In Poison Ivy #21, G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara return to close out their Poison Ivy origin story.
Poison Ivy #21 main cover by Jessica Fong
Title: Poison Ivy #21
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Marcio Takara
Colors: Arif Prianto
Letters: Hassan Otsamne-Elhaou
Main Cover: Jessica Fong
Variant Cover Artists: David Nakayama, Babs Tarr, Bilquis Evely with Matheus Lopes
Release Date: April 2, 2024
This comic book review contains spoilers
The Story
Jason Woodrue injects Pamela Isley with the “green,” but then flees when he’s afraid that it killed her. While flatlining, Isley is taken to the hospital by her girlfriend Bella Garten and has an intense psychedelic trip. She sees herself as a tree and hears a shrill scream coming from within the Earth itself. Determined to locate the source of this screaming, she flees the hospital and Bella for Gotham City. In Gotham, she discovers that she not only has the ability to manipulate plants, but also to release infatuating pheromones, which she can use to control people. This behavior lands her in Arkham Asylum for a short time before she is released and attempts to form an alliance with Batman to help the city’s ecosystem. While initially open-minded, he quickly assumes he’s being affected by her pheromones and rejects the offer, thus setting up a legendary rivalry between the two.
Whatever happened to Jason Woodrue and Bella Garten?
Well here we are, finally at the end of G. Willow Wilson’s three-part Poison Ivy origin story, and if you were hoping for a unique or subversive take on the story, then this isn’t it. After introducing Jason Woodrue and Bella Garten in the previous two issues, I had hoped that Wilson had a reason to bring them back and would provide some kind of arc or insight into their early lives. After all, an intriguing setup seemed to open a lot of interesting avenues for this new origin to take. Maybe Woodrue had picked Isley to experiment on because he wanted some kind of twisted chlorophyllous wife? Maybe he has some larger plot with the university? here’s definitely something going on with the university, right? Why is Alec Holland there? We’ve never really seen Isley and Bella’s relationship at this stage, how will they reconcile? Will Isley have to confront the fact that she’s just not ready for a relationship?
Nope.
None of this is addressed.
Both characters are quickly dispatched and unmentioned after the first few pages.
Jason Woodrue and Bella Garten were simply obligatory inclusions because of their significance in Ivy’s history (either as a nod to past iterations or a DC mandate), but there is no interest shown in their characters beyond that. Woodrue is pure evil and Garten has almost no personality to speak of. Instead of building upon anything from the last two parts, this issue turns into a speed-run of Ivy’s first time using her powers, going to Arkham, and meeting Batman.
Checking Boxes
While Poison Ivy #19 did introduce a troublesome sexual-power dynamic between Woodrue and Isley, nothing else in the subsequent two issues provided any interesting insight into Isley’s early relationships or early life. After one issue of setup, we have two issues of checking boxes to hit all the beats we know must happen in a Ivy origin story because we’ve seen it in so many times in World’s Finest #251, Secret Origins #36, Batman #109, and a two-panel version of it in Shadow of the Bat Annual #3, among others. Since Wilson or DC or both feel the need to hit so many beats from these pre-existing stories, the events themselves don’t even occur organically. They play out more like a series of bullet points we have to hit to the extent that the final part becomes entirely consumed by playing recap. You already know this story, in fact you may have already read it.
So since the decision was made to retell pre-established canon rather than take any major detours, let’s take a look at the major beats adapted and what (if anything) has been added or changed in this retelling:
- Isley studied botany in Seattle, Washington: Check. (World’s Finest #251)
- Isley develops a relationship with Bella Garten: Check. (Batman #109)
- Isley began experimenting with Jason Woodrue: Check. (Secret Origins #36)
- And finally, Isley goes to Gotham City to encounter Batman: Check. (Shadow of the Bat Annual #3)
There are others, but these are the main beats. Out of all of these plot points, the only one that’s been given a significant new spin is her relationship with Jason Woodrue as it’s now presented as explicitly sexual. But even that goes nowhere since after she distances herself from him in Poison Ivy #20, she rejoins him by the end. He just dips out while she’s under at the start of this issue. What happened to all that talk about his being a “great man” or Bella’s rejection of the idolatry? What are we supposed to take away from all of that? In the end, Woodrue got what he wanted, Isley got what she wanted, Bella got forgotten, and the reader got the shaft.
Granted, I know these characters come back later on in Ivy’s story, but a good origin story stands on its own. In Mad Love, Harley Quinn falls for Joker’s manipulations, but by the end Batman helps her realize that she was tricked. She has growth. In Batman: Year One, Batman goes out unprepared and has to learn from his mistakes. He has growth. In this story things happen to Poison Ivy. She follows external stimuli: first Woodrue, then Garten, Woodrue again, and finally this macguffin “screaming” she hears in Gotham. At no point does she change or learn from her experience. Nothing that is set up in the previous two issues pays off in anything meaningful way. By the end, we’re left with no grand takeaway despite Wilson constantly peppering Ivy’s inner monologue with ruminations on life lessons. Inner-monologuing doesn’t count as themes when there’s nothing to back it up in the substance of the story.
Ivy’s Motivation
Ivy’s motivations throughout this arc have become increasingly unclear to me. Initially, she wants to become a successful botanist to help change the world but then she seems to shift towards seeking love or validation from Woodrue and Garten. This is fine if it has a purpose. People’s motivations change all the time when they meet someone and fall in love. But once she’s infected with the green, the Ivy we’ve spent so much time with over the past two issues seems to disappear. She doesn’t care about Woodrue or Garten anymore, she’s consumed by this magnetic pull towards Gotham.
The motivations and logic become even murkier after Ivy arrives in Gotham. Her goal is to stop the screaming, which seems to be a clairvoyant signal of the environmental degradation of the city. But the only indication of what she’s actually doing is in a sequestered newspaper clipping stating that she’ll release a biotoxin if her environmental demands aren’t met. So the struggling young woman we saw looking for love in the last two issues has been replaced by Poison Ivy: eco-terrorist. It’s not clear how much the “green” has taken over Ivy’s personality but considering the fact she doesn’t show any interest for Garten, her mother, or any of the characters previously introduced, it seems to take a Uma Thurman-level hold on her mind (at least initially). I suppose the implication is that over time, Isley’s original self starts to fight back against this malevolent “green” and the modern day iteration is more of a mix.
On a side note, I know analyzing the judicial politics of Gotham City is a fool’s errand, but Ivy is sent straight to Arkham pre-trial after infecting a couple cops with pheromones. Maybe dressing up in a green leotard and blowing pheromones at people is enough for an insanity diagnosis but that felt a little off. I don’t know, maybe she just has a good attorney. Has Harvey Dent been acid-faced yet?
The Art
Marcio Takara and Arif Prianto carry the issue with the same incredible work we’ve come to expect in this run. An undeniable highlight is seeing Poison Ivy’s old-school costume, although Takara chooses her simplified Batman: The Animated Series getup over her mosaical leaf pattern fit from the Silver Age. Plus any time a character experiences a psychedelic experience (which seems to happen with increasing regularity in this run) Takara and Prianto use it as an excuse to go all-out. Ivy’s vision of becoming the tree is a great example of this and looks beautiful. Although not very much like a tree.
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 Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
