Poison Ivy #1 – G. Willow Wilson, Writer; Marcio Takara, Artist; Arif Prianto, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Fans have been clamoring for a Poison Ivy solo series for a long time as the character slowly slouched her way towards heroic—or at least antihero—status alongside her girlfriend Harley Quinn. So when it was announced that G. Willow Wilson would be giving the character a solo mini, people were thrilled—but they might not get what they expect out of it. This isn’t a mini that takes Ivy further down that path of heroism. It’s not even a story that maintains the status quo. It’s a horror book that features the darkest take on Ivy we’ve seen in a very long time, one that comes on the heels of her being brought back to life and having the two sides of her personality fused by Harley and the Gardener. This was a decision that saved her life, saved Gotham—and Ivy viewed it as a total betrayal that destroyed her, because she’s no longer fully connected to the Green. And she can’t stand that, because humanity is the enemy.
To say Ivy is unfriendly to humanity would be putting it lightly. However, she’s never taken it nearly as far as she does here. She doesn’t just go after polluters—she’s going after humanity’s footprint entirely. Not just targeting innocent farmers but the ecosystem-unbalancing cattle they raise, she uses tiny fungi spores to infect them and return them to the earth in some truly disturbing body horror. She doesn’t seem to be discriminating between the corrupt and the bystanders anymore, as a horrifying secret in her van reveals. This is all seriously villainous, arguably irredeemable stuff—but it’s not as straight-forward as that. As the issue goes on, the depth of Ivy’s despair becomes clear, as does how far she’s willing to go. Fans will not be happy to see where Wilson leaves Harley and Ivy in all of this, but that’s really the only way we could get this fascinating, flawed, and incredibly dark story to where it’s going.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
