For an entire generation-and probably more-Kevin Conroy WAS Batman.
I'm sure people have their favorites like Michael Keaton, Adam West or Ben Affleck but for me and probably millions of people all over the world, Kevin Conroy was everything we wanted in a Batman.
He may not have had the physicality (Not needed in the medium of animation) but his voice gave you the presence of Batman; he let you know that THIS is what Batman should sound like and it affected how we actually read the comics. Go to any comic convention and ask someone "Who's voice do you hear in your head when you read Batman?" and nine times out of ten, people will answer "Kevin Conroy".
Whether it was an episode, animated movie or video game, the quality never mattered because you knew that if it was good, Kevin playing Batman was the cherry on top. And if it was of a...lesser quality, you always knew that he was going to be the best thing in it because he always gave it his all.
And what was so wonderful about him was you never got the feeling from him that he disliked the character or the impact he had on people. He was constantly on the con-circuit, signing autographs for fans and going to panels and I can't say I ever heard a bad word about him.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 he volunteered in a soup kitchen and when it was revealed WHO he was he had no problem breaking out his Batman voice for anyone in attendance.
Kevin Conroy was not the Batman we deserved but I, and countless others, will be forever grateful to him for being the Batman we needed.
As Bruce Wayne once told Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond, the same applied to Kevin Conroy: "It's not [being] Batman that makes you worthwhile; it's the other way around."
No comments:
Post a Comment