Anthony Lupus


Anthony Lupus is a fictional character in DC Comics.

Publication history

Anthony Lupus first appeared in Batman #255 and was created by Len Wein and Dennis O'Neil, with by Neal Adams.

Fictional character biography

Anthony Lupus is a former Olympic Decathlon champion who suffers from severe headaches until he meets Prof. Achilles Milo, who uses a drug to treat them. However, the treatment also turns Lupus 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 evan as Milo claims that he can cure advanced lycanthropy. In his first outing, Anthony Lupus' werewolf form enters the apartment of a woman and kills her pet dog. Before the Werewolf could kill the woman, Batman arrived and rescued the woman. After the scuffle, the Werewolf reunited with Professor Milo and regressed back to Anthony Lupus when dawn rose, and Lupus claims that the transformations are getting worse. To get the cure, Anthony will have to kill Batman. To facilitate the murder plot, Lupus puts out a charity donation that he wants Batman to deliver. When Batman arrives at Lupus' house, he is tricked into a locked room where knockout gas is pumped into it. When Milo has Batman chained in an abandoned lot, he wants Anthony to finish the job if he wants the cure. When Anthony states that he will lose control of this transformation, Milo does not care. Upon Anthony transforming into the Werewolf, he attacks Milo first where the cure is destroyed during the attack. Upon breaking free as a storm begins, Batman fights the Werewolf several stories above the ground and manages to impale the Werewolf with a metallic rod. Just then, a lightning bolt strikes the metallic rod that impaled the Werewolf. This causes the Werewolf's burning body to fall to the ground. When Batman made it to the ground where the Werewolf landed, all he found was a charred metallic rod. Not long after this, there is news in Alaska about a man hunting wolves and a beast leading a wolf pack that is starting to spread in the Alaskan wilderness.
Bruce Wayne later met Anthony's younger sister Angela who is in need of a much-needed bone marrow transplant. When Commissioner Gordon states that Anthony Lupus was sighted in Alaska, Batman initially doubts that he survived their last encounter but he shames mayoral candidate Arthur Reeves by going to Alaska to investigate. Upon meeting with the president of the environmental agency, Bruce Wayne persuades him to help look. When Bruce Wayne and the environmental agency president find Anthony's hut in the middle of nowhere, they lock themselves in when the Werewolf attacks. After the environmental agency president escapes, Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and prepares a trap for the Werewolf only for it to trap a wolf. Upon the fight reaching the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, Batman starts to get an advantage over the Werewolf. Using a silver net to trap the Werewolf and knock it unconscious until the sun comes up, Batman explains the situation with Angela to Anthony who is reluctant to return to Gotham City because of his Werewolf form. In order to persuade him to return, Batman promises Anthony that he will find a cure for his condition like Achilles Milo had.
A photo of Anthony Lupus' werewolf form was featured in #7.
Anthony Lupus' werewolf form later appeared in Batman's hallucination.
Anthony Lupus' werewolf form appears in the DC Rebirth reboot universe. He is one of the many villains taken down by Batman and Catwoman after he takes her along with him on an average night of his job.

Powers and abilities

In his werewolf form, Anthony Lupus possessed razor-sharp claws and fangs, enhanced senses, hyper reflexes, and superhuman strength and stamina.

In other media

Television

In the ' episode "Moon of the Wolf," Anthony Romulus''' is closely based on Anthony Lupus where he is voiced by Harry Hamlin while the werewolf vocal effects were provided by Frank Welker. Romulus was an Olympic athlete in Gotham City, where his athletic abilities were well-known. Anthony Romulus entered a decathlon, where he immersed himself in intense physical training. However, Romulus' devotion to exercise did not give him the confidence in his athletic skills that he would win the games, and sought something that would guarantee him a gold medal. Romulus begged the infamous underworld doctor Dr. Achilles Milo, to make steroids for him that could not be detected or traced. Milo gave Romulus what he wanted, however, the main ingredient of the drug was a type of wolf estrogen. The steroids allowed him to win the gold medal, but he would eventually become a werewolf. Milo used the promise of a cure to blackmail Anthony into doing his dirty work. Romulus eventually ran afoul of Batman when Milo sent him to kill zoo security guard John Hamner. Some time later, Anthony will have a large charity donation doubled if Batman will show up in costume to the Romulus mansion. This turned out to be a trap set by Anthony and Dr. Milo when Batman ends up rendered unconscious by mild nerve gas. As Batman is chained up in the construction site, Dr. Milo makes his next plan to dispose of Batman. When Anthony feels the change happening and begged for Dr. Milo to give him the cure, Dr. Milo quotes "Ask me if I care." Anthony changed into his werewolf form and attacked Dr. Milo who realized too late that he had unleashed a monster he could not control. The cure is destroyed during the scuffle and he begins to fight Batman who has managed to get free himself. The fight took them to the top of the construction site as the police arrive. Batman threw a crane hook at Anthony and lightning strikes both the hook and Romulus followed by the werewolf falling into the river. After Dr. Milo is loaded into the ambulance, Detective Harvey Bullock tells Commissioner Gordon that he and the other police officers were unable to find the werewolf upon searching miles of shoreline. Harvey also remarks that by the next full moon, they will know if the werewolf survived or not. The following scene shows Anthony Romulus' estate being sold to pay off the creditors as the real estate lady remarks that Anthony Romulus has skipped town for unknown reasons. What had happened to Anthony Romulus remains a mystery to the public.

Miscellaneous