobleman wrote a great book illustrated by long-time Batman artist Ty Templeton about Finger called Bill the Boy Wonder — and he did it as a children’s book in an effort to make sure Batman fans know what’s up as early as possible — that has a pretty interesting breakdown of just who it was that did what. If I have to grit my teeth and give Kane even the slightest amount of credit, I will say that he was the one who wrote the word “BAT-MAN” down on a piece of paper and drew a character wearing a red suit with a domino mask, blonde hair and a pair of bat wings. All Finger really did was come up with the color scheme, the costume, the cape, the cowl, the idea that he shouldn’t have any superpowers, the origin story about his parents being shot in an alley, the idea that he’s a detective, the words “Batmobile” and “Gotham City,” Robin, the Joker, Catwoman, and a few other minor elements.

In the ’60s, when fandom was in full swing and Finger actually started to be recognized for his role in creating Batman, Kane wrote a letter straight up calling Finger a liar with “hallucinations of grandeur,” with his “evidence” — and oh, this f**king guy — being that if he had, why, he’d have a creator credit, now wouldn’t he?

The truth is that Bill Finger is taking credit for much more than he deserves, and I refute much of his statements here in print The fact is that I conceived the “Batman” figure and costume entirely by myself’ even before I called Bill in to help me write the “Batman.” I created the title, masthead, the format and concept, as well as the Batman figure and costume. Robin, the boy wonder, was also my idea, not Bill’s.

The only proof I need to back my statement is that if Bill co-authored and conceived the idea, either with me or before me, then he would most certainly have a by-line on the strip along with my name, the same as Siegel and Schuster had as creators of Superman. However, it remains obvious that my name appears on the strip alone, proving that I created the idea first and then called Bill in later, after my publisher okayed my original creation.

Oddly enough, in 1989 — in the same book where he falsified the dates on some sketches to make it appear that he created Batman in 1934 — Kane said this about Finger:

He was an unsung hero… I often tell my wife, if I could go back fifteen years, before he died, I would like to say ‘I’ll put your name on it now. You deserve it.’”

The difference? In 1989, Finger was dead, and so Kane could say whatever the hell he wanted without having to worry about ever actually sharing any credit. Finally, in 1998, when Kane died, he did finally credit a co-creator, and he even did it on his actual tombstone. According to Bob Kane he did have a collaborator on Batman: God Himself.

F**k. That. Guy. For. Ever. Seriously, when it comes to the greatest supervillain in Batman’s history, the Joker is a distant second behind Bob Kane.

So getting back to the original question, yes. It bothers me a lot that every single story about this character that I love, a character that stands for justice above all else, is legally obliged to be stamped with Kane’s name and legally prohibited from carrying Bill Finger’s — and while it helps, no amount of Steranko slapping can ever really stop that. But at the same time, Batman, to me, is more than just the two dudes who created him.

That might sound weird, and I don’t want to minimize the importance of creators — the people behind the characters are the entire reason I love those characters so much, after all — but the Batman that I love isn’t just Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It’s Frank Miller and Grant Morrison, Dave Mazzucchelli and Chris Burnham, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis, Bob Haney and Jim Aparo, Irv Novick and Ernie Chan, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, Rick Burchett and Michael Lark, Alan Brennert and Dick Giordano, Kelley Puckett and Mike Parobeck, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Adam West and Burt Ward, William Dozier and Christopher Nolan, and a hundred more beyond that. And those same people have worked at cross purposes, and they’ve done things I don’t like, within the story and outside of it in the real world where things actualy matter. For all of the flaws in the system, that’s one of the great things about having these characters that are meant to be serialized forever, that you can see so many different takes on a character and see what’s consistent, what rings true and what doesn’t. You get to choose what they mean to you, and sometimes that inspires people.

Besides, if there’s one good thing about Kane taking the credit for creators like Finger, Robinson, Moldoff and Sprang, it’s that he didn’t actually do much of the work. His name’s on it, but when you look at who built Batman, there’s a lot more of Bill Finger than there ever was of Kane.

Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock

September hasn't been a great month for PayPal. The global payment processing giant first froze $45,000 of crowd-contributed funding for secure mail server Mailpile, then released the funds in the face of a great deal of media pressure. When Ars spoke to PayPal about the freeze, the company representative quickly noted that PayPal is a fan of crowdfunding and that the company's response to Mailpile's freeze—demanding the Iceland-based company provide PayPal with "an itemized budget" and "developmental goal dates," presumably to prove it's a real company—was not the optimal way to proceed when vetting a crowdfunding campaign. PayPal informed Ars that its new president has voiced his support for crowdfunding and committed to ensuring that PayPal's review processes don't stand in the way of crowdfunding campaigns.

Character art from Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm.

