Anarky is an anti hero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Co-created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, he first appeared in Detective Comics #608 (November 1989), as an adversary of Batman. Anarky is introduced as Lonnie Machin, a child prodigy with knowledge of radical philosophy and driven to overthrow governments to improve social conditions. Stories revolving around Anarky often focus on political and philosophical themes. The character, who is named after the philosophy of anarchism, primarily espouses anti-statism and attacks capitalism; however, multiple social issues have been addressed through the character, including environmentalism, antimilitarism, economic inequality, and political corruption. Inspired by multiple sources, early stories featuring the character often included homages to political and philosophical texts, and referenced anarchist philosophers and theorists. The inspiration for the creation of the character and its early development was based in Grant's personal interest in anti-authoritarian philosophy and politics. However, when Grant himself transitioned to the philosophy of Neo-Tech developed by Frank R. Wallace, he shifted the focus of Anarky from a vehicle for social anarchism and then libertarian socialism, with an emphasis on wealth redistribution and critique of Capitalism, to themes of individualism and personal reflections on the nature of consciousness.
Originally intended to only be used in the debut story in which he appeared, Grant decided to continue using Anarky as a sporadically recurring character throughout the early 1990s, following positive reception by readers and Dennis O'Neil. The character experienced a brief surge in media exposure during the late 1990s when Breyfogle convinced Grant to produce a limited series based on the character. The 1997 spin-off series, Anarky, was received with positive reviews and sales, and later declared by Grant to be among his "career highlights". Batman: Anarky, a trade paperback collection of stories featuring the character, soon followed. This popular acclaim culminated, however, in a financially and critically unsuccessful ongoing solo series. The 1999 Anarky series, for which even Grant has expressed his distaste, was quickly canceled after eight issues.
Following the cancellation of the Anarky series, and Grant's departure from DC Comics, Anarky experienced a prolonged period of absence from DC publications, despite professional and fan interest in his return. This period of obscurity lasted approximately nine years, with three brief interruptions for minor cameo appearances in 2000, 2001, and 2005. In 2008, Anarky reappeared in an issue of Robin authored by Fabian Nicieza, with the intention of ending this period of obscurity. The storyline drastically altered the character's presentation, prompting a series of responses by Nicieza to concerned readers. Anarky became a recurring character in issues of Red Robin, authored by Nicieza, until the series was cancelled in 2011 in the aftermath of The New 52. A new Anarky was introduced into the New 52 continuity in October 2013, in an issue of Green Lantern Corps, which itself was a tie-in to the "Batman: Zero Year" storyline. Yet more characters have been authored as using the Anarky alias in the New 52 continuity via the pages of Detective Comics and Earth 2: Society.
From 2013, Anarky began to be featured more heavily in media adaptations of DC Comics properties, across multiple platforms. In July, a revamped version of Anarky was debuted as the primary antagonist in Beware the Batman, a Batman animated series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. In October, the character made his video game debut in Batman: Arkham Origins, as a villain who threatens government and corporate institutions with destruction. Anarky made his live action debut in the Arrowverse television series Arrow in the fourth and fifth seasons, portrayed by Alexander Calvert, once again as a villain.
Publication history
Creation and debut
Originally inspired by his personal political leanings, Alan Grant entertained the idea of interjecting anarchist philosophy into Batman comic books. In an attempt to emulate the success of Chopper, a rebellious youth in Judge Dredd, he conceptualized a character as a 12-year-old anarchist vigilante, who readers would sympathize with despite his harsh methods; additionally, in the wake of the death of Jason Todd, Grant hoped that Anarky could be used as the new Robin. Creating the character without any consultation from his partner, illustrator Norm Breyfogle, his only instructions to Breyfogle were that Anarky be designed as a cross between V and the black spy from Mad magazine's Spy vs. Spy. The character was also intended to wear a costume that disguised his youth, and so was fitted with a crude "head extender" that elongated his neck, creating a jarring appearance. This was in fact intended as a ruse on the part of writer Alan Grant to disguise the character's true identity, and to confuse the reader into believing Anarky to be an adult. While both of these design elements have since been dropped, more enduring aspects of the character have been his golden face mask, "priestly" hat, and his golden cane.
The first Anarky story, "Anarky in Gotham City, Part 1: Letters to the Editor", appeared in Detective Comics #608, in November 1989. Lonnie Machin is introduced as "Anarky" as early as his first appearance in Detective Comics #608, withholding his origin story for a later point. He is established as an uncommonly philosophical and intelligent 12-year-old. Lonnie Machin made his debut as "Anarky" by responding to complaints in the newspaper by attacking the offending sources, such as the owner of a factory whose byproduct waste is polluting local river water. Anarky and Batman ultimately come to blows, and during their brief fight, Batman deduces that Anarky is actually a young child. During this first confrontation, Anarky is aided by a band of homeless men, including Legs, a homeless cripple who becomes loyal to him and would assist him in later appearances. After being caught, Lonnie is locked away in a juvenile detention center.
