I believe we all have a show, or shows, that we grew up on that have left a lasting impact — in some cases we still watch them. For my dad, I remember he told me about Tom and Jerry and the original Micky Mouse cartoons. In my case, there are a few shows that I’ve watched that have stayed with me, and one of those shows was Batman: The Animated Series.
Batman: The Animated Series ran from 1992-1995, and would be followed up by The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited — to name a few.
I basically watched this show, and continuations of the show, for my entire childhood. In fact, I remember having the toys and playing some of the games. Today, after freshly turning 29, I still watch the shows — I have the first season on DVD and I collect the original toys.
In short, I’m a geek.
This year brought a rare opportunity for me, and other fans of Batman: The Animated Series in South Carolina, and that was in the form of Soda City Comic Con.
Soda City Comic Con is a comic and pop culture event in Columbia, bringing together the best in comics, toys, cosplay, gaming and artists. Soda City Comic Con has been around for a few years now, but unfortunately I have never had the chance to go.
This year, I made sure I had the opportunity. Soda City Comic Con started rolling out the guest list for this year, and and five — I’m sorry, let me say that again FIVE — voice actors from Batman: The Animated Series were on the list; and so were two voice actors from Justice League and other DC Comics animated shows.
These voice actors were the entire reason I decided I HAD to go they included: Kevin Conroy (Batman), Loren Lester (Robin/Nightwing), John Glover (Riddler, and other DC characters), Diane Pershing (Poison Ivy), Adrienne Barbeau (Catwoman), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman) and George Newbern (Superman).
Unfortunately, George Newbern had to cancel, but I believe he is scheduled for next year!
In short, this was a huge deal for me — I had to go, I even recall reading that this was Kevin Conroy’s first time at a South Carolina convention. This may have been my only chance to meet my Batman — no matter how old I get, whenever I think of Batman, I will think of Kevin Conroy.
So I went — in fact I was posting about Soda City Comic Con so much — every time a new guest was announced — that a ticket was purchased for me for my birthday from my mom — who we all know rocks.
The days and weeks go by, I even purchased a house and turned 29 during the wait, and finally Saturday, Aug. 10 arrives. I get up, and I head on to Columbia — eventually some friends would meet me there, but I wasn’t waiting. I waited in line and when 10 a.m. came around they let us all in.
Well, I made my way to the guest tables, at first I thought I would wait for my friend John from Union to arrive, but he was taking too long. I stated getting autographs, and meeting the actors/actresses that made such an impact on my childhood.
I was extremely nervous during all of this, and I’ll admit it — star struck. With Diane Pershing, I was able to pick out a photo and get an autograph, and talk with her for a bit. We discussed the motivations of Poison Ivy, which as she said was the environment. I told her I enjoyed the fact her motivation had nothing to do with a male villain — she was bad all on her own.
Next up was Loren Lester, who would only be there for a short time. In fact, the whole reason I needed to get there early was to get his autograph!
After that, I went to Susan Eisenberg’s table — and by this point I’m all hyped up and excited! Again, these are the voices of my childhood. I was able to speak to her about voicing Wonder Woman in video games, and playing the duel characters, and being the voice of the character for so long.
Following meeting Wonder Woman, I make my way to John Glover’s table, and until I looked down at his pictures, I never realized how many DC Comics related shows he has been in. Other than Batman: The Animated Series, he’s been in Batman & Robin, Shazam! and Smallville. I asked about playing so many DC characters, and he just said, “I don’t know, it keeps happening.”
Next up, I went to the table of Adrienne Barbeau — who, as it turns out, also played a Romulan Senator on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Finally, I went to the man himself, Kevin Conroy. Going to his table I was able to get two autographs (was able to get a toy from the original series signed) and a picture. I’m officially at geek overload at this point.
Every single one of them were super nice, were willing to chat, and honestly seemed to really enjoy the convention.
So after this, I walked around the convention and ran into a good bit of people I know — a lot of my friends are geeks. Other than the friends I was going with, I ran into my friend Danielle Connelly (who was there to meet Kathy Najimy, Hocus Pocus) and college friends Ashley Ramsey and Justin Walker.
The rest of the day went by, taking pictures and buying stuff — way too much stuff. However, then came 2 p.m., which was the Batman: The Animated Series Reunion Panel. Which was amazing!
We were able to hear facts about the show, funny stories and basically just hear from the voice actors who made the show possible. I’ll have to say, hearing how they created the actual “voice” of the character was incredible.
There are tons of other stories from the panel I can share — including the cast talking about working with Mark Hamill (the voice of the Joker), but that would take up this entire publication.
The day goes by, and I make my way home and begin posting on social media. To my shock, excitement and pure joy — Kevin Conroy retweeted me on Twitter and said, “Great meeting you Andrew!”
Yep, day officially made — and I’m thinking I’ll have to keep going back to Soda City Comic Con for great experiences.