Yatagarasu AoC

Unfortunately, those words rang a little hollow when just days later, PayPal proceeded to freeze two more high-profile crowdfunding campaigns. The first was a fighting game called Yatagarasu Attack on Cataclysm, with $118,243 raised on a $68,000 goal. The game has an impeccable pedigree, employing three King of Fighters design veterans; nonetheless, PayPal limited the project's account so that it could not withdraw funds. PayPal's customer service team reportedly told the Yatagarasu AoC developers that PayPal would keep up to half of their crowdfunded dollars frozen until after the game's release—a death sentence for a game relying on crowdfunding for its development. Complaints about the freeze quickly picked up steam, and according to the developers, PayPal's executive escalation team stepped in and unfroze the funds.

Character art from Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey.

Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey

Not even a day later, another, far larger project found itself in the same situation: Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey by developer Red Thread Games fell under PayPal's baleful gaze. Dreamfall Chapters had raised over $1.5 million on Kickstarter, and the majority of those funds did not come via PayPal, but PayPal still froze the dollars it had processed. Once again, there was a surge of Internet outrage, and once again, PayPal quickly un-froze the funds and apologized.

One constant in Chobot's life growing up, aside from video games, was a love of all things Japanese. Her aunt lived in Japan teaching English for eight years and would send back trinkets, toys and oddities. Long before it was possible to stream anime to your tablet or buy Gundam at the mall, Chobot had a collection to put any Japanophile to shame.

In 2005, as her marriage began to slide, she told her husband that she was leaving for a trip and booked a three-week solo vacation to Japan. The experience was transformative.

"I remember I was in Kyoto walking towards the [subway] station," she says. "It's so silly, but the crosswalks there for the big intersections, when you push the button and it's ready for you to walk, instead of just showing the little man like it does here they play music. Really cute music."

Chobot sobs as she tells the story.

"For some reason that hit me hard, and I thought, 'This is awesome! I can't believe I did it! I'm here! I made it here all by myself!' It's my second week in and I'm starting to make my way around, and I'm visiting all these cool places, and I'm hanging out by the side of the river, and I've got my stop-over cafe I hit up on my way to the Gion District. I'm seeing geisha walking around."

She realized, for the first time in her life, that she was in control of her future. Chobot says that she knew at that moment that she could be an independent adult, and that she didn't have to be married to feel important.

When she made it back to the States she had a new goal: to get a job in the games industry. Her first challenge was to get to E3, so she fabricated a manager's business card from scraps of EB Games letterhead and mailed it in. The scam worked, and a few weeks later she was sent credentials. In her lead-up to E3 she began "hustling," as she calls it, emailing anyone she could in marketing, business development and media for a position. Any position.

All the while she was doing small modeling jobs around Detroit for extra money. It's work that she's not proud of.

"There's no such thing as modeling in Michigan," Chobot says. "Occasionally I would get sent out to do some sort of rap video, some sort of advertising here or there — usually for the state — and basically then be sent out to be a booth babe for their big, big event which was the [Detroit] Auto Show."

By day Chobot was a clerk selling games, by night a high-level WoW addict clumsily networking over the internet and on weekends a model for extra money. Months passed, and around that time her pre-ordered PSP came in. She took it to a photo shoot later that same day, and the rest of the crew gathered around as she unboxed it.

That's when the fateful "PSP lick" picture was taken, an image captured by the photographer as a joke that saw her lingering seductively on the new handheld. And it was Chobot herself that forwarded it on to Kotaku.

She figured it would be her 15 minutes of fame.

Just a few weeks later, as she marveled at the booths at her first E3, she says people began to recognize her from that photo. She did an interview with the cable outlet G4, and later the interview with IGN's Carle. Her image had spread virally across the internet, and she leveraged that attention into freelance writing gigs for both IGN and short-lived games website Red Assed Baboon.

For better or for worse, licking that PSP launched her career. But it also gave her detractors an embarrassing trump card to play every time they wanted to attack her credibility.

In 2011, Chobot was approached by friends at developer BioWare to appear in Mass Effect 3 as an optional character, a reporter named Diana Allers. In January 2012, Chobot would host preview coverage of the game for G4.

That Chobot would preview a game that she also appeared in struck many as a conflict of interest. Chobot disagrees.

"I did run it by management," Chobot says. "We agreed that I wasn't going to review or talk about the game. So I said, 'OK.' And that's what happened. I never did. I think it got misinterpreted because I was full time at IGN when I first got asked [to be in the game]."

Of her time at IGN and G4, Chobot says that she never saw herself as a journalist.

"I saw myself as a host. I think 'game journalist' is used very loosely in this business.

"BioWare never asked me for any favors in regards to any kind of additional or good reviews. I've never gotten contacted by them at all for any of the stuff. And, I wasn't even reviewing the game in the first place. I don't give game reviews. I've never given a game review."

What disappointed her the most about the whole episode is that the people who were writing about her in the games press never asked for her side of the story.

Contributing to the controversy was the decision to make Allers a viable love interest for the main character, Commander Shepherd. Chobot says that it was actually her idea. To Chobot, that's part of the fun of that game franchise.

