The best superhero TV show of all time, according to IMDb

To reverse the old cliché, good villains mean nothing without a strong hero to stand up to them. “Batman: The Animated Series” also gave us the final and most beloved adaptation of the Caped Crusader himself. Batman’s characterization hits the same Just right Balance of darkness and light as the overall tone of the series.

Batman’s animated spirit has settled inside Kevin Conroy; He may no longer be with us, but he still is the Vote for Batman without a doubt. Conroy was a gay man, and when he got the role of Batman, he was still in the closet for his career. In 2022, Conroy wrote a short comic called “The Search for Batman”, Explaining how having to wear a mask in his life prepared him to voice Batman:

“It seemed to roar from 30 years of frustration and confusion and denial and love and longing… a longing for what? An anchor. A port. A sense of security, a sense of identity. Yes, I can relate to that. Yes, this is terrain I know so well, and I felt Batman rising.” From deep down.

Not only was Conroy’s Batman someone who inspired fear, he was also someone that children (or adults who saw him for the first time at a younger age) could look up to, and Which is allowed to be as vulnerable as it is in Conroy’s greatest Batman moment ever. Some highlights include “Nothing to Fear”, in which Batman is haunted by his father’s disapproving spirit, only to be defeated by his now-immortal phrase: “I am Vengeance! I am the Night! I am Batman!”

In “Perchance To Dream”, Bruce Wayne wakes up in a world where Batman never existed and his parents are still alive. The normally controlling Batman is baffled, and ultimately unable to deny when something is too good to be true. In I Am the Night, we see a rare side of self-loathing in Batman: he feels it Still He did not do enough despite all his dedication and sacrifices.

The two-parter “Robin’s Reckoning” stars Batman’s sidekick Boy Wonder coming face to face with his parents’ killer Tony Zucco, but Batman/Conroy has a strong supporting role. I’ve never forgotten his last line in the episode, when he admitted that he was afraid Robin would kill himself running after Zuko.

This Batman even sees the light in villains (well, most of them). Just watch “Two-Face,” “Baby Doll,” or “Harley’s Holiday,” where he comforts the semi-correct Miss Quinn by reminding her that we all have bad days. “Good guys like you shouldn’t have bad days,” responds an emotional Harley.

I see in Batman Conroy the same spirit that Peter Cullen based on the voice of Optimus Prime in ‘Transformers’ – “Be strong enough to be kind” – hence the best Batman ever.

“Batman: The Animated Series” is streaming on Prime Video.