DC Is Pushing Its Character Assassination Of This Batman Antihero Too Far

Published Oct 17, 2026, 9:30 PM EDT Mark has been a comic book journalist for over 15 years and has interviewed comic book creators like Gail Simone and Caspar Wijngaard. And when he's not writing, he's working on beating his record of 1,200 comics read in a year. It’s almost impossible to not love an antihero. DC Comic book characters like Jason Todd (Red Hood), John Constantine, and Harley Quinn bend the rules in ways that Batman and Superman can’t and won’t. This gives them a more realistic and relatable feel because they’re doing things many people would like to do. Sadly, there are moments when they do something that removes the hero from the title. In this case, there’s a Batman character named Lonnie Machin, aka Anarky. Thanks to soon-to-be ex-mayor Poison Ivy, Gotham City is currently ground zero of something that could lead to an extinction-level event. Like every opportunist, Anarky took advantage of the situation during Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central No. 1. Instead of helping people, Lonnie robbed a card game run by members of the Triad. Since they are criminals who are also connected to the crooked Gotham City Police Commissioner, Vandal Savage, an APB was put out on Anarky. Lonnie shouldn't be faulted for robbing criminals or for running from the police. However, what he does in the second issue of Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central was inexcusable and can also be considered character assassination. Anarky Does Something Unthinkable Anarky feels that the system has failed regular people. Poison Ivy becoming Mayor of Gotham City may have been the moment that removed any doubt that his methods are extreme. It also didn’t help that Vandal sent out his TUCOs (Tactical Urban Combat Officers) to try to murder Lonnie rather than arrest him. To make things worse, just as it looked like he was about to escape, Stephanie Brown, as Batgirl, stops Anarky from escaping and being arrested by Jim Gordon (who wasn't going to kill him). While all of this is happening, Vandal Savage is ordering the train tunnels where Anarky, Stephanie Brown, and other innocent people are to be blown up. Not just because there’s a dangerous plant there. Savage wants one of the Bat Family members killed. After Stephanie saves Anarky from the carnivorous plant, the tunnel explodes. Instead of reciprocating the save, Lonnie leaves Stephanie and says, “Okay, well …see ya later, I guess.” Why Is This Character Assassination? Back in Detective Comics, Anarky was attempting to work together with Stephanie, who was Spoiler at the time. At the time, they had similar goals when it came to trying to protect Gotham and motivate people to fight back against tyranny. While the partnership was short-lived, there was some mutual respect. It looks like whatever they had is gone. Regardless of that, leaving her to die seems unlike his character. Calling Anarky an antihero could be considered a bit of a stretch, but he’s not really a villain. Deserting someone he once admired, unconscious in a burning tunnel is evil. That’s something that Two-Face or the Penguin would do. It seems out of character, even if he believes that Batgirl and the rest of the Bat Family are part of the problem. Luckily, this may not be the end of the story. At the bottom of the final page, it’s noted that this story will continue in the next issue of Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central and Gangs of Gotham No. 1. That gives Lonnie two issues to redeem himself for abandoning Batgirl after she saved him. It wouldn’t be shocking if Anarky realizes what he’s done and backtracks to save her. Unfortunately, this may not be the case. Tie-ins during comic book crossovers are normally used to start new storylines, with Batman's characters being no exception. In this case, readers could be seeing a new kind of Anarky emerge soon enough. One who, like Poison Ivy, goes from trying to be a force for good to becoming the very thing that he hates.