In practice, having a one-night stand with Allers ended up being a little strange for her.

"It's one thing to see yourself in digital form in a game. That's weird enough. It's neat but it's weird. And then to have the character that you've been playing through all the entire [Mass Effect] storyline start hitting on you and it's ... my mind exploded. My eyes shouldn't have seen that. It actually made me feel a little uncomfortable.

"But I got the achievement!"

It remains the first, and only, successful virtual conquest for Chobot's Shepherd.

When Michael Jordan appeared on the cover of 2010's NBA 2K11, developer Visual Concepts built one of the game modes around him: the Jordan Challenge, which took players through his storied career. When NBA 2K12 featured three different covers, each adorned with one of the best ever to play the sport — Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird — the studio created the NBA's Greatest mode, which let players relive NBA history.

This year, with LeBron James gracing the cover of NBA 2K14, Visual Concepts is allowing you to see into the future of James' career and of the NBA itself with a new mode, LeBron: Path to Greatness.

The single-player mode, which is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of NBA 2K14 — it won't be available on Windows PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One — breaks out the crystal ball for James. And why not? Basketball fans love to talk about him, to debate his accomplishments thus far and to predict where he'll go from here.

That's the ultimate question, after all: What will LeBron's legacy be? At age 28, he's already one of the top players in NBA history, a four-time MVP and winner of back-to-back NBA championships the past two years. Will he approach Michael Jordan's total of six championship rings, or perhaps even surpass it? Which NBA records might he break along the way? Will he spend the rest of his career in Miami, or take his talents out of South Beach?

Path to Greatness provides two sets of answers to all those questions. It lets you choose from two vastly different career arcs for James, both with the same basic setup. You play into the future of James' career, progressing through a variety of scenarios — mostly full games, along with some partial games — and needing to complete each event to move on to the next one.

Both paths have the same overarching goal: to win five more NBA titles and thus eclipse Jordan's mark. You'll also have other objectives that you can complete to earn stars; that adds to your overall score for the mode, and you can compare your version of James' future with those of other NBA 2K14 players on a leaderboard.

"Continue Heat Dynasty" is the simpler option and the shorter one. If you go down that road, you'll be presented with one game or so per season — usually Game 7 of the NBA Finals — as you attempt to win the championship every year. This path contains about 10 different scenarios.

The presentation value we've come to expect from 2K Sports is in fine form. Each season's introduction, read in a voice-over by James himself, provides context for the events of that particular year. The games themselves kick off with sepia-tone montages of footage featuring James' Miami Heat and his opponent. During games, you have full control of the entire team, just like you would in a normal game; you don't only play as James.

More notable is the creativity Visual Concepts exhibits in its various scripts for the future, a factor that applies to both choices in Path to Greatness. It seems like seeing the studio's prognostications will be half the fun, so I won't spoil them all, but here's a sample. For the first scenario, the developers posit that Dwight Howard immediately leads the Houston Rockets to a 2014 Finals showdown against James and the Heat. One much farther down the line sees Kevin Durant put together his own "Big Three" on the Oklahoma City Thunder, with James facing off against Durant, Roy Hibbert and Anthony Davis.

The NBA 2K series offers maybe the best commentary of any sports game, and that's still true in Path to Greatness. In addition to discussing the action on the court for each scenario, commentators Kevin Harlan, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr bring up the fictional history of the mode. That becomes even more apparent with the second Path to Greatness option, "Fantastic Journey."

One of the most widely debated aspects of James' future is whether he'll stay with the Heat. Next summer, after the end of the upcoming NBA season, he can opt out of his current contract and sign with a different team. The way Visual Concepts draws it up in Path to Greatness, he decides to move to Broadway and join the New York Knicks, while Carmelo Anthony leaves for the Chicago Bulls in order to free up space for James under the league's salary cap.

Fantastic Journey is where the developers really go nuts in imagining the next seven years of basketball. Current NBA stars move around, fictitious young guns rise through the ranks and a number of older players even come out of retirement.

For this sequence, the developers create a star with a storyline: John Trice, who starts out as the No. 1 overall pick for the Washington Wizards and is touted as the next LeBron. The brash youngster crowns himself the new NBA king, and you repeatedly attempt to put him in his place and cement James' legacy as the greatest of all time. And the commentators mention the rivalry between the two, as well as plenty of other developments. Fantastic Journey offers about twice as many events as Continue Heat Dynasty, maybe more.

I really enjoyed checking out a few of the scenarios in both paths, if only to see the roster shake-ups for the teams involved in a particular game. ("Is Kevin Garnett really going to still be around in two years?") Unfortunately, you won't be able to use those fake future squads outside of Path to Greatness, although the historical teams from the two-years-gone NBA's Greatest mode are still available.

It remains to be seen whether the wild future put forth in Path to Greatness will be as enjoyable as playing through salient moments we remember from Jordan's career or from NBA history. At the very least, it seems like the mode will add more fuel to the fire in the never-ending debate about LeBron James.