Anarky
1997
Anarky is a comic book series published by DC Comics; first as a (4-issue) limited series (May-August 1997), and then as an (8-issue) ongoing series (May-December 1999).
Character Debut
The first Anarky story appeared in Detective Comics #608-609, (November-December 1989). Here, "Anarky" (Lonnie Machin) is introduced, while withholding his origin story for a later point. After being caught at the end of the story arc, Lonnie is locked away in a juvenile detention center.
Although Anarky wasn't supposed to be used beyond the two-part debut story in Detective Comics, positive reactions from reader letters and his editor caused creator Alan Grant (along with co-creator Norm Breyfogle) to change his mind. He then decided to make Lonnie Machin the third Robin, following Jason Todd, desiring a new sidekick who would act as a foil to Batman, and not have the same motivations for vengeance. This was abandoned when Grant learned that Tim Drake had already been created (by Marv Wolfman) to fill the role of (the third) Robin.
Quickly rebounding from this decision, Grant instead used the second appearance of Anarky as the antagonist for Tim Drake's first solo detective case. This appearance came in Detective Comics #620; the story chronicles that Lonnie Machin/Anarky increases his computer skills during his detention to the point of becoming an advanced computer hacker. He takes on the online user alias "Moneyspider" to steal millions of dollars from western corporations, including Wayne Enterprises, outmaneuvering Batman's own data security in the process. He then uses the money to create bank accounts for poor farmers in third world countries. Tim Drake pursues the hacker in an online investigation, tracking Anarky to his location at the juvenile detention center. Lonnie escapes, but Tim gives chase, defeats him and returns him to the detention center.
In the years following Anarky's creation, the character was rarely incorporated into Batman stories.
In 1995, Alan Grant began to slowly increase the character's abilities; that would culminate in the Anarky series.
In the "Anarky" story arc from Batman: Shadow Of The Bat #40-41, Lonnie is released from juvenile detention, and builds a machine that allows him to fuse both hemispheres of his brain, giving him increased intelligence, and what he perceives as enlightenment. Creating an online bookstore, Anarco, to propagate radical literature, he begins to accumulate funds that he donates through another front company, The Anarkist Foundation, to radical organizations, such as eco-warriors and gun protesters, or keeps for his own projects. These story devices served to further improve Anarky's skill set, and increase his intelligence and financial independence. During this storyline, Grant finally revealed Lonnie Machin's origins in full, using a farewell letter to his parents to provide exposition into the character's motivations. The origin story narrates through flash backs that Lonnie Machin was once an ordinary child who, while abnormally intelligent, was apolitical and unaware of world events. At eleven he gained a foreign pen pal, Xuasus, as part of a school program. Through this contact, Lonnie discovered the level of global corruption he never knew of before. Further studies into war and political violence lead him to hold radical sympathies. He came to view all wars as being caused by political elites, with common individuals forced or cajoled into fighting on behalf of the former and became convinced of the need to reshape society and thus became Anarky.
Although Anarky wasn't supposed to be used beyond the two-part debut story in Detective Comics, positive reactions from reader letters and his editor caused creator Alan Grant (along with co-creator Norm Breyfogle) to change his mind. He then decided to make Lonnie Machin the third Robin, following Jason Todd, desiring a new sidekick who would act as a foil to Batman, and not have the same motivations for vengeance. This was abandoned when Grant learned that Tim Drake had already been created (by Marv Wolfman) to fill the role of (the third) Robin.
Quickly rebounding from this decision, Grant instead used the second appearance of Anarky as the antagonist for Tim Drake's first solo detective case. This appearance came in Detective Comics #620; the story chronicles that Lonnie Machin/Anarky increases his computer skills during his detention to the point of becoming an advanced computer hacker. He takes on the online user alias "Moneyspider" to steal millions of dollars from western corporations, including Wayne Enterprises, outmaneuvering Batman's own data security in the process. He then uses the money to create bank accounts for poor farmers in third world countries. Tim Drake pursues the hacker in an online investigation, tracking Anarky to his location at the juvenile detention center. Lonnie escapes, but Tim gives chase, defeats him and returns him to the detention center.
