Kevin Conroy’s ‘Finding Batman’ is A Story We Need Right Now
This year’s Pride issue features a story by Kevin Conroy. Finding Batman draws parallels between his life as a gay man and Bruce Wayne’s secret identity.
There’s a generation of people out there that was introduced to Batman on Fox Kids via Batman: The Animated Series. For us, Kevin Conroy will always be the voice of the caped crusader. He is Batman. Conroy started voicing Batman and Bruce Wayne in 1992. Over the last thirty years he’s lent his voice to animated movies, shows, and video games. He jumped to live action and was a part of the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover TV event in 2019 as an alt version of Bruce with Ruby Rose’s Batwoman.
Kevin Conroy’s Finding Batman
This Pride Month he’s turned his talents to writing and shared his own personal story entitled Finding Batman. It’s about how he relates to Bruce Wayne because he balances a public and secret identity, which Kevin Conroy struggled with while he was closeted. It also describes the homophobic abuse he dealt with over his lifetime.
“I often marveled at how appropriate it was that I should land this role. As a gay boy growing up in the 1950s and ’60s in a devoutly Catholic family, I’d grown adept at concealing parts of myself. Of putting aspects of myself in a separate box and locking it away… better to wear a mask, I thought.”
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Conroy draws parallels between traumatic events Bruce went through with his own losses. He writes about his father’s death, his brother’s mental illness issues, and those he lost during the AIDS crisis of the ’80s. It ends with an overlapping between the two – the character on the page and the author – as Conroy takes on being the voice of Batman.
“It seemed to roar from thirty years of frustration, confusion, denial, love, yearning. Yearning for what? An anchor, a harbor, a sense of safety, a sense of identity. Yes, I can relate. Yes, this terrain I know well. I felt Batman rising deep within.”
In a world where the LGBTQ+ community is still dealing with harassment, violence, and having to hide their identities it’s good to have Kevin Conroy and Batman to look to. Finding Batman is worthy of an Eisner Award.
via DC
Even though Pride Month 2022 is winding down, you can still pick up a copy of DC PRIDE 2022. It also features stories about Tim Drake’s Robin, Harley Quinn, and Jonathan Kent’s Superman with art and stories by LGBTQ+ creators.
