 While professing that Anarky was the character for whom he was proudest , and that the character 's narratives were among his best achievements for the amount of reaction they generated among readers , the character was also a source of some regret for Grant . Reflecting on his early secret plan to transform Lonnie Machin into a new Robin , Grant has stated that though he came to appreciate the character of Tim Drake , he occasionally experiences " <unk> of regret that Anarky wasn ’ t chosen as the new sidekick for comics ' greatest hero . " Grant has also stated that he attempted to distance himself from the direction of Anarky following his termination from DC Comics , and actively tried to avoid learning about the fate of Anarky and other characters he had come to care about . He often found himself disappointed to see how some characters were used or , as he felt , were mismanaged . Grant later joked on his disillusion in the handling of Anarky , " if you create something that 's close to your heart and you don 't own it , ' Oh woe is me ! ' " In 2011 , DC Comics initiated a special DC Retroactive series of comics , exploring different periods in the publication history of popular characters . Both Grant and Breyfogle were invited to participate , and collaborated to reproduce a story in the style of their classic Batman : Shadow of the Bat series . Grant chose to author a story featuring the Ventriloquist . However , he had been tempted to author a story featuring Anarky , only reconsidering the idea on the basis that his disassociation from the character had left him unfamiliar with what had become of Anarky 's canonical status at the time . 