In the years following Anarky's creation, the character was rarely incorporated into Batman stories.
In 1995, Alan Grant began to slowly increase the character's abilities; that would culminate in the Anarky series.
In the "Anarky" story arc from Batman: Shadow Of The Bat #40-41, Lonnie is released from juvenile detention, and builds a machine that allows him to fuse both hemispheres of his brain, giving him increased intelligence, and what he perceives as enlightenment. Creating an online bookstore, Anarco, to propagate radical literature, he begins to accumulate funds that he donates through another front company, The Anarkist Foundation, to radical organizations, such as eco-warriors and gun protesters, or keeps for his own projects. These story devices served to further improve Anarky's skill set, and increase his intelligence and financial independence. During this storyline, Grant finally revealed Lonnie Machin's origins in full, using a farewell letter to his parents to provide exposition into the character's motivations. The origin story narrates through flash backs that Lonnie Machin was once an ordinary child who, while abnormally intelligent, was apolitical and unaware of world events. At eleven he gained a foreign pen pal, Xuasus, as part of a school program. Through this contact, Lonnie discovered the level of global corruption he never knew of before. Further studies into war and political violence lead him to hold radical sympathies. He came to view all wars as being caused by political elites, with common individuals forced or cajoled into fighting on behalf of the former and became convinced of the need to reshape society and thus became Anarky.
Anarky (Vol. 1)
Following the comic book industry crash of 1996, Norm Breyfogle was unemployed and looking for work. As a result of a request Breyfogle made to DC for employment, Darren Vincenzo, then an editorial assistant at DC Comics, suggested multiple projects which Breyfogle could take part in. Among his suggestions was an Anarky limited series, written by Alan Grant, which was eventually the project decided upon.
The 4-issue limited series, Anarky, was published from May to August 1997. Entitled "Metamorphosis", the story maintained the character's anti-authoritarian sentiments, but was instead based on Neo-Tech, a philosophy developed by Frank R. Wallace.
The 4-issue limited series, Anarky, was published from May to August 1997. Entitled "Metamorphosis", the story maintained the character's anti-authoritarian sentiments, but was instead based on Neo-Tech, a philosophy developed by Frank R. Wallace.
Anarky (Vol. 2)
With the success of the previous (limited series), Darren 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.
Grant's primary concerns centered on his belief that Anarky's role as a non-superpowered teenager was not capable of competing for reader attention when DC Comics already had a similar series in Robin. Furthermore, while potential disagreements with editors over story elements were not among his initial concerns, he eventually found himself constantly at odds with editors and editorial assistants throughout the creation of the series. One of the earliest of these was that Grant was "made to" remove Anarky from Gotham City. This was achieved by explaining that following an earthquake in Gotham, Lonnie's parents disappeared, their house was destroyed, and he was threatened by Batman to leave the city. As one of many refugees who escaped from No Man's Land, he relocated to a new base of operations beneath the Washington Monument.
''...during the (No Man's Land) story line, when Gotham was devastated by an earthquake, for reasons which I could not make rational or logical in the story, Batman sought out Anarky and told him he had to leave the city or Batman would come down on him like two ton of concrete. It didn’t make sense. You’d think if Gotham was in pieces then Batman would want all the help he could get. But he threw Anarky out of the city and just disappeared for months... Reading over that I was not so happy with the way I’d written that because it didn’t make sense to me at the time and it doesn’t make sense now. That’s what happens when you let editorial assistants come up with story ideas rather than the guy who’s getting paid to do the writing.''
- Alan Grant, Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle (2006).
Grant's doubts concerning the comic's prospects eventually proved correct. The series was panned by critics, failed to catch on among readers, and was canceled after only eight issues, however Grant has noted that it was popular in Latin American countries, perhaps owing to a history of political repression in the region:
"It didn't sit too well with American readers, who prefer the soap opera and cool costume aspects of superhero comics. But I became a minor hero in many Latin countries, like Argentina and Mexico, where readers had been subjected to tyranny and fascism and knew precisely what I was writing about."
