Kane was born in New York City in 1915, and was of Eastern European Jewish descent. Notably, he was high school friends with another well known comic book artist, Will Eisner. After graduating high school, Kane went on to study art at Cooper Union. Kane entered the world of comics in 1936 as a freelancer for Jerry Iger, later working at Eisner & Iger (now DC Comics) the subsequent year. Bob Kane created "the Bat-man" with writer Bill Finger following the success of Superman. Kane also created Robin, and the villians The Joker, Catwoman, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Clayface, and The Penguin.

Kane's comics dealt with very dark themes, but interestingly he was known for keeping characters alive despite them frequently appearing to have died. The Batman is dark, atmospheric, and gothic; he's a vigilante dressed up as a bat fighting insane serial killers. Yet many of the characters are composed of bright colors, notably Robin and The Joker. Speaking of the characters, Kane often based his on well known figures. Batman's design was inspired by the swashbuckler Zorro, Robin was conceived of Watson and Robin Hood, Joker is a depiction of Conrad Veidt of The Man Who Laughs, and Catwoman was modeled after actress Jean Harlow.

Bob Kane remains one of the most well known comic artists to this day, and his creations are still thriving. He was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Will Eisner HoF in 1996. Undoubtedly, Kane was a pillar of the Golden Age of comics in the 1940's and he contributed enormously to the comic book industry.