Lock-Up (comics)

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caption=Lock-Up
comic_color=background:#8080ff
character_name=Lock-Up
real_name=Lyle Bolton
publisher=DC Comics
debut= "Batman: The Animated Series" episode ""
creators=
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
alliances=Arkham Asylum
Secret Society of Super Villains
aliases=
powers=Expert on incarceration tactics and procedures

Lock-Up is a DC Comics villain and an enemy of Batman, featured in one episode "", in which he was voiced by Bruce Weitz. He was incorporated into mainstream comics continuity even before the more popular Harley Quinn in "Robin" #24 (January 1996).

History on "Batman: The Animated Series"

Lyle Bolton is a large, muscular man specializing in incarceration and high tech security systems.

When Arkham Asylum was in dire need of a new Head of Security, Bruce Wayne felt Lyle Bolton, a security expert at Wayne Enterprises, was the perfect man for the job. What Bruce and the doctors at Arkham did not know was that Bolton pushed the boundaries of the law and used unnecessary means to keep his prisoners in line. Bolton proved so malicious that the Scarecrow, the "Master of Fear" himself, escaped Arkham just to get away from him. Bruce Wayne became suspicious about how Bolton was keeping the Arkham inmates in check so well, and about the complete terror Bolton had instilled in Scarecrow, so he set up a hearing with Mayor Hamilton Hill, Commissioner Gordon, and Dr. Bartholomew, chief of medicine at Arkham. After questioning the uneasy inmates of Arkham, including Ventriloquist and Scarface, Harley Quinn and Scarecrow, Bruce Wayne discovered that Bolton had been torturing, threatening, and assaulting the inmates, including holding Scarface (who in this episode resembles Bolton) over a can filled with "termites." Following a blowup at the hearing, where he assaulted several Arkham orderlies and attempted to attack his accusers, Bolton was relieved of his post at Arkham.

After his release, Bolton became convinced that the press was supporting crime by glorifying criminals on television, assisted by a legal system seemingly set up and enforced by both the politicians and police to serve as a revolving door for criminals instead of bringing final justice to them. Bolton then created a costume and tools, started calling himself Lock-Up and began to arrest the people he deemed to be at the root of Gotham's problems. He imprisoned Mayor Hill, Commissioner Gordon, reporter Summer Gleeson, and Dr. Bartholomew, and held them hostage aboard USS Halsey F-84, a decommissioned battleship. The hostages were freed by Robin while Batman defeated Lock-Up. Lock-Up was placed in a cell in Arkham, where he was mocked by the same inmates he once tormented. Bolton wasn't too bothered by this though, because now he could keep an even closer eye on "his" prisoners stating that "they'll never slip past me again".

DC Universe comic history

Lock-Up's first comic appearance was in "Robin" #24 (Jan 1996) in which he captured Charaxes. He subsequently appeared in "Detective Comics" #694 (Feb 96) in which he captured the minor villain Weedwhacker. In both these stories he only made a brief appearance at the end, removing the villain before Batman and Robin could return to the scene.

His first full appearance was in "Detective Comics" #697-699 (June-Aug 1996), which began with him capturing Two-Face, and taking him to his private prison alongside Charaxes, Weedwhacker and several gangsters. He is stopped by the police while targeting a criminal turned state evidence and is revealed to be Lyle Bolton, previously discharged from the police academy for being too gung-ho, and dismissed from several security jobs (unlike the animated version, he had not worked at Arkham). Lock-Up escapes, and captures minor street criminal Alvin Draper (actually Tim Drake's undercover identity).

When Nightwing finds his hide out, Lock-Up decides to drown all his prisoners in an underwater death-trap. Batman intervenes and defeats Lock-Up, saving the villains, Nightwing and Robin.

Lock-Up later appeared during the "No Man's Land" storyline, having taken control of Blackgate Prison in the aftermath of the earthquake. He had enlisted KGBeast and the Trigger Twins to act as wardens for his prison, and rules with an iron fist; Batman only tolerates his presence because he requires Lock-Up to keep captured criminals in check to prevent Gotham being overrun, although Lock-Up is under strict orders to treat the prisoners well. Towards the end of the storyline, Batman enlists Dick Grayson's help in overthrowing Lock-Up so Blackgate could be used for the lawful side once again.

Lock-Up makes a very brief appearance in "Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special" where it seems the Society made use of Lock-Up's prison expertise to break metas and humans out of prisons all over the world, leading to the big fight in the final issue of "Infinite Crisis".

More recently, Lock-Up has been affiliated with Scarface and the Ventriloquist alongside other Gotham criminals Killer Moth and Firefly; during this association Lock-Up was badly wounded by Metropolis outfits Intergang and the 100. Recovering, Lock-Up was sent to a prison world alongside other criminals in the "Salvation Run" limited series.