Batman predecessors in pulp fiction, comic strips, newspaper headlines, and autobiographical details referring to Kane himself. As an aristocratic hero with a double identity, Batman had predecessors in the Scarlet Pimpernel (created by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, 1903) and Zorro (created by Johnston McCulley, 1919). Like them, Batman performed his heroic deeds in secret, averted suspicion by playing aloof in public, and marked his work with a signature symbol. Kane noted the influence of the films "The Mark of Zorro" (1920) and "The Bat Whispers" (1930) in the creation of the character's iconography. Finger, drawing inspiration from pulp heroes like Doc Savage,
His Name Is... Savage and bloody crushed hand and another showing a metal gun-barrel smashing through a man's teeth and sending teeth flying. "Savage depends on only two things: guts and his .357 magnum, which he has no compunction about using," one critic wrote of the 1982 reissue. "Broken noses, splintering teeth, and splattering brains are all depicted in lurid detail They are part and parcel of Savage's obdurate attempts to stop a madman from instigating World War III. Although this is an old theme, Kane and Goodwin present a tale that is riveting and upsettingly believable." Fantagraphics Books reprinted "His Name Is... Savage"