R.I.P. Kevin Conroy 

Actor and voice actor Kevin Conroy passed away today (11/11/22) at age 66 following a battle with cancer. Although he’s played many roles over the years, he’s undoubtedly most known as the iconic voice of BATMAN/BRUCE WAYNE across multiple media. 

The gifs shown here are just some of the MANY incarnations/reprisals of Batman/Bruce Wayne he portrayed. He began with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. What followed was 30 years of the gay actor serving as the most-used and most-beloved incarnation of Batman for a whole generation.

Thank you for thirty years of night. 🦇

valentines harlivy for @cryptiddotjpeg + rest are wips/scraps/doodles

This feels like their dynamic I think

‘Finding Batman’, written by voice actor Kevin Conroy who recently died at the age of 66 from cancer. (Capital F, FUCK cancer!).  The short comic was published in DC Pride 2022 and it details “Conroy’s tragic childhood and experience as a gay actor. It details how he missed many acting opportunities due to his sexuality or times when others in the industry casually threw homophobic slurs at him. In addition to being a gay man in a time when Hollywood was less accepting of homosexuality, he also came from a broken home. His father was an alcoholic who attempted suicide, his parents divorced, and his brother struggled with mental illness. Not only did he have to “mask” his sexuality from others, but also “mask” his own personal pain....Conroy elaborated that all of these experiences allowed him to connect with the character of Batman, one that he previously knew little about, in a highly profound way.” (Source) I didn’t watch much television around 1992 when Batman: The Animated Series started airing but, for some reason, I took time to watch this version of Batman (a character I hadn’t given much attention. In fact, I didn’t give DC Comics much attention until Vertigo started in 1993). I don’t remember why I started watching B:TAS, it was probably the animation style that initially caught my attention, but the show itself was interesting enough to hook me. I kept watching right up until the show was cancelled in 1995. I give primary credit here to Conroy’s performance as Batman (and Bruce Wayne) which brought an unexpected nuance and maturity to an animated character that really helped elevate the show into something enduring (noting other additions of the shows legacy like the revamping of Mr. Freeze, the introduction of the character Harley Quinn, Mark Hamill’s portrayal of the Joker, etc.) Whenever I think of Batman, it’s Conroy’s version of Batman that comes to mind. Conroy IS Batman. Conroy defined the voice and sentiment of Batman having played the character longer than any other actor. It was Conroy who first used two distinctive voices for Bruce Wayne and Batman, a method every subsequent actor who as portrayed the character of Batman has replicated. It was Conroy’s voice acting that helped make the Rocksteady Studios ‘Arkham’ games so much fun to play. Conroy’s Batman is the best Batman.  Oh, I lifted the comic from here. 

September 5th, 2022 marks the 30th anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series.  Here are members of the #BTAS voice cast photographed by Michael Leshnov: Kevin Conroy (the Batman), Aron Kincaid (Killer Croc), Mark Hamill (the Joker), Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn), Diane Pershing (Poison Ivy), Paul Williams (the Penguin), and Richard Moll (Two-Face).

Sometimes, perfection is achieved in media. And BtaS was one such show. For decades now people have tried to reach this level of perfection in Batman, and fallen short. No one could touch this man. There will never be another Kevin Conroy.

BTAS Title Cards Appreciation Posts

Batman the Animated Series by Andrew Arunion

I know it's been said before but it's so strange that the B:tAS writers felt they had to make up a "real" name for Harley Quinn that sounded like Harley Quinn (the way Pamela Isley sounds a bit like Poison Ivy) but what they came up with sounds less like a real name than Harley Quinn.

like "Harleen Quinzel" sounds like a name Harley Quinn would make up as a cover, the joke being that it sounds silly and implausible because she's a ditz. Indeed, the first time I think it comes up, in "The Man Who Killed Batman," she's passing herself off as a lawyer - and also showing for the first time that she can act like an intellectual, composed professional, so her ditziness is at least partly a performance too - so it would be reasonable for the audience to think it's a name she made up for the occasion.

I have three memories of B:TAS and The Justice League show from seeing reruns as a young child. My three memories:

• I loved Two-Face. He's still my favorite villian. Richard Moll did such a good job in that role. I may not have known who he was back then, but he did so great in this role.

• I loved Martian Manhunter. Still do because of this show. I always felt he got the least representation on the show, but I loved him so much. Best Justice League member, by a mile.

• I liked the villian Shade. I don't know why, since he was such a minor villian. But something about his top hat and cane design just appealed to my aethestic sense, I guess. I remember that whole supervillain team intro weirded me out when I first saw it, but I don't know if that's true or not anymore. The memory is too fuzzy. But I did learn recently shade was voiced by a Canadian actor, which is pretty cool.

You know, it was interesting writing this. Going back through my mind, seeing what I remembered. Maybe I should do this again sometime with some other show.

I never knew That our romance had ended... Until you poisoned my food! And I thought it was a lark When you kicked me in the park, But now I think it was rude! I never knew That you and I were finished... Until that bottle hit my head! Though I tried to be aloof When you pushed me off the roof, I feel our romance is dead. It wouldn't have been so bad if you had told me That someone had taken my place! But no! No, you didn't even scold me! You just tried to disfigure my face! You'll never know How this heart of mine is breaking... It looks so hopeless, but then... Life used to be so placid! Won't you PLEASE put down that acid?! And Say That We're Sweethearts Again! - Say That We're Sweethearts Again, "Harlequinade" R.I.P. Arleen Sorkin. To me, you simply were and always will be Harley Quinn.

10 Characters, 10 Fandoms

Aw, a floofy bat (adorable name!) tagged me, and well, I love doing stuff like this. Thanks!

And I agree that the tagging thing can feel/be weird, so I'll just leave this open to anyone else who wants to play.

Zatanna - DC Comics

Wynonna Earp - Wynonna Earp (duh)

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie (though I love Poirot)

Pamela Swynford De Beaufort - Southern Vampire Mysteries

Phryne Fisher - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

Frank Pembleton - Homicide: Life on the Street

Sophie Devereaux - Leverage

Batman - Batman: The Animated Series

Dutch - Killjoys

Captain Marvel -Marvel Comics

I’ve been watching Batman:the animated series while knitting/crocheting, mostly because I watched this all growing up so a lot of it isn’t new to me so I don’t mind spending 90% of an episode staring at my hands on accident, but it really has reminded me just how much I loved Batman growing up, and WHY.

I love Bruce Wayne being a good, thicc, KIND man. Like the man is built like a refrigerator, but he is so soft for so much of it?? Offering to pay for a man’s legal fees, just so he can hear stories about his father??? Like he just wants to help people, so much, and if he can’t do it as Bruce he will try as Batman, like come hell or high water he’s going to try goddamnit!

Batman was just so…good. And maybe I’m just being hit by a freight train called nostalgia but it’s really nice to watch a man just be kind, be kind, be kind

the clock king is so underrated y'all