Voice behind Batman swoops into Ottawa for Comiccon

You might not recognize him by his looks, but thevoice is unmistakable.

Kevin Conroy, 63,has been voicing the animated Batmancharacter for more than a quarter century. Now fans will get to meet the man behind the CapedCrusaderat Ottawa Comiccon.

When he first auditioned for the role, Conroy admits he didn't know much about Bruce Wayne or his superhero alter-ego, having only been exposed to Adam West's campyportrayal of the role in the mid-1960s Batman TV series.

"For me it was really, truly, a cold audition, just improvising in the room, putting myself in the mind of this guy," Conroy told Alan Neal on CBC Radio's All In A Day.

Tragic backstory

Finding out about Bruce Wayne's tragic backstory he saw his parents murdered in front of him as a child changed how Conroy felt about the character and helped him delve into Wayne's psyche.

I realized over time that Batman is not the performance, Bruce Wayne is the performance.- Kevin Conroy

"It just put me in a very, very dark and sombre kind of place," he said.

That helped him develop the voice legions of fans would come to know so well.

"I keep going back to that moment of his childhood. That was the inspiration. That was the source of his grief, and that's the inspiration for me."

The ultimate authority

After playing Batman for so many years, Conroy could be considered the ultimate authority on Wayne's persona.

"I realized over time that Batman is not the performance, Bruce Wayne is the performance. Batman is who he really genuinely is, and the performance is being charming, suave Bruce Wayne."

Wayne is a dark man with issues, Conroybelieves, and hedraws on his own life experiences to tap into the character's emotions.

His own relationship with his parents was complicated. Conroygrew up with an alcoholic father and was on his own by the time he was 17.

One of the scenes he remembers drawing upon is when Wayne visits his parents' grave, asking them to release him from his vow to avenge their deaths by fighting crime in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

"It brought up everything that I was feeling about my father. Asking him why he couldn't love me, why he was such a victim of alcohol, why he couldn't give," said Conroy, who ended up caring for his father later in life.

Conroy appearsat Ottawa Comiccon Saturday and Sunday.