Anthony Lupus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Anthony Lupus | |
| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Batman #255 |
| In story information | |
| Team affiliations | Professor Milo |
| Abilities | Turns into a werewolf under the full moon Has razor-sharp claws and fangs in werewolf form. |
Anthony Lupus is the name of a DC Comics character. Anthony Lupus first appeared in Batman #255.
[edit] Fictional character biography
Anthony Lupus is a former Olympic Decathlon champion who suffers from severe headaches until he meets Doctor Achilles Milo, who uses a drug to treat them — which also turns him into a werewolf. Milo discovers that Lupus suffers from lycanthropy, which is the source of Anthony's headaches. With a serum derived from the Alaskan Timber wolf, Milo sends Anthony's condition into overdrive, transforming him into a full werewolf with the full moon. To get the cure, Anthony will have to kill Batman. Batman fights Lupus until a bolt of lightning strikes Anthony. Batman presumes that he's dead, however, Lupus was last seen in Alaska hunting wolves in search of a cure.
He later returns in Detective Comics #505. Batman goes to Alaska to capture Lupus in order to give Anthony's sister, Angela, a much-needed bone marrow transplant. However, catching him isn't easy since Anthony Lupus sees Alaska as a place where his werewolf form is at home. With a silver net, Batman manages to bring Anthony back and promises that he'll find a cure for his condition like Doctor Milo had.
There are some theories that Lupus was involved in "The Lupus Affair," which was an untold encounter featuring John Constantine.
[edit] In other media
In Batman: The Animated Series, Anthony Romulus is somewhat based on Anthony Lupus. He is voiced by Harry Hamlin (as Romulus) and Frank Welker (as the werewolf).
Romulus was an Olympic athlete in Gotham City, where he was a celebrity. He mingled with the rich, and spent a fortune. He entered a decathlon, and, desperate to win, begged the infamous underworld doctor Dr. Achilles Milo, to make an untraceable steroid for him. Milo gave Romulus what he wanted, but the main ingredient of the drug was a type of wolf estrogen (taken from two Alaskan Timber Wolves) that melded with Romulus' immune system, turning him into what resembled a werewolf. Milo used this to blackmail the wealthy Romulus; if he wanted the cure, he would have to be Milo's henchman, stealing anything and killing anyone Milo wanted.
Romulus eventually ran afoul of Batman, and the cure is destroyed during the second encounter, leaving him forever stuck as this werewolf-like creature. Batman and Romulus fought on top of a building until lightning struck him and Batman knocked him into a river with a crane. The police were unable to find his body. Romulus has since never returned to Gotham City and what had happened to him remains a mystery.
The Batman Adventures, acomic book based on the animated series, brought back Romulus and Tygrus alongside of Man-Bat when they are used by the recently escaped Doctor Emile Dorian to capture Catwoman in "House of Dorian."
