#45

Batman: The Animated Series

Some may say that “their” Batman was Christian Bale. Some may say “their” Batman was Michael Keaton. Some may say “their” Batman is Adam West or Ben Affleck or Robert Pattinson. Some may even say “their” Batman was George Clooney (I’d have to question those people).

Well, I think my Batman is Kevin Conroy.

Kevin Conroy became THE voice of Batman thanks to his work on Batman: The Animated Series, which went for four seaosns on FOX kids. The show is lauded as one of the greatest animated programs of all time.

The show also featured one of the mst iconic Joker performances ever done. Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself, provided the demented Clown Prince of Crime’s voice for the show and helped to make his name as a predominant voice actor.

The series was developed by Bruce Timm, whose style of the show became a trend unto itself. The animation of the Batman series had a flair, a style unlike anything anyone had seen up to that point and it became a sensation.

The writing of the episodes were amazing, too. These stories were not just for kids, though kids could enjoy them. There was an adult complex feel to these episodes that made Batman: TAS stand out among the Saturday morning fare. This style of Batman animation led to several longer movies, including the special Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm, considered one of the greatest Batman movies of any genre.

The iconic character of Harley Quinn made her debut on the animated series, becoming one of DC Comics most popular female characters.