Villains Being Somewhat Less Than Awesome

[featheredserpent]

When I was an impressionable kid in the early 80's, hidden amongst the toyetic shows and comics I gleefully consumed was Alan Moore's monsterpiece V for Vendetta. It influenced how I saw comics and the entire world. This post is not about that comic.

Later, in the early 90's, DC introduced Anarky, and his derivation from V was terribly obvious...but DC couldn't simply teleport V into their universe to take on Batman, so Alan Grant made his own pale reflection.

In Anarky's first appearance, Batman was a jerk and got punked by a legless homeless guy.

Anarky became a cult favorite and made several return appearances, but the writers quickly ran out of ideas for him (in one notable issue, Anarky the Powerless Human goes to Apokolips to debate Good & Evil with Darkseid. Yes, this really happened. )

Anarky was also notable for getting really pedantic, engaging in



Fortunately, DC redeemed the character by turning him into a brain-dead vegetable on life-support who now only interacts via the internet (a state I can relate to), while someone else stole his costumed identity.

I kind of liked Anarky, in spite of his writing...and am wondering if anyone has seen evidence that he still exists in the Nu52.

Comments

[arilou_skiff]

He makes the philosophy student in me want to cry.

[icon_uk]

So... how would you have felt if Alan Grants original plan had taken off and Anarky had become the new Robin?

[lucean]

That wasn't actually Grant's original plan. After he introduced Anarky, some of the editors started playing around with Anarky coming the new Robin, but Grant wasn't thrilled about the idea and was actually more happy when Tim became Robin, because it kept Anarky free.

[icon_uk]

Ah, thanks for the correct! :)

[yap]

Around the time of his monthly series, ithe Batman Anarky trade did have sone introductions that said Anarky was created as a potential Robin candidate- presumably that's he was 12 in his first appearance.

[espanolbot]

Anarky is a good character in a lot of ways, but his head was pretty far up his own arse a lot of the time too.

[lucean]

True, but I always felt Grant was always a bit too enamored with his own idea to really realize the character's potential. I actually liked Arkham Origins version of the character, who while only a minor threat, had that teenage confidence and moodiness much more visible.

[yap]

That's kinda his charm, lol

[zapbiffpow]

Well, Green Lantern Corps: Zero Year has John Stewart and his squadron squaring off against a young Anarky. Not sure what he's been up to six-ish years later, but he's around.

Not really familiar with him beyond Red Robin, but glad to answer your question!

[yap]

GLCorps 25 is Anarky's first appearance in the new 52 . It's unclear if it's a new character behind the mask, or if Lonnie has been racebent.

And if any of you want to talk about Anarky, I have a Facebook group- Anarkyfans

[md84]

He's not in the Nu52 as far as I know, but he is apparently a major villain on the Beware the Batman show.

[icon_uk]

Which, depending on it's survival, may well put him in a very small pool indeed (along with Magpie, the Pyg/Toad team, Humpty-Dumpty and Lady Shiva)

[yap]

GLCorps 25.

[junipepper]

I kind of like the panel with the dog. They're happy to listen to anything, and generally quite non-judgmental.

[zapbiffpow]

"They're happy to listen to anything..."

Hey, that's one of the most cheer-uppy things I've read all week! I agree.

[bewareofgeek]

I always sorta liked him (at least until his brief ongoing) because he was such a smartass about things.

[q99]

Yea, he had a fun attitude.

[silverhammerman]

Anarky strikes me as the kind of character who's best left as a supporting character or guest starring. Someone whom the other characters can either roll their eyes at or generally agree with in principle if not execution.

An ongoing has to cast him as in the right, and that just makes the whole thing come off kind of wanky and smug.

[q99]

He had two miniseries. The first was pretty good (did have him do stuff a bit above his weight, but was pretty much him interacting with a variety of characters, and then ended with his big 'Anarchy by destroying lies' plan blowing up in his face), the second was weak who, I think, failed for partially the reasons you mentioned.

[halloweenjack]

Later, in the early 90's, DC introduced Anarky, and his derivation from V was terribly obvious...but DC couldn't simply teleport V into their universe to take on Batman, so Alan Grant made his own pale reflection.

See, I could see this thing being the secret origin behind Alan Moore's remarks concerning DC's plans for Before Watchmen, when he said that there weren't any first-rate creators at the company (in response to their saying that they'd only put their best people on it).

The eras of Anarky

[yap]

1: A long neck obscures one's age.
Lonnie engages in lots of violence, mostly property damage, and accomplishes little outside his sole outing outside the Batbooks when he guilt trips Ollie Queen into blowing up a gun plant. The final story relates his origin and seems to be kill him off.
He also makes his first appearance outside the DCU in tightening BTAS tiein book,

2: moe DC hero of sorts.
Anarky gets a miniseries, shown in the second and third photos above, where he has a hero's journey. Two years later, a monthly that lasts 8 issues,. Issue 7, with his disastrous attempt to fight the zombified founding fathers, is my personal favorite although I really like the implication of his using a GL ring in the first arc. The era ends with guest appearances in young justice sins of youth, Wonder Woman and his first post infinite crisis story in Green Arrow 51. He was also reported to be planned in the 52 maxi but never showed.

3: Ulysses Armstrong takes up superhero cosplay. Lonnie is still around, in some fashion, and by the end of this brief era is starting to work with Tim Drake as has been teased. Unfortunately, this was cut short by the reboot even as future issues were supposed to explain what happened to Anarky's dog.


4. Outside comics/new 52
Arkham origins retells Anarky's first story with occupy Wall Street imagery. Beware the Batman has him as the main villain, a blend of Lonnie and the Heath Ledger Joker. And. the new 52 Anarky is designed much like the Arkham Origins one but it's unclear who he or she is behind the mask.

[lego_joker]

Oh, Anarky.

I actually like his debut story the best, but that's more because of Norm Breyfogle's art than anything. Now, Breyfogle could draw a comic about grass growing and make it awesome, but his original design for Anarky was goddamn terrifying. I think it was because of the solid black eyes in his mask - it made him look every inch the soulless, merciless, self-appointed Spirit of The People's Anger that Grant seemed to want him to be.

In subsequent issues, though, Grant and Breyfogle slowly softened him, and turned the eyes in his mask to white. He grew a lot less interesting, and a lot more annoying.

But then again, that might just be Grant's writing. There's a lot to like about Grant's scripts, but nine times out of ten, the man simply can't make me take his dialogue seriously. He's not Doug Moench levels of inane, but it feels like he ends every other sentence in an exclamation point. His characters YELL even the most mundane and trivial of topics.

This isn't 1960s Marvel, Alan. Save the excitement for when it's actually needed.

[yap]

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[jetblack927]

I didn't even know who he was till "Arkham:Origins", he must not have been used much in the '90s, they never even bother to throw in any of the Animated shows...