I don’t know how all of you are doing, but I’m sad.
Last Monday we learned of Kevin O’Neill’s passing. On Wednesday, Carlos Pacheco. And then came Friday, Kevin Conroy. I’m sad. I’m really sad. But as always happens, when people pass away, we get the opportunity to share their stories and appreciate the joy they have brought to our lives. With creators, the joy is more widespread, but so is the grief.
The same day that Kevin Conroy passed away, Wakanda Forever was released. I’ve been reading articles about Ryan Coogler almost giving up filmmaking after Chadwick Boseman’s death, and how he got past it, and seeing photos of my friends dressed in white for mourning. I wrote last month about what you do when you lose a member of your community, and how you move forward. For creative people, I can’t think of a better tribute, or better way of healing, than creating. And not only creating tributes, but creating new fans. Wakanda Forever is being heralded as a beautiful tribute to Chadwick Boseman, but it’s also being celebrated for its portrayal of Namor, and connecting Namor’s origin story with Mayan and Mesoamerican cultures — and doing it in a way that is respectful and historically researched.
With the passing of these three comics legends, the community is coming again to celebrate their lives, their works, and their legacies. There are generations who have never read The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or know about Pachecho’s aesthetic influence across Marvel and DC in the 90s, or watched Batman: The Animated Series--but who will now.
That’s lovely. And so are the tributes.
There are obituaries in The New York Times and L.A. Times. Jeet Heer also shared the 800-word statement written by Alan Moore that was too long for The New York Times article.
The New York Times asked Alan Moore for an obituary statement about his longtime collaborator Kevin O'Neill. Moore being Moore, he wrote a lovely 800 words far too long to use. Here it is. pic.twitter.com/GilMT3wGxV
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) November 13, 2022
Carlos Pacheco did not get the NYT treatment, but there are nice retrospectives on CBR and The Beat. Pacheco, who had ALS, posted this tweet, almost a month before his death, and I think it’s fair to say that was his way of assuring us that when death came for him, he was at peace.
And when I die
and when I'm dead, dead and gone,
There'll be one child born and
a world to carry on, to carry on
I'm not scared of dying
and I don't really care
If it's peace you find in dying,
well, then let the time be near. https://t.co/Gvgud53rr6— Carlos Pacheco (@Cpachecoficial) October 11, 2022
Kevin Conroy’s death is perhaps the death that has hit the hardest because he was THE voice of Batman–and almost all of the headlines say as much, including those by The New York Times and NPR. The tributes have been too numerous to count but even the Empire State Building posted its own tribute.
RIP, Kevin Conroy. You will be missed
📷: nycnikon/IG pic.twitter.com/II4Dk3qkxk
— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) November 11, 2022
Collider has collected some of them from his colleagues in animation and comics. There’s two I want to share, not included in there. One is from Mark Hamill, the voice of the Joker from the Batman animated series.
Though we're all sad, I know he wouldn't want that. I'm finding great solace in all the memories I have of him…the thrill of our earliest recording sessions, discovering the unique bond our characters shared, how we complemented one another & bonded immediately. 🙏🦇s, 💜💚🃏 pic.twitter.com/jt8CHbdCsa
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) November 13, 2022
The other is from Kevin Conroy himself. the story that was published in this year’s DC Pride anthology. DC has made the anthology available to everyone, and you should go read it.
To honor the unparalleled Kevin Conroy, we’ve made his autobiographical DC Pride comic FINDING BATMAN available to read for free.
As I’ve said elsewhere, there’s nothing quite like Kevin in his own words.https://t.co/S5Phj7lp1u
— Andrea Shea (@whatthe_shea) November 11, 2022
And if you have left Twitter in the great exodus–you can read and reblog the entire story over here on Tumblr.
