Just came across this interesting interview with Frank Foster III about his father’s creation of Batman in 1932!

[SprangFan]

This is a great example of why unsolicited submissions need to be returned unopened. Lots of folks come up with the same or similar ideas: the name "Batman" shows up in various unrelated pulps, the pulp character the Black Bat wore a cowl and scalloped cape, the Phantom Detective was summoned to action by a beacon on top of police HQ, "Commissioner James Gordon" was the hero of his own feature, etc. I remember a Marvel fanzine where a fan sent in a drawing of a character he created called "Wolverine" a couple of years before the company printed their own version.

Did this guy come up with a character called "Batman"? Maybe. Did he do it in 1932? Doubtful. But even if he did, there's no reason to believe it would've succeeded in that pre-Superman era, and certainly it wouldn't have had all the elements Bill Finger brought to the strip that made it the Batman we know: the origin, the cave, the car, the signal, Robin, the Joker and the other rogues. Certainly Batman is cobbled together from many sources: Zorro, the Black Bat, the Shadow, art swipes from Raymond and Vallely among others, and as noted there was nothing revolutionary about the character name. But it was more the way those elements came together that made it work.

So did this version of Batman come first? Doubtful, but I suppose not impossible. Does it matter? Not one whit.

Also, I wouldn't be at all surprised if all of these images could be ID'd as swipes from published comic art. If anyone were interested in following up, I'd suggest starting with Bill Everett's "Sub-Mariner" or "Hydro-Man." I'm seeing a strong Everett vibe in those sketches.

[BiffPow]

Also, I wouldn't be at all surprised if all of these images could be ID'd as swipes from published comic art.

Pretty good commentary, SprangFan, and, yes, the art does have a familiar feel. I did a brief search but couldn’t place the style. Years ago, I identified some golden age (and a little, more obscure, silver age) artwork and stories for a few editions of Overstreet, but that was decades ago and my brain must have put that knowledge in some boxes in the attic.