Breyfogle gave a similar explanation for what he believed to be the cause of the series' failure. In an essay written after the cancellation of the series, he reflected on the difficulty of combining escapist entertainment with social commentary:
"Anarky is a hybrid of the mainstream and the not-quite-so-mainstream. This title may have experienced exactly what every "half-breed" suffers: rejection by both groups with which it claims identity."
Despite numerous editorial impositions, the most controversial plot point was not a mandate, but was instead a suggestion by Breyfogle, intended as a means to expand Anarky's characterization: that Anarky's biological father be revealed to be the Joker. Breyfogle expressed an interest using the relationship as a source for internal conflict in the character:
"... I figured that because Anarky represents the epitome of reason, one of the biggest crises he could face would be to discover that his father was the exact opposite: a raving lunatic!"
Alternatively, Grant saw it as an opportunity to solidify Anarky's role in the Batman franchise. Grant's decision to pursue the suggestion ran into conflict with Dennis O'Neil (Group Editor for the Batman family of comic books from 1986 to 2000), who protested against it. Grant recalled:
"Denny only let me write that story under protest, he was totally opposed to Joker being Anarky's father and said under no circumstances would DC allow that."
Grant persisted, suggesting that the move would generate interest for the comic book, and that the story could be undone later in another story. With O'Neil's permission, the sub-plot of Anarky's unrevealed heritage was published in the series' first issue. With the eventual series cancellation, the final issue was quickly written to reveal the identity of Anarky's father as the Joker, simply to resolve the plot line, and leaving any future rebuttal to future publications.
As the last issue of the Anarky series, the unresolved finale left open the possibility that the Joker might be Anarky's actual father, and the planned "rebuttal" was never published. Further, Grant and Breyfogle later speculated that as Dennis O'Neil has retired from DC Comics, and the final editorial decision currently belongs to Dan DiDio, it is no longer possible to be sure whether a rebuttal will ever be published. As of 2012, there is yet no record of Didio ever commenting on the subject, though the DC Universe timeline chronologically prevents the Joker from being Anarky's biological father, as the character's birth predates the existence of either Batman or the Joker.
As Anarky was created while Grant and Breyfogle were operating under "work-for-hire" rules, DC Comics owns all rights to the Anarky character. Following the cancellation of the Anarky series, both men attempted to buy the rights to Anarky from the company, but their offer was declined.
Grant's primary concerns centered on his belief that Anarky's role as a non-superpowered teenager was not capable of competing for reader attention when DC Comics already had a similar series in Robin. Furthermore, while potential disagreements with editors over story elements were not among his initial concerns, he eventually found himself constantly at odds with editors and editorial assistants throughout the creation of the series. One of the earliest of these was that Grant was "made to" remove Anarky from Gotham City. This was achieved by explaining that following an earthquake in Gotham, Lonnie's parents disappeared, their house was destroyed, and he was threatened by Batman to leave the city. As one of many refugees who escaped from No Man's Land, he relocated to a new base of operations beneath the Washington Monument.
''...during the (No Man's Land) story line, when Gotham was devastated by an earthquake, for reasons which I could not make rational or logical in the story, Batman sought out Anarky and told him he had to leave the city or Batman would come down on him like two ton of concrete. It didn’t make sense. You’d think if Gotham was in pieces then Batman would want all the help he could get. But he threw Anarky out of the city and just disappeared for months... Reading over that I was not so happy with the way I’d written that because it didn’t make sense to me at the time and it doesn’t make sense now. That’s what happens when you let editorial assistants come up with story ideas rather than the guy who’s getting paid to do the writing.''
- Alan Grant, Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle (2006).
Grant's doubts concerning the comic's prospects eventually proved correct. The series was panned by critics, failed to catch on among readers, and was canceled after only eight issues, however Grant has noted that it was popular in Latin American countries, perhaps owing to a history of political repression in the region:
"It didn't sit too well with American readers, who prefer the soap opera and cool costume aspects of superhero comics. But I became a minor hero in many Latin countries, like Argentina and Mexico, where readers had been subjected to tyranny and fascism and knew precisely what I was writing about."
