Anarky (Comics)

 

ANARKY

Profile ~ Powers ~ Abilities ~ Weapons ~ Additional Images ~ Media ~ See Also

Real Name: Lonnie Machin Aliases: Anarky, Moneyspider Occupation: Villian Marital Status: Single Base of Operations: Gotham City Height: 5ft. 10in. Weight: 160 lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: Red Relatives: Linda Penman (mother), Mike Machin (adoptive father, deceased), Roxanne Machin (adoptive mother, deceased) Affiliation: Batman Villains First Appearance: Detective Comics #608 (November, 1989) Created By:  Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle

LONNIE MACHIN'S mother, showgirl Greta Mitchell, gave him up for adoption as a baby. His adoptive parents, Mike and Roxanne Machin, recognized that Lonnie was special. Mike took the incredibly br ight and inquisi tive Lonnie to many bookstores to feed his insatiable interest in all things, especially philosophy.

As an adolescent Lonnie went beyond the typical definition of rebellious, finding American socie ty essentially morally bankrupt; he despaired at what people were doing to one another and to the planet itself. Donning an outfit he constructed that covered him head-to-toe and simulated great height, he expressed his rage toward polluters by attacking a factory that dumped waste into the water. With his walking stick, wh ich contained a taser, he proved ad ept at combat. Confronting Anarky, Batman quickly deduced from body language and commentary that undern eath the elongated outfit was a youth, After physically restraining Machin, Batman had him confined to a juvenile detention center, (Detective Comics #608, November 1989)

During his incarceration, Machin accessed the facility's computers and, using the screen name Moneyspider, hacked into various corporat ions' bank accounts and siphoned millions. This he sent anonymously to the Third World countries he felt needed the money more than big bu sinesses did.

Machin also managed to repeatedly escape and continue his on e-teen crusade. When Eclipso was out to corrupt the world with his Black Diamond slivers, Anarky obtained one and used its power to attack buildings he felt were symbols of oppression. (Robin Annual #1, 1992) He engaged not only with Batman, but with the SCARECROW and Batman's temporary replacement JEAN-PAUL VALLEY as well. His genius led him to create the Anarkist Foundation; he also earned five million dollars by selling his own person altracts via the Internet.

Unfortunately one of his customers, MALOCHIA, used the tracts to further his own agenda as a prophet of doom. In his zeal Malochia became a danger to society, one Anarky felt responsible for. When Anarky tried to contain Malochia, he-along with Batman and JOE POTATo-were instead tied to an explosives-laden zeppelin. Anarky freed Batman and Joe Potato, but needed rescuing by ROBIN seconds before the zeppelin detonated, killing Malochia. Anarky used the explosion to fake his death and left a written farewell for his adoptive parents. (Batman: Shadow ofthe Bat #40-41,July/ August 1995)

Now on his own, Machin dissolved his foundation and launched Anarco, naming himself president and CEO. He continued to sell his provocative documents, and in short order the company earned $199 million. Machin also trained extensively to improve his physical condition and better prepare himself for the confrontations he now knew would be a regular part of his mission . This regimen included eight hours a day of biofeedback, which seemed to result in his fusing the two hemispheres of his brain together, boosting his mental capabilities a hundredfold. With his newfound genius, he developed a device to improve the minds of fellow humans, hoping they would become more enlightened.

However, the machine needed vast amounts of power to run . He sought as many methods as poss ible to obtain the energy, first turning to Etrigan the DEMON for help. Failing at that, he built his own version of a Boom Tube and hoped to extract the energy from Darkseid, ruler of the alien world Apokolips. He was stopped from doing this by Batman, who feared for Machin's life. Using the machine on himself, Anarky saw the many mistakes he was making and vowed to do better.

When Gotham City was devastated by a massive earthquake and descended into lawlessness, Anarky saw an opportunity to help remake the city. Batman wanted him out of the city, though: He saw Anarky as a distraction, not a help. Before acquiescing, Anarky searched for his parents, and feared them to have perished when he could not locate them.

With this new found sense of direction and purpose, Machin set out on a new life. He relocated to Washington, D.C., where he established a living and working space under the Washington Monument. (Anarky #1, May 1999) There he built MAX, a super-computer with advanced AI technology. While working for a better tomorrow, Anarky found himself at cross purposes with GREEN LANTERN and Jade, and then became a target of RA's AL GHUL when he discovered the latter's plan to ignite a Middle Eastern war. This plan failed, and Anarky managed to survive his battle with the ecotrrorist, although he earned himself another enemy.

Not long after building the super-computer, he asked MAX to access all available online records and determine if his parents had survived the earthquake. MAX reported that Mike and Roxanne were not his natural parents, and news of his adoption rocked Machin. The computer told him of his birth mother. but no record existed about his father. Clues, though, led Machin to speculate, with much fear and trepidation, that his father may have been the JOKER. This presented the teen with a crisis of confidence, and he largely withdrew from public sight. It took a rally of all the teen heroes to aid the YOUNG JUSTICE team in bringing Anarky back into action. During the adventure the teens were temporarily turned into adults; seeing the world through new eyes, Machin reconsidered the importance of his life- despite the possible connection to the Joker.

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    Genius Level Intellect: Augmented by the fusing of the hemispheres of his brain.

    Martial Arts: Anarky was trained in multiple styles, including Aikido, Karate, Jujutsu, Kung Fu, which he "integrated" into a hybrid fighting style.

    Baton: A powerful electric stun baton that doubled as a grappling hook.

    Throwing Stars: Many throwing stars shaped as circle-A's.

    MAX: He has an on-board computer, named Max, that has an actual personality of its own and functions in a similar fashion to Mister Terrific's T-Spheres?.

    Television: Beware The Batman

    Video Games: Batman: Arkham Origins

Character Profiles: Batman Villains 

SOURCES

The Batman Encyclepedia

The DC Wiki

 

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