Made time for this. Kevin Conroy was one of my favorite influences.
The comic is a reference to the episode Beware the Gray Ghost, in which Batman needs the help of an actor he admired as a child to solve a crime.
Batman: “As a kid, I used to watch you with my father. The Gray Ghost was my hero.“
As some folks on tumblr have pointed out, Simon Trent (Gray Ghost) was voiced by Adam West.
Thinking about that one time in JL TAS when Batman thought Wonder Woman was buried under rubble and literally dug through it with his bare hands until she climbed out and then proceeded to hide his hands from her. Thinking about how it took Flash (2) minutes of talking to get him to go to Flash Appreciation Day and drag Orion along with him. Thinking about how Batman, literally he squishiest and most vulnerable member of the team, shot Martian Manhunter and the Flash away from the Watchtower so he could crash it into the enemy’s doomsday weapon, KNOWING he was far more likely to die than those two. Thinking about how on Superman’s birthday he personally delivered cash, knowing it was a shit gift, to him in the Fortress of Solitude because he didn’t know how to give it otherwise. Thinking about how Batman is aware that he probably won’t ever fix Gotham, but still goes out and does it anyway because every life he saves is another life that won’t end up like his. Thinking about how Batman’s greatest strength is not his intelligence, or his skill, or his willpower, but his compassion for life even at its ugliest.