Quotes by Anarky
Anarky (Volume 1, issues 1–4. 1997)
"This is Politics: 'Do what you're told or we'll punish you.' This is Religion: 'Suffer misery now so you can be happy after death.' This is Philosophy: 'The Universe came from nothing, and will one day return to it.' None of these doctrines stands up to rational analysis."
"I don't believe in god. In the future, we will all be responsible for our own acts."
—"Metamorphosis" (part one), Anarky (vol.1) #1, May 1997; by Alan Grant.
"Quoting Einstein out of context, they say that good and evil are relative; that there are no moral absolutes. They lie. Only two laws are needed to change the entire universe: never use initiatory force, and never cheat. The people who run our world constantly break both.
"My pocket dictionary defines evil as 'bad, harmful.' But that's only half the story. Evil needs to be intentional."
"Science is magic explained..."
—"Metamorphosis" (part two), Anarky (vol.1) #2, June 1997; by Alan Grant.
"In 1995, the countries of southeast asia spent $435 billion on military expenditure— Not because the people demanded it, you understand; how many peasants do you know who've started wars? Mao Zedong spouted a lot of nonsense, but he sure got one thing right: 'all (political) power comes out the barrel of a gun.' You don't believe me, do you? You live in a democracy. You vote for your leaders— So tell me — what happens if you want to disobey them? Say you don't like the President. You object to paying taxes to support him, his family, his pets, his bodyguards and his friends he wangled jobs for. What do you do? Or say you don't like your taxes being used to subsidize foreign arms sales for slaughter in the third world. How can you stop it? Vote for somebody else, whose policy is the same? Don't vote? The government pretends to be there to serve you. In reality, it's there to tell you what to do— If you refuse to obey, you'll be investigated—arrested—criminalized. Your assets will be seized and given to the state. You will be jailed. And that's the 'free' America — — Imagine what it's like in Iraq."
"Albert Einstein said that 'The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhindered development of the individual.' But our institutions are the opposite. They enslave us — Rule us by fear and deceit! They'd gladly bomb us back into the stone age! They don't want the common man to be anything but a slave! The world has gone wrong. But I swear by every breath in my body— I will put it right again!"
—"Metamorphosis" (part three), Anarky (vol.1) #3, July 1997; by Alan Grant.
"Imagine – you’re a child again. Filled with innocence, and wonder, and life. Remember how good it felt? That’s what the parasites stole from us. They bled us dry. And like sheep we lined up to give more blood. But we can have back all that they stole, and more. The information age provides a spotlight the parasites can’t squirm away from. Identify them. Negate their evil. Ostracize them. Step with me into a better world."
—"Metamorphosis" (part four), Anarky (vol.1) #4, August 1997; by Alan Grant.
Other Publications
"Greetings, Gotham City. My name is Anarky. (...) I believe in the absolute freedom of the individual. I believe that the present order must be abolished. I believe that the voice of the people must be heard... listened to... and obeyed! ...I would like to extend this warning to the whole city: you are either part of the solution, or part of the problem. Look into your own hearts. Decide which you are and choose well— for if you are an enemy of the people — Anarky will seek you out... and destroy you!"
—"Anarky in Gotham" (part two), Detective Comics #609, December 1989; by Alan Grant.
"'The essence of anarchy is constant surprise.' Spontaneity... Lao-Tse knew, and all those other old chinese guys. So how come we all forgot along the way? How come you can be wise once upon a time, and two thousand years later you're ignorant as a pig? Doesn't really matter. The dinosaurs are dead, only they don't know it yet. They need someone like Anarky to bring home the news. The Dark Ages are passing — and their heroes will pass with them. The city needs a new breed of hero. The night needs a new kind of monster. Anarky.
"I always knew I'd get off on this part of it. There's something just feels so good about... destruction. But not destruction for its own sake. This is a cleansing... A ridding of the old... It's necessary."
The essence of anarchy is surprise... Spontaneity. Lao-Tse knew!"
—"Anarky in Gotham" (part two), Detective Comics #609, December 1989; by Alan Grant.
"The essence of anarchy is surprise — spontaneous action... even when it does require a little planning!
"Democracy... Hah! There's a laugh. They pretend that it works — pretend that the voice of the people, spoken through its elected representatives will be heard. Trash! The world is run by elites — bankers, the military, government agencies. Criminals all. They prey like vampires on their victims...! I've been thinking a lot about elites lately. How they come to power — How to stop them!"
