Poison Ivy #15 – G. Willow Wilson, Writer; Marcio Takara, Artist; Arif Prianto, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: G. Willow Wilson has done a great job of fusing the antihero action of this series with some great horror elements, and that’s never clearer than in this issue. Last issue, Pamela—newly returned to Gotham—was doing a favor for Killer Croc and stumbled upon the massive tower of one Peter Undine, a low-level corporate villain who was involved in Lex Luthor’s attempt to steal Gotham in the aftermath of No Man’s Land. But something twisted has happened to Undine—turning his tower into a twisted labyrinth and him into a shapeshifting monstrosity of a man with a massive flower for a head. He views himself as the twisted guardian of his tower, and assumes that Pamela is just another resident now, who will be stuck there until she dies. She thinks differently, and a pitched battle for survival begins in closed quarters—but while Pamela’s trying to get out, someone else is trying to get in.
Ivy is a great lead character, of course, but she’s not the scene-stealer in this issue. That’s Killer Croc, who sent Ivy into this mess and is now trying to get her out. Croc, when written well, is one of the best characters in the Bat-verse. He looks like a monster, but is one of the most blue-collar supervillains and is fiercely loyal to his friends in the criminal community. He’s also not particularly used to supervillain BS—from the moment he walks into Undine’s tower, he’s confused and aggravated by everything happening. As soon as the two antiheroes reunite, the next step is to find a way out—either out, or through. Wilson is doing a great job of establishing just how powerful Ivy is, and the risk this poses to her at times. It feels like this series is fleshing her out, but also giving readers a better perspective of just how complex a plant elemental’s powers and life would actually be.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