Anarky series
Following the comic book industry crash of 1996, Norm Breyfogle sought new employment at DC Comics. Darren Vincenzo, then an editorial assistant at the company, suggested multiple projects which Breyfogle could take part in. Among his suggestions was an Anarky limited series, to be written by Grant or another specified author. Following encouragement from Breyfogle, Grant agreed to participate in the project. The four-issue limited series, Anarky, was published in May 1997. Entitled "Metamorphosis", the story maintained the character's anti-authoritarian sentiments, but was instead based on Neo-Tech, a philosophy based on Objectivism, developed by Frank R. Wallace.
Well received by critics and financially successful, Grant has referred to the limited series as one of his favorite projects, and ranked it among his "career highlights". With its success, Vincenzo suggested continuing the book as an ongoing series to Breyfogle and Grant. Although Grant was concerned that such a series would not be viable, he agreed to write it at Breyfogle's insistence, as the illustrator was still struggling for employment. Building on the increasing exposure of the series, a trade paperback featuring the character titled Batman: Anarky was published. However, Grant's doubts concerning the ongoing series's prospects eventually proved correct. The second series was panned by critics, failed to catch on among readers, and was canceled after eight issues, but Grant has noted that it was popular in Latin American countries, supposing this was due to a history of political repression in the region.
Absence from DC publications
After the financial failure of Anarky vol. 2, the character entered a period of absence from DC publications that lasted several years. Norm Breyfogle attempted to continue using the character in other comics during this time. When his efforts were rejected, he came to suspect the character's prolonged absence was due in part to censorship. Since the cancellation of the Anarky series, Grant has disassociated himself from the direction of the character, simply stating, "you have to let these things go."
In 2005, James Peaty succeeded in temporarily returning Anarky to publication, writing Green Arrow #51, Anarky in the USA. Although the front cover of the issue advertised the comic as the "return" of the character, Anarky failed to make any further appearances. This was despite comments by Peaty that he had further plans to write stories for the character.
Anarky retained interest among a cult fan base during this obscure period. During a panel at WonderCon 2006, multiple requests were made by the audience for Anarky to appear in DC Comics’ limited series, 52. In response, editors and writers of 52 indicated Anarky would be included in the series, but the series concluded without Anarky making an appearance, and with no explanation given by anyone involved in the production of the series for the failed appearance.
Return as "Moneyspider"
Anarky reappeared in the December issue of Robin, #181. With the publication of Robin #181, "Search For a Hero, Part 5: Pushing Buttons, Pulling Strings", on December 17, 2008, it was revealed that Lonnie Machin's role as Anarky had been supplanted by another Batman villain, Ulysses Armstrong. Fabian Nicieza, author of the issue and storyline in which Anarky appeared, depicted the character as being held hostage by Armstrong, "paralyzed and catatonic", encased in an iron lung, and connected to computers through his brain. This final feature allowed the character to connect to the internet and communicate with others via a speech synthesizer. Nicieza's decision to give Machin's mantle as Anarky to another character was due to his desire to establish him as a nemesis for Tim Drake, while respecting the original characterization of Anarky, who Nicieza recognized as neither immature, nor a villain. Regardless, Nicieza did desire to use Machin and properly return the character to publication, and so favored presenting Ulysses H. Armstrong as Anarky, and Lonnie Machin as Moneyspider, a reference to a secondary name briefly used by Grant for Anarky in storyline published in 1990.
The reactions to Robin #181 included negative commentary from political commentator and scholar, Roderick Long, and Alan Grant himself. Among fans who interacted with Nicieza in a forum discussion, some responses were also negative, prompting responses from Nicieza in his own defense.
With the conclusion of Robin, Nicieza began authoring the 2009 Azrael series, leaving any future use of Anarky or Moneyspider to author Christopher Yost, who would pick up the Robin character in a new Red Robin series. In the ensuing months, Yost only made one brief reference to Anarky, without directly involving the character in a story plot. In April 2010, Nicieza replaced Yost as the author of Red Robin, and Nicieza was quick to note his interest in using Anarky and Moneyspider in future issues of the series. Nicieza reintroduced Ulysses Armstrong and Lonnie Machin within his first storyline, beginning in Red Robin #16, "The Hit List", in December 2010. Nicieza then proceeded to regularly use Lonnie as a cast member of the ongoing Red Robin series, until its cancellation in October 2011. The series was concluded as a result of The New 52, a revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero books, in which all of its existing titles were cancelled. 52 new series debuted in September 2011 with new #1 issues to replace the cancelled titles.
The New 52