Anarky
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Anarky is a fictional character character who was created by Alan Grant, and published by DC Comics. He is named for his belief in Anarchism. Anarky bears superficial resemblance, in both appearance and tone, to Alan Moore's character "V" from V for Vendetta.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
Lonnie Machin was an ordinary child who had no great concerns in his life. At eleven he gained a foreign pen pal, Xuasus, as part of a school program. Every month they would write to each other about their lives; Lonnie about how wonderful the United States was; Xuasus about the poverty and political repression that made up his nation. After a year of contact, Xuasus stopped writing, and all of Lonnie's letters were returned as undeliverable. A year later Lonnie learned of Xuasus' fate. He wrote Lonnie a final letter explaining that his father had been arrested, his mother had taken ill, his sister had died of malnutrition, and at age eleven, he was homeless and fending for himself. Driven with worry for his friend, Lonnie fervently learned about Xuasus' country, discovering it to be a third world dictatorship at war with Marxist guerrillas, with arms dealers from the west making millions in profits from the conflict.
Further studies into war and political violence led him to hold radical sympathies. He came to view all wars as caused by political elites, with common individuals forced or cajoled into fighting on behalf of the former. He also began to read more into esoteric studies regarding science and philosophy, laying the groundwork for his advanced intelligence, and leading to his cover as a straight-A student with a normal job as a paper-boy. Eventually he discovered the extremely rare book, Universe by Scudder Klyce, which attempted to unify all knowledge. Within it he found several passages that convinced him of the need to reshape society. He became convinced that if he couldn't help Xuasus, he could fight on in his memory and give the oppressed people of Gotham City hope.
Inspired by the Batman, he fashioned a taser and smoke bombs in labs at school. He went to further lengths by creating a costume with a false head to increase his height and disguise the fact that he was only twelve. He then created computer files in which he made psychological profiles of Batman, to determine how best to defeat him when they inevitably came into conflict.
He made his debut as Anarky in issues #608 and #609 of Detective Comics, as an adversary to Batman. He responded to complaints in the newspaper by attacking the offending sources, such as the owner of a factory whose byproduct waste was polluting the water. Anarky and Batman ultimately came to blows, and during their brief fight, Batman deduced that Anarky was actually a young child. During this first confrontation, he was aided by a band of homeless men, including Legs, a homeless cripple who became loyal to him. After being caught, Lonnie was locked away in a juvenile detention center.
He increased his computer skills during his detention to the point of becoming an advanced hacker. He took on the computer alias "Moneyspider" to steal millions of dollars from western corporations, including Wayne Enterprises, and outmaneuvering Batman's own data security in the process. He then used the money to create bank accounts for poor farmers in third world countries. He was eventually caught by Tim Drake in the latter's first solo detective case.
After this setback he frequently escaped from the center and peregrinated around Gotham City, most notably during the Knightfall saga when he took on both Scarecrow and Batman-Azrael. In a rare, positive portrayal during this early period of his career, he teamed up with Green Arrow to destroy a weapons manufacturing plant.
Upon his release, Anarky built a machine that allowed him to fuse both hemispheres of his brain, giving him increased intelligence, and what he perceived as enlightenment. Anarky eventually chose to shed the encumbrance of his double life, and faked his death. He then worked in seclusion to further his goal of achieving an utopian society. He had several further brushes with Batman, as well as the likes of Etrigan and Darkseid. Additionally, due to the earthquake in Gotham, Anarky relocated to a new base of operations beneath the Washington Monument.
Eventually Anarky came to suspect that the Machins were not in fact his biological parents, and attempted to track down his "real" parents. His leads pointed to the possibility that his biological father was in fact the Joker. He met his supposed biological mother first, but found that she was clinically unstable and unable to answer his questions. He then broke into Arkham Asylum to confront the Joker himself, but was betrayed, as the Joker opportunistically escaped from the Asylum without providing any firm answers.
Anarky resurfaced months later in response to two events. The first was the government and media persecution of Young Justice, showing up at a public rally of super heroes to lend moral support (though as a reference to his absence from DC continuity, the local media reporters didn't recognize him, referring to him as "some woman with a stick," and Donna Troy confused his name, calling him "Chaos"') After the protest rally was interrupted and a government crackdown began, he aided the Justice League in making their escape. The second event was a bombing in Star City that he was framed for. He teamed up with Green Arrow to hunt down the bank robbers responsible, saying that though he did not care what others thought of him, he would fight for his name, asking sadly, "What else do I have?"
