Yes, Yap, I don't have a lot of friends my age, thank you.

Even though he'd get a full, if brief, series after this; I don't remember if this was received well. I feel like it wasn't ideologically pure enough, somehow, for actual anarchists; or maybe I just saw somebody grousing about it recently. Still, setting the hero up with the doubly-impossible mission of somehow changing society, when society has got freaking Batman enforcing the status quo, confirms failure is the only option. But, there are lessons to be learned from this one, like explaining about every poor person that goes against their own best interests and votes Republican. From 1997, Anarky #2, "Metamorphosis, Part 2: Revolution Number 9" Written by Alan Grant, pencils by Norm Breyfogle, inks by Joe Rubinstein.

Occasional Bat-villain Lonnie Machlin, Anarky, had by this point "fused the hemispheres of his brain together," vastly increasing his intelligence. He was working on a project that he thought would save the world, particularly from "priests, parasites, and politicians!" Part of his plan hinged on using quartz batteries to absorb mystic energies, and in the previous issue he had gotten some from Etrigan the Demon, nearly dying in the process. But Etrigan hadn't been able to tell Lonnie anything about the nature of evil; so next stop, Apokolips. As three escaped workers are about to be executed, Anarky teleports in, with his captured demon Blasfemy, and interrupts things; which draws the attention of Darkseid. Or, at least, "an avatar" of him: the guards are Omega Beam'ed for their failure, and the workers sentenced to report for "torture and death," which they do meekly. Through insolence and piquing Darkseid's interest, Anarky manages to wheedle a meeting with him; where he asks about evil. What was the point of Apokolips and all that suffering?

Darkseid does roll out the cliche "good and evil are only relative," which Anarky had expected; but Darkseid also demonstrates how he allows hope, just so he can crush it. He considers crushing Anarky as well, but does find him bold and intelligent; at least until Anarky tries to use his back-up teleporter to escape and fails miserably. (I think the same thing happened in Robin Annual #1, where his back-up plan also failed, leaving him up a creek.) Worse, Blasfemy breaks free from his control, but is nowhere near a match for even an avatar of Darkseid, and the demon is destroyed. Anarky knows he's done, but tells Darkseid he'll die knowing he was right; and Darkseid decides to let him live...perhaps so he could learn otherwise.

Before he goes, though; Darkseid shows him the escaped workers: they had been promoted, and were now overseers. Even though they were themselves covered with scars, that didn't seem to slow their whipping hands in the slightest, as they repeat the same slogans they used to be beaten with. This stuck with me, and I hate that page so much, because Darkseid's right: everybody thinks, someday they'll be the one with the whip, and then look out.

Darkseid returns Anarky to earth, but Anarky explains to his dog Yap, "Science is magic explained." He had absorbed more energy, and his plan was moving forward...Next issue, Batman beats the tar out of an orphan he didn't adopt! And, looking it up, Alan Grant really liked the original Anarky limited but not the ongoing, which he took just to get Breyfogle work. (Breyfogle was the Batman artist for years, until he just wasn't; I don't think DC did right by him.) Pre-New 52, Lonnie was crippled, and replaced with a more generically-villainous Anarky; because that's easier. He has appeared in the new continuity but scarcely a shell of the old version; and I'd say Anarky was past due for re-assessment: not unlike Poison Ivy, he may have been considered a villain but was in the right more often than not, if you can stand to look.