My Batman

Every few years or so, I rewatch Batman: The Animated Series. And every time it shocks me with its quality, its style, and the powerful effect it has on me.

I've adored it since I was a child. It so much to shape my aesthetic of storytelling and style. It did more to inspire me to create Mrs. Hawking than anything, and I actually have to work to distinguish my character from the prototype, rather than just recreating everything I found cool about the original.

I say I love Batman in general, and I do. I've read the comics since childhood and even enjoyed some of the films. But who I LOVE-- what I think of when I think of LOVING BATMAN-- is this Batman. This is MY Batman, the character that inspired me, that still shakes me with just how cool he is.

So many excellent choices. Kevin Conroy's performance-- he is still THE ONLY TRUE BATMAN TO ME --contrasting Bruce Wayne with his true self wearing the mask, which was HIS OWN INVENTION, by the way. The way he presents himself as Bruce Wayne as a nice guy but ultimately too vain and dumb for anybody to really take seriously-- I prefer that to the douchebag Bruce any day. Alfred's sweet relationship with him and his hilarious low-key snarking. Robin's conception as a college kid rather than a young boy. The character of Renee Montoya. The way they use the villains made me believe this is the best rogues' gallery of all comic book superheroes, giving human weight and motivation to what might otherwise just seem absurd. How COOL everything is-- Batman's costume, the Batcave, the Batmobile (in the style I affectionately call the Batillac), how the fight scenes look.

This most recent rewatch made me particularly appreciate the characterization of the hero-- his childhood trauma INFORMS his personality, and sometimes rears its head in his present life, but mostly he's COPING and not RULED BY IT. After all, being Batman? PRETTY FREAKING AWESOME COPING MECHANISM! It mitigates the melodrama and pitfalls the character tends to fall into when he's played too grimdark. The freaking films should have taken note.

I wanted to be this Batman so badly as a kid, such that to this day I can't watch the sequel series Batman Beyond without being suffused with naked envy for Terry McGuinness learning at the master's knee. Writing Mrs. Hawking is in a way getting to live that fantasy. Without this show, there would be no Mrs. Hawking-- one of the best things I've created in my life.