Although Bob Kane achieved renown for creating the fictional superhero Batman, he and others have acknowledged the contributions of Bill Finger for fleshing the character out, writing many of his early stories, and creating the character's origin. Many other comic book creators (writers, artists, and sometimes editors who contributed important ideas or altered how the character would be presented) have contributed to the character's history since his introduction in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. This list identifies some who made notable contributions with enduring impact.
Creators of Batman[]
- Bob Kane — creator, artist
- Bill Finger — co-creator, writer
Notable contributors[]
- Neal Adams — artist, created the definitive 1970s visual interpretation that returned Batman to his gothic roots.
- Jim Aparo — artist (The Brave and the Bold and A Death in the Family).
- Brian Bolland — artist (The Killing Joke), many covers.
- Ed Brubaker — writer (Gotham Central) and other Batman-related titles (esp. Catwoman).
- Paul Dini — creator of Harley Quinn, co-developer of Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond and current writer of Detective Comics.
- Chuck Dixon — writer (KnightSaga, Detective Comics, Robin, Nightwing and Birds of Prey).
- Steve Englehart — writer (Batman: Strange Apparitions).
- Gardner Fox — early writer and influence; co-originator of the Batarang and (proto-)Batplane.
- Neil Gaiman - writer (Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?).
- Dick Giordano — long-term artist/inker (particularly over Neal Adams' art), then editor of the Batman titles.
- Alan Grant — writer (Batman: The Last Arkham, Anarky, Batman: Anarky, Batman: Shadow of the Bat, Judgement on Gotham and Knightfall with others).
- Devin Grayson - writer ("No Man's Land", Nightwing, Catwoman and Batman: Gotham Knights) and only ongoing female/non-heterosexual Batman writer.
- Carmine Infantino - penciller, primary artist of the 1964 "New Look" Batman.
- Kelley Jones - artist best known for his runs on Batman with writer Doug Moench.
- Jeph Loeb — writer (Batman: The Long Halloween, Hush, Dark Victory, Batman/The Spirit).
- David Mazzuchelli - Artist of seminal Batman: Year One.
- Dave McKean — artist (Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth).
- Frank Miller — writer (Batman: Year One, re-established origin post-Crisis), writer/artist (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns).
- Sheldon Moldoff — one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists". He co-created the Batman supervillains Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Matt Hagen (Clayface), and Bat-Mite, as well as the original heroes Bat-Girl and Ace the Bat Hound.
- Doug Moench — writer (wrote for two long stints on the monthly book, including Knightfall).
- Alan Moore — writer (The Killing Joke).
- Grant Morrison — writer (Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Gothic, Batman & Son and Batman R.I.P.).
- Dennis O'Neil — long-term writer, then editor of the Batman titles, credited with 'rebooting' the character.
- Jerry Robinson — artist and early Kane ghost; co-creator of Robin and the Joker.
- Marshall Rogers — artist (Batman: Strange Apparitions).
- Greg Rucka — writer ("No Man's Land" with others); co-creator of Gotham Central.
- Tim Sale — artist, co-creator of the Long Halloween (and other) miniseries with Jeph Loeb.
- Dick Sprang — artist, co-creator of the Riddler with Finger.
- Curt Swan - artist, drew many late 1950s and early 1960s Batman covers (although best known for Superman work).