In this review of Poison Ivy #40, Poison Ivy conducts an environmental terror attack in Gotham City with the Order of the Green Knight before encountering Commissioner Vandal Savage and his new crime prevention “tech czar.”
Poison Ivy #40 main cover by Jessica Fong (DC Comics)
POISON IVY #40
Written by G. WILLOW WILSON
Art by DAVIDE GIANFELICE
Main Cover: JESSICA FONG
Variant Covers: NOOBOVICH, KYUYONG EOM, JOSHUA “SWAY” SWABY, DIBERKATO, DANI
Page Couunt: 32 pages
Release Date: 1/7/26
This comic book review contains spoilers
The Story
Poison Ivy returns to Gotham City to lead a strike on a petrochemical company’s headquarters. The Order of the Green Knight helps her steal the company’s data before wiping it and blowing up the building. When the SWAT team arrives, she surrenders willingly.
At the Police Commissioner’s office, a timid envoy from the mayor’s office comes to serve as an interdepartmental liaison after allegations of police misconduct. Vandal Savage demands that she sits without recording or saying a word. Poison Ivy is brought in and says if Savage does anything to her, he’ll have to answer to the Order of the Green Knight. Savage punches her in the stomach before offering her a deal. He introduces his crime prevention tech czar: Marie Henley and asks Ivy to shadow her to make their environmentally destructive AI surveillance company look less harmful to the public.
Marie takes Ivy on a walk around the city demonstrating how their AI surveillance system works. They engage in a dialectical debate where Marie argues for a hypertechnological police state while Ivy argues for a return to nature. While walking through a protest, a kid hands Ivy a piece of paper on how to run for office.
Once they reach a dilapidated part of town, Marie tells Ivy that another feature of this system is identifying unproductive neighborhoods and shutting off their water supply. Marie threatens to deport Ivy to a foreign asylum if she interferes with their program but in a rage, Ivy attacks her with vines. Off to the side, a young boy records the attack on his cellphone.
Analysis
Poison Ivy #40 really sees G. Willow Wilson leans into her strengths with dynamic and focused storytelling. I think we’re more than due for a change in scenery after Marshview, and Ivy’s return to Gotham City lives up to its promise. Wilson jettisons the book’s side characters for a story focusing exclusively on Ivy’s journey which allows the narrative to laser in on her journey, something I quite appreciated. Ivy’s narration also has a propulsive thriller quality, like an early Chuck Palahniuk novel.
I continue to enjoy the Order as a background element akin to the Weather Underground, and their environmental terrorism definitely has a more coherent vision now that Ivy is calling the shots. No more blowing up random grocery stores. Savage’s appearance was also a welcome addition for me. I love his depiction as a power drunk tyrant and the way he completely rejects the city’s attempts to encroach on his turf. The scene of him punching Poison Ivy was honestly a bit shocking but I assume her brief encounter with the protestor is setting her up for a revenge storyline. I hope we stay in Gotham with these characters a bit, I really appreciate the change of pace and scenery.
Davide Gianfelice takes over art duties from Marcio Takara this week and while I’ll always mourn the absence of Takara, Gianfelice does a very respectable job stepping into his shoes. He fills the book with dutch angles and exaggerated poses, and turns what could’ve been a pedestrian office meeting into one of the most visually stunning stretches of the book. You can read the extremely different emotional states of Savage, Ivy, and the envoy from the mayor’s office so well and I could feel the punch from Savage in my gut with all the motion lines and blur. Savage in general is drawn like a giant Mastiff of something. Finally, the ending fight between Ivy and Marie is awesome for how short it is. For a book that isn’t always known for its fights, Gianfelice gives us a few sick Ivy poses with the vines flying like Absolutely Batman’s ropes.
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Poison Ivy #40 is a terrific issue seeing both a change of pace and scenery for the character. By setting up a conflict with Vandal Savage and Gotham City at large, G. Willow Wilson has laid the groundwork for an interesting new direction for this book.
