 Alan Grant , a writer from Scotland , got his start on 2000 AD as an assistant writer for John Wagner . Grant rose to prominence as an equal of Wagner 's in the creation of Judge Dredd comic strips . These stories were noted favorably for their use of socio @-@ political commentary and satire . Together , the duo acquired employment with DC Comics . Dennis O 'Neil assigned them to Detective Comics in 1988 , hoping they would bring their gritty , violent take on Judge Dredd to Batman storylines . Soon after , Wagner left the company , leaving Grant to continue the run on his own . Drawing on his work for Judge Dredd , Grant began injecting social commentary into the comic book , and avoided using common Batman rogues in favor of his own creations . Some of these villains were influenced by characters from the Judge Dredd universe . Anarky was conceived singularly by Grant as a result of these circumstances , and Grant 's own intellectual and philosophical meditations influenced the portrayal of the character over the following years . 
