Anarky was pretty silly, even for a Batman villain. Still, during the late eighties he became one of the Caped Crusader's main enemies, with the hero questioning the anarchist vigilante's methods and targets. Like Batman, Anarky was without superpowers, instead relying on his intelligence and physicality to carry him through his acts of social revolution. His secret identity was kept strictly under wraps for his first appearance, with an ongoing tease regarding a man and his young son going about their day-to-day business, strongly hinting that the man was Anarky. Turns out it was a double-bluff, and Anarky was actually the kid all along! That's right, the latest and greatest addition to the hallowed halls of Batman's rogue gallery was a twelve-year-old boy who had read heard a Sex Pistols album and decided to become a vigilante. Apparently writer Alan Grant didn't see the irony in making the mouthpiece for his political opinions a naive child, instead going on to explain that young Lonnie Machin was something of a child prodigy, and had concealed his age by way of a "head extender" that elongated his neck. Having been revealed to be a child playing at superheroism, and despite the help of crippled (and cruelly named) homeless man Legs in fighting off Bats, Lonnie was defeated and went to juvie. You know. Where children go instead of prison. Because they are children. And therefore not old enough to be Batman villains.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