Breyfogle gave a similar explanation for what he believed to be the cause of the series' failure. In an essay written after the cancellation of the series, he reflected on the difficulty of combining escapist entertainment with social commentary:
"Anarky is a hybrid of the mainstream and the not-quite-so-mainstream. This title may have experienced exactly what every "half-breed" suffers: rejection by both groups with which it claims identity."
Despite numerous editorial impositions, the most controversial plot point was not a mandate, but was instead a suggestion by Breyfogle, intended as a means to expand Anarky's characterization: that Anarky's biological father be revealed to be the Joker. Breyfogle expressed an interest using the relationship as a source for internal conflict in the character:
"... I figured that because Anarky represents the epitome of reason, one of the biggest crises he could face would be to discover that his father was the exact opposite: a raving lunatic!"
Alternatively, Grant saw it as an opportunity to solidify Anarky's role in the Batman franchise. Grant's decision to pursue the suggestion ran into conflict with Dennis O'Neil (Group Editor for the Batman family of comic books from 1986 to 2000), who protested against it. Grant recalled:
"Denny only let me write that story under protest, he was totally opposed to Joker being Anarky's father and said under no circumstances would DC allow that."
Grant persisted, suggesting that the move would generate interest for the comic book, and that the story could be undone later in another story. With O'Neil's permission, the sub-plot of Anarky's unrevealed heritage was published in the series' first issue. With the eventual series cancellation, the final issue was quickly written to reveal the identity of Anarky's father as the Joker, simply to resolve the plot line, and leaving any future rebuttal to future publications.
As the last issue of the Anarky series, the unresolved finale left open the possibility that the Joker might be Anarky's actual father, and the planned "rebuttal" was never published. Further, Grant and Breyfogle later speculated that as Dennis O'Neil has retired from DC Comics, and the final editorial decision currently belongs to Dan DiDio, it is no longer possible to be sure whether a rebuttal will ever be published. As of 2012, there is yet no record of Didio ever commenting on the subject, though the DC Universe timeline chronologically prevents the Joker from being Anarky's biological father, as the character's birth predates the existence of either Batman or the Joker.
As Anarky was created while Grant and Breyfogle were operating under "work-for-hire" rules, DC Comics owns all rights to the Anarky character. Following the cancellation of the Anarky series, both men attempted to buy the rights to Anarky from the company, but their offer was declined.
Anarky (Vol. 2) ran for 8 issues (from May to December 1999).
Other Appearances
Following the cancellation of Anarky (Vol. 2) 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 only some minor cameo appearances:
Return as ''Moneyspider''
On August 15, 2008, DC Comics announced that Anarky would reappear in Robin #181 (December 2008). 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 a storyline published in 1990's Detective Comics #620 ("Rite Of Passage Part 3: Make Me A Hero"), which chronicles Tim Drake's first solo detective case, as he pursues an online investigation against an advanced grey hat computer hacker. The unknown hacker, operating under the alias "Moneyspider", has stolen millions of dollars from western corporations, including Wayne Enterprises, outmaneuvering Batman's own data security in the process. He is revealed by Drake to be Lonnie Machin by the end of the issue.
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 (Vol. 4), Nicieza began authoring the 2009 Azrael series, leaving any future use of Anarky to author Christopher Yost, who would pick up the Robin character in the new Red Robin series. However, in the ensuing months, Yost only made one brief references to Anarky, without directly involving the character in a story plot.
In April 2010, it was announced that Nicieza would replace 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 as a result of The New 52.
The New 52
While Anarky was "rising in profile in other media" by mid 2013 (mainly through the Batman: Arkham video games), the character had yet to be reintroduced to the status quo of the post-New 52 DC Universe.
This changed on August 12, when DC Comics announced that Anarky would be reintroduced in Green Lantern Corps #25 ("Powers That Be"), on November 13, 2013. The issue was a tie-in to the "Batman: Zero Year" crossover event. The storyline brought two particular additions to the revamped version of Anarky; the first being that this new version of Anarky is portrayed as an African American; the second being to preserve the character's anonymity, as Anarky escapes custody at the end of the story without an identity behind the mask being revealed.
