NPO #16: R.I.P. Kevin Conroy & More

Article by Sean Wilkinson

Getty Images, via The New York Post
Created 2021 by Chelsea Guglielmino

This week, we lost a voice acting icon in Kevin Conroy. He passed away on November 10, at the age of 66.  For many, including myself, Conroy is considered the voice of Batman. I'd even argue that Conroy was the Batman, period. Compared to Keaton's unhinged, snarky Batman (in films that were the reason Batman: The Animated Series, and later, the "DC Animated Universe," was even created), Bale's unintelligible Batman, and countless others, Conroy brought a level of emotion and charisma that few, if any, could match; a rising tide that helped lift all boats in an already amazing production. Beyond his animated contributions, Kevin Conroy voiced Batman in video games, recorded call-to-action clips for YouTuber Vee Infuso, and portrayed an evil, cybernetically enhanced Batman in the Arrowverse crossover, "Crisis On Infinite Earths."

I could rattle off a Wikipedia page's worth of info here regarding his filmography, death, and other details, but I know I'm centuries late by social media standards, so if you want the impersonal stuff, just go to Wikipedia or Google, and follow the Mad Hatter down the information rabbit hole to the bottom of the Kevin Conroy iceberg (because if I'm going to throw one metaphor into the blender, I'd better throw in at least one more and pour myself a Rabbit McDowall smoothie with crumbled bat wings for extra protein and...a black market aphrodisiac?).

Instead, I'm going to talk about my experiences with the "DC Animated Universe" and Kevin Conroy.

My first Batman: The Animated Series experience was while I was in the hospital, recovering from a surgery I had as a kid. At the time, my parents and I were living in a house where cable access was all but nonexistent, in a time that predates digital signals. We had a few channels that we could tune into with the right antenna placement, but to be able to watch the now-defunct programming style that was Saturday Morning Cartoons, the only options were the hospital or a motel room. No, I didn't purposely injure myself so I could watch cartoons. I was a socially stupid kid (and I am a socially stupid adult), but not that stupid. Ironically, I think it was a corrective eye surgery that I was recovering from, but don't quote me on that. All I remember vividly is that I was laying in a hospital bed, inclined with a bunch of tubes and sensors on me, and there was this array of CRT televisions, and on one of them was the first episode of BTAS that I ever saw: "Harley & Ivy." I was too young to care about artistry or voice acting or anything, but that episode hooked me for multiple reasons: That opening theme sequence, the clashing but perfectly matched chemistry of the two villainesses, the explosions, everything about the Batman character, and the fact that, even at my naive age at the time, Poison Ivy (and later, Catwoman--yes, even the furry design from the "Tyger, Tyger" episode) made me...feel things. Most children of the 90s say their first 'toon crush was Jessica Rabbit, or Rebecca from Talespin, or Sonic's Bunny Rabbot, or Gadget from Rescue Rangers. Nope. For me, it was BTAS Poison Ivy and Catwoman. Come to think of it, I generally had a thing for cat-girls in the early 90s, including Black Cat on Spider-Man, and I even crushed on Katherine Sutherland (Cat) over Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly) when I shifted over to being a Power Rangers fan. Do with that information what you will.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to deviate into horny rambling about my childhood 2D crushes. I'm supposed to be talking about the DCAU and Kevin Conroy.... Anyway, BTAS and Kevin Conroy were the only reasons I continued to be a Batman fan. Sure, I watched more Marvel stuff than DC, even before cinematic universes were a thing, and I connected more with a financially-challenged bully magnet like Peter Parker/Spider-Man than I did with the brooding, womanizing billionaire orphan that is Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. But while the post-Burton Batman films were changing lead actors and tonal interpretations faster than James Bond, and Spider-Man was on its third animated reboot (of my lifetime) and getting a foothold in film, Conroy would continue to voice Batman through an entire animated continuity that comprised several character redesigns, show rebrandings, and vocal recastings (alongside the equally definitive Joker and Harley Quinn stalwarts, Mark Hamill and Arleen Sorkin), over five films, and seven multi-season series, and spans a generation. Conroy is, and always will be, my Batman.

In animated form. Maybe it was my ultra-lacking skills in the age-determination department, or nostalgia pangs, or my denial of time and the aging process, but even though I never met Kevin Conroy in person, his cameo in the Arrowverse crossover felt like a "never meet your heroes" moment. I do appreciate the new dynamic (cynical, mysotheistic, evil Batman) that he brought to the Variant of the character. It was like Snyderverse Batman without the apathetic brooding. Like the Justice Lords Batman from Justice League, but more willing to pull the trigger on the Watchtower laser and go all "Tower of Babel" on his closest friends if it makes the world a safer place. This Batman gives all the shifudamns and then some. But in the moment, it didn't feel like I was looking at or listening to Batman; it felt like it was Kevin Conroy. He didn't even put on the voice, so even though I knew he was in a costume, it felt like I was seeing an old voice actor so frail that he needed an actual cybernetic suit to hold him up. Like I was seeing my very childhood wither away, and feeling myself getting older just by allowing that imagery to be processed by my brain. For me, it was almost worse than learning that Conroy had died this week.

My brain is a contradiction. I thrive on being in denial and listening selectively, but I'm also compelled to confirm purported facts so they don't live, rent-free and unsubstantiated, in my head. And inadvertently being added to any given rumor mill has often led to me shooting myself in the foot for the sake of my own peace of mind (or Piece of mind, as my New Piece Offerings branding suggests). In this case, the way I found out about Kevin Conroy's passing was through a ScreenRant alert on my Google landing page. If you know anything about ScreenRant, Sportskeeda, Buzzfeed, ComicBookRant, CBR, or any similar sites that I neglected to mention, they are mainly ad-funded clickbait "news" sites that hire writers to compose factually questionable, illogically padded listicles that generate toxic fan discourse and allow as much intrusive ad placement as possible. So because of my compulsion to immediately fact-check things that would make my mind spin obsessively if I didn't, I Googled Kevin Conroy and learned that not only was I a day behind in knowing that a piece of my childhood had died, but that every credible news source (CNN, Variety, etc.) was in on the conversation. Shit. It was real. The voice of Batman, the Batman, my Batman, was dead.

If I ever have kids of my own, I will make Batman: The Animated Series (if not the entire DCAU) required watching when they get to an appropriate age, along with Spider-Man: The Animated Series, X-Men: The Animated Series, TMNT 2k3, and Beast Wars. Kids need to know what culture is. They need to know what history is. They need to know what nostalgia is. Even if it's from the semi-episodic cartoons of generations passed.

R.I.P. Kevin Conroy,
a.k.a. the immortal,
inimitable,
definitive,
Voice of Vengeance;
Voice of the Night;
Voice of Batman.

This sad news aside, the fall and winter have been great times of inactivity for me in the past, save a few Halloween specials. I get burned out by "Seasonal Affective Disorder" and the pressure to perform, among other factors. Instead of being overwhelmed by half-formed creative urges and temporal pressures to churn out fresh content on the bi-weekly (sem-weekly?), I thought I would pick one particularly strong urge and commit to it. I will still be doing my first Christmas special next month, as I had "planned." But the creative urge that has been screaming the loudest is for me to get back to writing the Grimm Fairy Tales Retrospective, starting with some time-saving reprints to get my mind back to fresh. So Stay Tuned for that to begin this coming Thursday.

Ticketmaster,
That was fun;
Who's for Chinese?