To reverse an outdated cliché, good villains imply nothing and not using a sturdy hero to face them. “Batman: The Animated Collection” additionally gave us the definitive and most adorable adaptation of the Caped Crusader himself. Batman’s characterization strikes the identical excellent steadiness of darkish and light-weight as the general tone of the sequence.
The animated Batman’s soul rested inside Kevin Conroy; he could not be with us, however he nonetheless is the voice for Batman with out dispute. Conroy was a homosexual man and, when he acquired the a part of Batman, was nonetheless within the closet for his profession’s sake. In 2022, Conroy wrote a brief comedian titled “Discovering Batman,” explaining how having to put on a masks in his personal life ready him to voice Batman:
“It appeared to roar from 30 years of frustration, confusion, denial, love, craving… craving for what? An anchor. A harbor. A way of security, a way of id. Sure, I can relate. Sure, that is terrain I do know nicely. I felt Batman rising from deep inside.”
Conroy’s Batman wasn’t one which solely impressed concern, but additionally one which youngsters (or adults who first watched him at a youthful age) may look as much as, and who was allowed to be weak like in Conroy’s biggest Batman second of all. Some specific highlights embody “Nothing to Worry,” the place Batman is haunted by the disapproving spirit of his father, solely to conquer it with a now immortal line: “I’m vengeance! I’m the night time! I’m Batman!”
In “Perchance To Dream,” Bruce Wayne awakens in a world the place he was by no means Batman and his dad and mom are nonetheless alive. The usually in-control Batman is bewildered, and in the end cannot deny when one thing is simply too good to be true. In “I Am The Evening,” we see a uncommon self-loathing aspect of Batman, for he feels that he nonetheless hasn’t performed sufficient regardless of all his dedication and sacrifices.
The 2-parter “Robin’s Reckoning” principally stars Batman’s Boy Surprise sidekick as he comes face-to-face together with his dad and mom’ killer Tony Zucco, however Batman/Conroy has a robust supporting half. I’ve by no means forgotten his last line within the episode, when he admits he was scared that Robin would possibly get himself killed working off after Zucco.
This Batman even sees the sunshine within the dangerous guys (nicely, most of them). Simply watch “Two-Face” or “Child Doll” or “Harley’s Vacation,” the place he comforts a semi-reformed Miss Quinn by reminding her all of us have dangerous days. “Good guys such as you should not have dangerous days,” replies a touched Harley.
I see in Conroy’s Batman the identical ethos that Peter Cullen attracts on when voicing Optimus Prime in “Transformers” — “Be sturdy sufficient to be light” — and from that got here the perfect Batman ever.
“Batman: The Animated Collection” is streaming on Prime Video.