—"The God of Fear" (part 1), The Shadow of the Bat #16, September 1993; by Alan Grant.
"I'm against anything that's against people! Cruelty — brutality — exploitation... These are the enemies of the people — The enemies of Anarky!"
—"The God of Fear" (part two), The Shadow of the Bat #17, October 1993; by Alan Grant.
"The world's dying! Poisoned seas — can't breath the air! The politicians — the bankers — the criminals — they're sacrificing us all on the alter of their greed! Please... please don't kill our planet...!"
—"The God of Fear" (part 3), The Shadow of the Bat #18, November 1993; by Alan Grant.
- Notes:Spoken after being poisoned by Scarecrow's fear toxins.
"Society is rotten. It will only be changed when the people see the greed, arrogance and brutality of those who rule them! ...Democracy is a sham!"
—"Anarky", The Batman Adventures #31, April 1995; by Alan Grant.
"The authoritarian system we live under is set to benefit a tiny minority — an all-powerful elite gets obscenely rich, while billions are cheated out of realizing their true potential. But the system is rotten. It's ripe for collapse. It's the duty of every revolutionary — everyone of us — to hasten that collapse... It's not a crime to fight injustice... The system's conditioned us — hypnotized nearly everybody into accepting that life has to be the way it is. We're hypnotized into believing war is natural — famine is natural — crime is natural... but they're not. They're products of the system and its all-consuming greed! People have become robots — zombies — too busy scrambling for day-to-day existence to be able to see they're really victims. It's up to us to open their eyes. From cradle to grave, we're taught — indoctrinated! — that happiness depends on always getting more. Buy — throw away — buy more! Doesn't matter if we destroy the planet on the way! Politicians say they can fix the world's problems. Just give them more power. Religions say do more of what they order and you'll be happy — but only after you're dead! They've been making the same hollow promises for thousands of years, and we, the people — the sheep — have listened. But it's time to wake up and smell the coffee — the days of external authority and force-backed power are numbered... that's the way the system is set up! A sham democracy that acts as a front for the elite's ambitions... It doesn't have to be like that. We can change it!"
- Notes: Excerpted dialogue originally written in the form of a multi-panel Author Filibuster.
"Batman's misguided. He fights the results of crime, but not the causes. He takes on individual cases... but he fails to see the wider picture!"
—"Tomorrow Belongs to Us", The Batman Chronicles #1, Summer 1995; dialogue by Alan Grant.
Roxanne Machin: "Oh, why can't you just be normal?"
Lonnie Machin: "Because I'm not normal, mom. I'm something special — One day — and soon — everybody will be like me. Because if they're not, mankind will be extinct!"
- Source: "Anarky" (part one), The Shadow of the Bat #40; July 1995; by Alan Grant.
"...I guess it's true what they say... the radical of one century is the conservative of the next!"
—Spoken to Green Arrow, paraphrasing a quote by Mark Twain. "Anarky in the USA", Green Arrow #51, August 2005; dialogue by James Peatty.
Quotes about Anarky
"He's a straight-a student... Cocky — confident — thought he knew all the answers, had to do it his way. Yet I can't help but admire him."
—Spoken by Batman, Detective Comics #609, 1989; by Alan Grant.
"I know you alright — A 14-year-old genius who thinks his extremist ideals justify any crime."
—Spoken by Tim Drake, "Robin Annual" #1, 1992; by dialogue by Alan Grant.
"Oh, yes, I remember young Lonnie, all right! Sad boy, I always thought. Old before his time. Didn't make friends easily. Spent too much time in places like this. Reading, always reading. Far too serious."
—Spoken by Walter Kempinski (a bookstore owner who knew Lonnie as a child), "Robin Annual" #1, 1992; dialogue by Alan Grant.
"Actually, he may be right about a lot of things..."
—Spoken by Dick Grayson, "The Batman Adventures" #31, April 1995; dialogue by Alan Grant.
"He's fifteen years old, for pity's sake! Look at these books—! He should be sneaking copies of Playboy around, not Bakunin and Marx and Ayn Rand!"
—Spoken by Mike Machin (Anarky's father), "Shadow of the Bat" #40, July 1995; dialogue by Alan Grant.