[edit] Publication History
Originally inspired by Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, Alan Grant created Anarky as an anarchist with socialist and populist leanings. In this original incarnation, he was designed as an avatar for Grant's personal meditations on political philosophy, and specifically for his burgeoning sympathy for anarchism. However, outside of his control, the character was written by other DC writers to display behavior which he did not agree with, including a desire to murder Batman. Over the course of several years, Grant's own political opinions changed, and when he was given the opportunity to write an Anarky mini-series, he decided to redesign the character accordingly. The Anarky mini-series was then based on the philosophy of Neo-Tech, an offshoot of Objectivism. Its success fueled a short lived series, also based on Neo-Tech.
Anarky has been dubbed the first "anti-villain", as opposed to "anti-hero". This is due to his highly principled philosophy running counter to mainstream "villains," but which also logically leads to his willingness to break laws, putting him at odds with mainstream "heroes":
"In the age of the anti-hero, it only makes sense to have the occasional anti-villain as well. But unlike sociopathic vigilante anti-heroes like the Punisher, an anti-villain like Anarky provides some interesting food for thought. Sure, he breaks the law, but what he really wants is to save the world... and maybe he's right." [1]
Even Batman and Green Arrow have conceded that Anarky is of a basically good disposition, even if they do not agree with his views and methods.
Anarky has, in addition to his own mini and ongoing series, guest starred with a small number of DC characters aside from Batman, including Green Arrow, the Justice League, Young Justice, and Robin.
In the last issue of the Anarky series, the possibility was left open that the Joker is Anarky's actual father. But as the series is now canceled, it may be some time before this theory is addressed. However, Alan Grant has said on the website Silver Bullet Comics that a senior DC Comics official told him: "'Anarky will never be the Joker's son. You can write the story, but someone else will write the sequel showing it just can't be'". [2]
[edit] Technology
Anarky has enormous talents in both engineering and computer technology. He has used his skills as a hacker to gain information on other heroes and villains. He also has an on-board computer, MAX, that has an actual personality of its own. Moreover, Anarky has a fully functioning boom tube, scratch built from mathematical analysis and "hard lab work," and once briefly commanded his own Green Lantern power ring. His technological expertise allows him to run circles around his superheroic peers, such as the Justice League of America.
[edit] DCAU Version
Anarky appeared in the style of the DC Animated Universe in The Batman Adventures #31. He has yet to be featured in an episode of any animated series.
[edit] Trivia
- Writer Alan Grant created Anarky with artist Norm Breyfogle. Breyfogle's only instructions were to make Anarky look like a cross between V for Vendetta and one of the spies from Mad magazine's Spy vs. Spy.
- Alan Grant originally intended for Anarky to be the third Robin, following Jason Todd, until he learned that Tim Drake had already been chosen to fill the role. [3]
- In Detective Comics issue #620, a copy of V For Vendetta can be seen on Lonnie Machin's bookshelf, as homage. Other books in his room include, Apostles of Revolution by Max Nomad, The Anarchists by James Joll, books labeled "Proudhon" and "Bakunin," and an issue of Black Flag.
- The idea of a genius child using a costume to make himself look older and bigger, and "helping" justify peoples lives is similar to another form of Batman media. Specifically on an episode of Batman Beyond entitled "Payback". Kenny Stanton used the Payback costume to solve his fathers patients complaints.
[edit] Bibliography
Anarky has appeared in various comic books, including Detective Comics, Young Justice, Green Arrow, and his own short-lived solo series. Several of his most prominent appearances have been collected in a trade paperback:
- "Batman: Anarky" (1999, Titan ISBN 1-85286-995-X, DC ISBN 1-56389-437-8)
[edit] External links
- The Unofficial Anarky Biography on The Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe website.
- An interview with Anarky series author, Alan Grant, about the Neo-Tech influence.
- An interview with Norm Breyfogle, co-creator of Anarky, with comments on his role in initiating the Anarky series.
- An interview with Alan Grant about his career, which includes comments on the creation of, and original intentions for, Anarky. (Pertinent comments are located at Part 7.)
- Anarky Page, a website devoted to the character.
- Anarky: Norm Reflects, a short article written by Norm Breyfogle, the artist who co-created the charecter and drew the solo series. Also includes pencils of multiple issues, including the unpublished issues #9 and #10.
