Poison Ivy #36 – G. Willow Wilson, Writer; Atugan Ilhan, Artist; Arif Prianto, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Last issue saw Ivy banish her former lover turned rival Bella Garten to the outlands, turning her from a shepherd of plant life into a walking plague. It was a twisted punishment for a character who was essentially her darker mirror – and might herald the return of a more vicious Ivy now that she’s in charge of the Green Knights. This is a power Ivy never actually wanted, only taking over the terror group to bring it under control. But she has a long history of going mad with power, and it’s no surprise that many of her allies are worried. This includes Peter Undine, who understands the mind of someone drunk with power all too well, and Janet from HR, who might be on her last legs physically and is starting to realize that she may be enabling a monster. This has led her to cut a deal witb the sinister Bog Venus – but the ancient Green entity isn’t looking all that friendly.
Ivy soon seems to be rather overwhelmed with her new power, and after taking to her bed for a while, sets out to reform the ruthless terror group and bring it more in line with her views. That’s a tall order, and tension soon starts to ramp up between the various factions. Wendy, whose life was saved by Ivy early in the run, soon starts to suspect something is up with Janet – but her attempts to tell Ivy are rebuffed, as Ivy still seems to be extremely enmeshed with Janet. I’m not sure about this relationship as a whole, as I’ve said, but it seems to be heading to a tragic conclusion in this book, as Janet’s condition continues to deteriorate and her betrayal of Ivy is yet to be uncovered. This story has been essentially building for the entire run, and it’s completely transformed Ivy as a character. No matter what the endgame looks like, this is pretty clearly the definitive Ivy story.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