Another version of Anarky debuted in the post-New 52 Detective Comics series (Detective Comics, Vol. 2 #37). This character isn't the same Anarky that appeared in "Batman: Zero Year", but rather a corrupt politician named Sam Young who uses the Anarky persona to enact revenge on the Mad Hatter for murdering his sister.
A female version of Anarky from the alternate reality of Earth-Two was introduced in Earth 2: Society's 2015 story line, "Godhood". Prior to the fictional events of the series, this Anarky detonated a bomb in the city of Neotropolis that resulted in a public riot. She disappears before Superman and Power Girl can apprehend her. In the series, she is portrayed as a hacker that is allied with such characters as Doctor Impossible, Hourman, and Johnny Sorrow.
DC: Rebirth
Anarky appeared for the first time in DC Rebirth on May 24, 2017. Revealed in Detective Comics #957 (May 2016), a redesigned Anarky offers to help Spoiler in her new quest against vigilantism in Gotham.
- Young Justice: Sins Of Youth #1 (May 2000): "Justice For All"
- Sins Of Youth: JLA Jr. #1 (May 2000): "You Gotta Be Kidding!"
- Wonder Woman (Vol. 2) #175 (December 2001): "The Witch and the Warrior, part 2: Girl Frenzy"
- Green Arrow (Vol. 3) #51 (August 2005): "Anarky In the USA"
Return as ''Moneyspider''
On August 15, 2008, DC Comics announced that Anarky would reappear in Robin #181 (December 2008). 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 a storyline published in 1990's Detective Comics #620 ("Rite Of Passage Part 3: Make Me A Hero"), which chronicles Tim Drake's first solo detective case, as he pursues an online investigation against an advanced grey hat computer hacker. The unknown hacker, operating under the alias "Moneyspider", has stolen millions of dollars from western corporations, including Wayne Enterprises, outmaneuvering Batman's own data security in the process. He is revealed by Drake to be Lonnie Machin by the end of the issue.
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 (Vol. 4), Nicieza began authoring the 2009 Azrael series, leaving any future use of Anarky to author Christopher Yost, who would pick up the Robin character in the new Red Robin series. However, in the ensuing months, Yost only made one brief references to Anarky, without directly involving the character in a story plot.
In April 2010, it was announced that Nicieza would replace 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 as a result of The New 52.
The New 52
While Anarky was "rising in profile in other media" by mid 2013 (mainly through the Batman: Arkham video games), the character had yet to be reintroduced to the status quo of the post-New 52 DC Universe.
This changed on August 12, when DC Comics announced that Anarky would be reintroduced in Green Lantern Corps #25 ("Powers That Be"), on November 13, 2013. The issue was a tie-in to the "Batman: Zero Year" crossover event. The storyline brought two particular additions to the revamped version of Anarky; the first being that this new version of Anarky is portrayed as an African American; the second being to preserve the character's anonymity, as Anarky escapes custody at the end of the story without an identity behind the mask being revealed.
Another version of Anarky debuted in the post-New 52 Detective Comics series (Detective Comics, Vol. 2 #37). This character isn't the same Anarky that appeared in "Batman: Zero Year", but rather a corrupt politician named Sam Young who uses the Anarky persona to enact revenge on the Mad Hatter for murdering his sister.
A female version of Anarky from the alternate reality of Earth-Two was introduced in Earth 2: Society's 2015 story line, "Godhood". Prior to the fictional events of the series, this Anarky detonated a bomb in the city of Neotropolis that resulted in a public riot. She disappears before Superman and Power Girl can apprehend her. In the series, she is portrayed as a hacker that is allied with such characters as Doctor Impossible, Hourman, and Johnny Sorrow.
DC: Rebirth
Anarky appeared for the first time in DC Rebirth on May 24, 2017. Revealed in Detective Comics #957 (May 2016), a redesigned Anarky offers to help Spoiler in her new quest against vigilantism in Gotham.
