Customer Reviews

Batman: Anarky

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This must be one of the best Batman albums with one of the best heroes/villains: Anarky. Anarky is not the usual kind of hero/villain. He has firm beliefs, strong ideals and wants to make the world better. He doesn't believe in laws, becaus the laws are made by those who have power to let them keep the power.

This makes the comic really interesting. Anarky acts on a social level, what is good and bad for the people. If he thinks a law is corrupt, he breaks it. A growling Batman grudgingly acknowledges the ideals of Anarky and his intelligence and skills, but believes the laws are created to protect the people.

It is not surprising to know that Alan Gran, the writer, is a member of the British Anarchist Party. That is why it is so interesting to see how the anarchistic ideals can survive in Gotham (if they can).

This is a collection of the best Batman-stories featuring Anarky, including his origin and a superb miniseries of 4 parts. It is sad to see that other writers who have used the anarky-character never understood Alan Grants meaning, like, when in Knightfall, Anarky tries to kill Batman (even if it is a false Batman)! In the foreword to this book, Alan Grant clearly states that making Anarky wanting to kill someone would seriously compromise his ideals.

I recommend this book as one of the better Batman books in a long time, one everyone should read.

Batman: Anarky presents the Dark Knight's struggle against a foe who is just as driven an believies as Batman does that his personal crusade is a righteous one. When the two finally meet they realize that they aren't that different after all, and end up joining forces to combat a greater evil. All in all, an excellent book which every fan of Batman, or good comics should own. Peace.

It is so great that a new Batman villian can be believeable for once. This guy has a great concepts, very well researched dialogue, and will actually make you think about things for once in a Batman comic. I predict this guy will someday take a much more prominent place in Batman. If you want a thinking man's villian, read this.

Re-readability: 8/10

*I always put re-readability in my reviews for people who like to keep their TPB to re-read*

Don't get me wrong, the story and artwork are very good, and Anarky is a very interesting "villain". But I wanted a little more Batman who takes a back seat in this one. That said, this book is a must for Anarky fans, and an interesting read for mature, die-hard Batman fans.

{major spoilers} this shows the the extordinary anarky. a vigilante who is fighting the system Which isn't as bad as he thinks he even takes the fight to darkseid! Very good read! they sould make an "Anarky 2" featuring the 8 issue series.

heros: batman, anarky, Jim gordan, Jason todd {mentioned.}

villans: etrigan the demon, darkseid, {The rest are in a dream} poison ivy, mr. freeze, ventriloquist/scarface, catwoman.

Who could be more intelligent than the greatest detective, Batman? Anarky, folks, alias, Lonnie. That's right. In this graphic novel, Alan Grant produced a character that wanted revenge because of how the arrogant, complacent people like the rich who think they own the world became so selfish and because of criminals and their malevolence.

He may be skinny now, but not for long, as he continues on in his life, learning karate. Other than that, he will research through historical people like Machiavelli, trying to understand their philosophies. Eventually, this all leads down to him getting is brain energized, more efficient, from an electronic device.

The art is good, everything is in proportion, and most importantly, it's clear.

But let me just say this: This book is rather recommended for older people, like 15+, because in some parts of Anarky (he gets more intelligent!), the vocabulary is often looked up in the dictionary--only a rocket scientist could understand some of the arduous terms that are apparent in mid to late sections of the graphic novel.

Consequently, the conclusion is rather disagreeable, like one passage from the end, "I don't even know if there even is a God!". I had no clue whether if this was what it would be like if the world was descending, or if this had been Anarky's plan; Lonnie duplicates his desires--peace and love--he elicits or infiltrates that into the people. Anarky wanted the people to make their own decision, like we always do today, and wipe away the selfish.

I recommend this graphic novel especially for DIE-HARD fans of Batman.

I gave it a four because:
- Good artwork.
- Everthing is proportioned.
- Suspenceful.

But...
- Gets confusing at times, like the part with Anarky's electronic device that made him smarter than anybody. And the part where he converses with Etrigan, and then Darkseid--more confusing than ever.

Anarky is one of those comic book "heroes" that no one seems to know, which is sad because he's one of the most well written personalities ever to dawn tights! Transforming the abstract notion of an anarchist political philosophy into a costumed vigilante must not have been an easy feat but writer Alan Grant pulled it off beautifully. He took a philosophy that one might encounter in lofty, dusty political science books and turned it into a young, intelligent, and all around exciting persona. When he comes face to face with Batman it becomes more than just a chase scene or a slugfest, it becomes a intellectual battleground (where the reader ultimately has to decide if Batman may be wrong this time).

The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is the awkward evolution Anarky goes through from a socialist/populust anarchist into a Rothbard/Rand inspired Anarcho-capitalist (a result of Alan Grant's own view-change). Also the middle story (involving the sham prophet) is sort of dull and the very end is a little confusing.

The writer of this character in DC has focused less on action in these comics and more on psychological and philosophical insight. He takes the character in a very science fiction oriented direction, which makes for some interesting plots.

Perhaps the most intriguing part is where Anarky is face to face with Darkseid and they have a discussion with one another. It is a heated debate about the point of life and the reason people should or should not try to be good.

So this is not an action emphasis, but rather following the development of this character, Anarky, as he explores the world around him. So if you are looking for mystery or action, this book will probably not be what you want. However, if you would like to take a journey of the mind in a science-fiction perspective, this one is it.

Really cool compilation, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle did a great job wih this character, Anarky.

Norm was the best Batman artist from all time, I hope he comes back someday.

This Batman graphic novel is a pretty impressive one. In this Batman story, the Dark Knight isn't battling necessarily against evil or crime, he's battling a superintelligent teenager who believes a society of anarchy will straigten all the wrongs in this world, and this teenager becomes a masked, red cloaked vigilante who codenames himself Anarchy and believes the only way to get people to see the "light" and save the corrupt and crime-ridden world is by forcing his views upon them. Batman, sympathizing with the young vigilante for wanting to put an end to crime and corruption, but not agreeing with all of his views and his forcing his will on everyone, is faced with the task of taking him down and showing him the real truth, or else Gotham City and perhaps the world might be plunged into a
savage, primitive nightmare. So the current battle isn't between good and evil, it's between who's right and whose wrong.
This Batman graphic novel really impressed me,it will make you think about how some people in this world tend to become misguided sometimes and are even led to becoming extremists and radicalists. Plus it included a cameo appearance from one of my favorite supervillains in the DC Universe, the tyrannic and demonic Darkseid!!