I find it relatively easy to love a good "underdog" story. Even easier lets say if there is some kind of huge kind of injustice attached, for me at least, the story is infinitely more engrossing. This is most certain what happened to writer Marc Tyler Nobleman when he researched a man named Bill Finger said to be the main writer behind the original Batman comic series beginning in 1939. Bill actually was believed to have more than even writing the comic storylines as he actually created the adjunct characters to the point of fleshing out acknowledged Batman creators bird man character to be a dark knight instead of a red leotard encased man with strap-on wings. Hopefully you are getting the gist of this. The man who claimed all credit for birthing Batman had some major help from his writer friend. This was unheard of until the mid-sixties and then Bob Kane rebutted it in the immediate years thereafter.

What's a good story of any kind without major complications? The fight to get any credit or financial sharing for Bill Finger had major complications. Marc Tyler Nobleman decided it was at the least a great subject for a book. After all, Batman dwarfs all other comic book heroes in every measure. Of course that includes the on-going actual creation credit and revenue stream. Through an agreement with sole acknowledged Batman creator Bob Kane DC Comics, which is a Warner Brothers asset, wholly controls the mega-industry of everything Batman. Warner Brothers is a part of the even richer Time-Life empire. The old saying is "you can't fight city hall" and Time-Life is many times bigger than the best funded towns, anywhere.

Batman & Bill is an extremely well made documentary about how a small time, but successful, writer Nobleman began a groundswell to restore credit to Bill Finger as an equal to Bob Kane in the creation of what we all must admit is the most loved comic book superhero of all time. This film is an easy to follow linear journey of Nobleman's almost spiritual belief that Bill Finger's input in what became Batman was on par with credited creator Bob Kane. The quest consumed Nobleman even above his original plan to write a book about Batman figuring in Bill Finger as an equal to Bob Kane. In other words, just a published book about Finger's having a major stake in the Batman character wouldn't enough. This was a case of a tragic injustice that seemed to never end. It surely could be righted if all the known facts came to light. Nobleman's obsession became to get Finger credited on an equal footing to Kane...at least credit because the financial part was for others to flesh out. It's a kind of epic journey. Along the way we get "just the facts" as Nobleman continues to uncover more proof, and even insider talking heads, that knew Finger not only wrote the original Batman comic series but went way further by putting his own stamp on the very image Batman became not to mention the many related characters on both sides of the law.

This isn't the opinion of one man, but the proof provided by many which even included recorded statements by Kane after the death of his co-creator Finger. It gives this story some amazing legs. This really is a major injustice, and one that could go forever without correction.

I say you need to see this documentary. In it's realm it is huge as it takes us through a long journey to a satisfying conclusion. We're not privy to the entire resolution, which obviously should include some kine of financial agreement, but we get Nobleman's goal achieved of having the copyright holders of the character Batman agreeing to acknowledge Finger's role as co-creator. What we go get a nice glimpse of is the emotional part of the journey which after dogged research by Nobleman included Finger's sole surviving ancestor along with a smattering of other family members. This is a real-life story of justice being served...late, but nonetheless finally coming through. In that the tragedy gets a huge uplifting which is noble indeed.

This is a first for me…reviewing a made for Hulu documentary. Heck, up until very recently, I had no idea Hulu was releasing anything themselves. Fortunately, "Batman & Bill" turns out to be a really exciting and engaging film…one that comic book fans absolutely must see. The problem is that to see it, you need to have Hulu.

If you are a comic book lover, you probably know who Bob Kane is. He's been credited for decades as the creator of Batman and during his lifetime he made a fortune because of it. He also achieved a god- like status by some fans. After all, he came up with the story idea, the costume, the Batmobile, the villains and the back story about Bruce Wayne losing his parents to some murderous thieves… right? Well, not exactly according to this film…as well as according to Warner Brothers, the folks who own DC Comics. The story is about another man who created much of what Batman was but was never credited during his lifetime for this…and a man who died pretty much penniless and forgotten. The film does an excellent job explaining who Bob Finger was and how he actually is at least half responsible for creating the comic strip hero…as well as the fight that his granddaughter had to go through to get this acknowledged. It's all quite enlightening…at least for me, a guy who isn't exactly a huge comic book fan.

The film is excellent on just about every level. Technically, it's well made. It's obvious they did a lot of research to make the film and, most importantly, the documentary really packs a strong emotional wallop. You find yourself being emotionally pulled into the film and this is also the sign of an exceptional documentary. Well worth seeing…and satisfying to see the man finally getting the recognition he so well deserved.

Bill Finger has recently been given his due credit for his part in the creation of America's most popular superhero, Batman. It is incredibly unfortunate that this took as long as it did, many years after his death, but it has finally happened and this documentary makes that fact all the more satisfying.

This film largely focuses on the efforts of one man as he has spent much of his life trying to get Finger's name next to Bob Kane's on comics and movies and whatnot, which is where it belongs. What I think many will appreciate is that this film sticks to facts and doesn't work to demonize Kane any more than the facts of the matter do themselves. It will be awfully difficult for anyone to come away without a negative opinion of the man who's name has been associated with Batman since his inception, but this film and the man behind this crusade would much rather you came away with an appreciation for the man who died having never been given credit for the great amount of input he had in the creation of the Dark Knight and the world he lived in.

The film is often tragic, which is befitting given the man's life, but it gives the viewer a great amount of hope as well and a reason to cheer by its conclusion. It also gives you a great appreciation for the man who worked so hard to make sure Bill Finger got the credit he deserved and it will make you believe in the power of the unknown voice who can come from nowhere and make a difference.

Any and all fans of Batman should watch this film. As the movie shows, it's important to know who deserves credit for the things we love so we can better appreciate their contributions, and here we see that there are quite a few people worth praising.