Overview: In Poison Ivy #17, Poison Ivy works with Killer Croc to find a cure for the Lamia Mushroom spores raging around Gotham City. Solomon Grundy shows up and joins this unlikely duo.
Title: Poison Ivy #17
Written by: G. Willow Wilson
Art & Colors by: Luana Vecchio
Main Cover by: Jessica Fong
Variant Covers: Skylar Partridge, David Nakayama, Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson, Trung Le Nguyen
Release Date: December 5, 2023
This comic book review contains spoilers
Right away, Jessica Fong treats us to a very bold, dynamic cover for Poison Ivy #17. Poison Ivy is seated on a throne in her “Flora Armor” (I am coining this right here). Her stature is regal and commanding. Skeletal faces peer behind her and underneath her. The whole image begs the reader to venture inside this comic. The fact that this never appears in the issue is irrelevant.
We begin with Janet from HR, Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley) and Harley Quinn waking up together. There is a slight dip into soap opera as Janet and Harley talk about how they kissed and how it “never happened.” Next, as Harley leaves the room, Poison Ivy tells Janet when THEY hooked up they weren’t in their right minds and that they shouldn’t upset Harley.
This feels completely alien to the rest of the story. Luana Vecchio draws very anime expressions between the women that is in a grand contrast to the rest of the issue. Luana’s art in the rest of the issue has a slight Darwyn Cooke feel. There are very defined and uniform renderings of character with just slight abstractions to scenes with action.
Here, Janet from HR reacts to Poison Ivy in such an over-the-top way. I really thought she would stick her tongue out and flash the peace sign like in a manga comedy!
Skylar Partridge variant cover for Poison Ivy #17
Poison Ivy and Killer Croc – lab partners
Later in Slaughter Swamp, Poison Ivy works on a cure for the Lamia infection that is sweeping Gotham City and the country. Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) comes in and eats some of the Lamia mushrooms Pamela is working on. The result is that Killer Croc is immune to the infection.
There is a softness to Killer Croc in this issue that I am coming to grips with. This is vastly different than most renditions of the character that I have read. He tells a story about how his Auntie took him to the doctor about his skin condition. He was so afraid of the needles; he just screamed and screamed until his Auntie stopped taking him. Wow! Sometimes a character can be completely changed in two comic book pages. He was always treated so shallowly in previous stories. G. Willow Wilson is proving she is a force to be reckoned with alongside the best Bat-writers. What takes most creators months to convey with character, she does so simply in just the barest of pages.
Luana is using a different set of skills here in the artwork’s colors. As colorist, she deftly uses the colors blue and purple and in the background of Slaughter Swamp. Plus, the use of orange! The orange of the exterior of this hunting shack really drew me into Slaughter Swamp. It gives a dynamic feel to the revelation of Killer Croc’s immunity. She drew a very psychedelic, wavy panel to emphasize his immunity. He is solid in the panel, while everything behind is a wavy, rainbow effect.
Killer Croc admits that because of his needle fear, she would have to knock him out to draw his blood. Pamela remarks that she has some of the old antidote from California and just needs to administer it to the 5 million citizens of Gotham.
Suddenly, some of Poison Ivy’s infected attack her shack in the swamp. She dons her Flora Armor, and they fight off some of these poor victims. We even get another appearance of Chuck from the last issue! Luana Vecchio’s use of horizontal panels during these skirmishes really makes the action dynamic. Here, a use of manga techniques pays off incredibly. By using horizontal panels, the rate of reading them with your eye increases. This gives the page an increased speed to the action.
Out of the blue, Solomon Grundy appears and starts to fight Killer Croc before joining them against these infected. This appearance is very cool. Luana draws him very similar to the Grey Hulk in his proportions. A stocky-built menace who just loves that nursery rhyme. I love G. Willow Wilson’s use of Solomon Grundy here. This brings back warm memories of his time on Starman. James Robinson performed the same trick with Solomon Grundy in the pages of that wonderful run. He is the type of villain only a handful of writers have tackled successfully. Wilson gives us the ultimate, underused villain team-up!
I hope Luana stays on as both artist and colorist on this book. There is a solidity to her work that I feel adds to this book.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with an advanced copy of this comic for review purposes. You can find this comic and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this issue digitally on Comixology through Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
