Bob Kane

10/24/1916 - 11/03/1998
Bob Kane was born in October 24, 1916. Born Robert Kahn, he was the original artist of the "Batman"comic. Batman was unique on the superhero scene of the 1940s as an ordinary human without any super powers.
Peter Pupp, by Bob Kane
Kane began working for the Eisner-Iger studio in New York City as a staff artist in the mid 1930s. He drew features and fillers like "Pluto", "Hiriam Hick", "Bobby", "Peter Pupp", "Professor Doolittle" and many others. He stayed at the Fiction House (the Eisner-Iger label) until 1939. In 1938 he also started working at DC Comics, at the time when "Superman" was just appearing.
At DC, Kane drew a couple of adventure features written by Bill Finger. The collaboration with Finger led to the creation of "Batman" in 1939. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27 and shortly after the publication of the issue, Kane hired artist Jerry Robinson to assist him on the feature. The comic was an immediate hit and has been in continuous publication since 1940, with new stories almost every month. Kane and his team also created all kinds of colorful and bizarre criminals such as "The Joker", "Catwoman", "Two Face", "The Penguin" and "The Riddler".
The second Cover showcasing 'The Batman', by Bob Kane
Kane would illustrate "Batman" until the mid 1940s, and although his name appeared on the strip until 1964, the work was done mostly by other artists. As Batman evolved, the brooding, threatening quality of the comic was sustained in its predominantly black, night-time panels. The feature's quick success led to several comic books, a newspaper strip version and two movie serials long before the TV version of the 1960s. "Batman" has additionally appeared on virtually every form of merchandising known.
Detective Comics, by Bob KaneDetective Comics, by Bob Kane

In the 1950s, Kane came to Hollywood to create a cartoon character and the TV show "Courageous Cat" was developed. Later, he was asked to come to Hollywood again to help with the development of the upcoming Batman TV show in 1965. Kane also created another cartoon in 1969 called "Cool McCool". In 1970 He began exhibiting paintings in galleries on both the East and West coasts.


Bob Kane passed away after a long illness in November 3, 1998 in California. He was 82 years old.