Blog
A Gift to All of Us
11/15/2022
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Not too long ago someone asked me if I wanted to create a page on the website specifically to honor comic creators when they pass. It's been a rough year afterall, 2022 has seen the passing of some absolutely giants in the world of comics; Alan Grant, Kevin O'Neil, Tom Veitch, Carlos Pacheco, Tim Sale, Neal Adams, George Perez...
I responded to that request by saying that I thought it was a good idea, but I just didn't know that I could reliably be counted on to produce an eloquent memorial for these creators as they pass. I don't feel driven to prose when that heavy weight hits the pit of my stomach when I read that the architects of these worlds that I love are no longer with us... I just feel their absense as this sullen emptiness. If anything, I just wish I could have somehow expressed to them while we still had them just how greatful I am for what they created for us. |
My brother Joel and Kevin Conroy
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Reading about Kevin Conroy's death hit me differently, for some reason. Everyone keeps posting "He was my Batman.", and they're absolutely right, but I just can't shake the idea that there's something a little more profound there, because in all our collective understanding, we all equate Kevin's contribution as something way beyond what you would usually associate with an actor playing a character. He had AUTHORSHIP of Batman, in a way you never see outside of the people writing them. The Stan Lee's and the George Perez's.
If you haven't read Kevin's contribution to the 2022 DC Pride comic 'Finding Batman'... well, I encourage you to either read it online or to purchase the book itself, but suffice to say, he was a Juliard trained actor who managed to find something in the character that allowed him to channel deeply personal parts of himself, and in doing so took a character with 60 years of history and refined it and made it his own in a way no one is ever going to be able to duplicate.
If you haven't read Kevin's contribution to the 2022 DC Pride comic 'Finding Batman'... well, I encourage you to either read it online or to purchase the book itself, but suffice to say, he was a Juliard trained actor who managed to find something in the character that allowed him to channel deeply personal parts of himself, and in doing so took a character with 60 years of history and refined it and made it his own in a way no one is ever going to be able to duplicate.
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A few months ago when I went to Terrificon at Mohegan Sun (where I caught covid) Joel and I had a particular encounter that really effected both of us. We had breakfast in the casino, and we seemed to be the only people who realized that the lone guy who came in with a heavy backpack who sat at the counter by himself having tea and an english muffin was royalty. We asked our waiter if we could pay for his breakfast, and tried to be secretive about it, but of course we failed, as we were obviously the two big nerds in the restaraunt. He came by our table and chatted with us a bit, talking about the convention and how much he appreciated all the love he got from his fans.
Honestly, that conversation is going to live in my heart for a long time, because as much as I know that he was a happily married man who had a partner and family that cared about him, I still have that same pit of my stomach feeling... I just wish I could have somehow expressed my gratitude to him for what he created, and let him know what it means to me... |
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Kevin knew. He knew that he was a defininging part of our childhood, or that he had put a voice to something deep and profound inside us. He knew what he meant to us and he felt that outpouring of affection from all of us. I doubt he would ever really know, as much as I doubt anyone can know, that they are going to be remembered by the world as one of the architects of our imagination for generations to come, but he knew that we loved him, and I take a great deal of comfort from that.
Oh, and just in case anyone asks... yes, we did wait in line later that day so Joel could get his picture with Kevin in an official capacity, and no, I'm not in that picture. I was waiting in line for something else. |
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I've never actually shown a picture of the original book I used to build the timelines for this site. It never really comes out anymore, unless I'm going to collect signatures in it.
This is the very first page of the book, with the very first timeline I ever did. I I asked him to sign just like that. Because he's Batman. |