RIP Batman
I woke up this morning to find out Kevin Conroy had passed away.
My Batman is dead. And I'm in tears.
Yes, I just published a piece where I flamed Batman as a comic character, but Kevin Conroy’s Batman was built different. See, I didn't give a shit about DC comics growing up. I was Team Marvel cuz they had the X-Men. I knew the big DC names (Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Superman, Batman), but I didn’t read any of the comics.
Then Batman: The Animated Series hit my television. Y’all, ya boy was hooked!
This was a different Batman. More hopeful. More light. They wrote his character like a fucking human, not a militant fascist beating mental patients into submission. Conroy’s voice helped solidify this feeling.
It’s not just Conroy’s death that has me in tears, though. It’s the death of this hopeful Batman that is fucking me up.
Let me tell you about my favorite Batman moment featuring the talented Mr. Conroy.
Ace in the Hole
After B:TAS went off the air, DC launched animated shows based on the Justice League. My favorite of the two was the ensemble show Justice League Unlimited. It has the best Batman moment in the episode “Epilogue.”
This episode is a crossover between JLU and Batman Beyond, explaining the connection between Terry McGuiness and Bruce Wayne. But that’s not what we’re here for.
We’re here for death.
There is a supervillain team called the Royal Flush Gang. They have five members: 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace. In “Epilogue,” Ace is depicted as a young girl. Her powers are out of control and changing the world around her.
Amanda Waller shows up with a solution: kill Ace with a unique device. Batman takes on the job because, as he tells Hawkgirl, “I’m the only one of us Ace knows. She might let me get close enough to use” the device.
Waller tells him, “the only way to stop Ace for certain is to kill her.”
I can hear you saying Batman doesn’t kill!
You’re right. Batman doesn’t kill. That nygga do be lying, though.
Batman makes his way to Ace, sitting on a swing alone. Ace can read minds, but she lets Batman through because she knows he has no fucking intentions of using the device to kill her.
He just wanted to talk to her. Because, just like Ace, he knows what it’s like to lose your childhood. He knows what it’s like being a weapon.
Ace asks him, “Will you stay with me? I’m scared.”
Batman sits on a second swing next to Ace and reaches out his hand to hold hers.
That’s my muthafucking Batman.
Long Live Batman
No, grown-ass men shouldn’t worship comic book characters. No, we shouldn’t hold them up as heroes. No, we shouldn’t be crying as we write a blog post about the death of their voice actor whom we never met.
But this Batman is my hero. This Batman uses his trauma to heal someone. This Batman sits with a scared and confused girl because he was once a scared and confused boy. This Batman kicks ass without raising a boot off the ground.
We could use more heroes like that.
RIP, Mr. Conroy.
RIP to my Batman.