Poison Ivy #46 – G. Willow Wilson, Writer; Leandro Fernandez, Artist; Arif Prianto, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: For the last few issues of the Mayor Ivy story, I wasn’t sure we were supposed to be rooting for our protagonist anymore, as all she seemed to do was kill enemies one by one as she sought to consolidate power. Well, after this issue I’m sure we’re not supposed to be rooting for her anymore, and that’s a good thing for the story. With the Bad Seeds story brewing in the background, Ivy has been corrupted by her office and has begun slowly turning Gotham into her own personal playground, and that’s never clearer than in this issue – which is funny, because Ivy doesn’t appear in this issue. It’s almost entirely a spotlight for her close confidantes Janet and Juhi, who are reluctantly working together to try to maker Ivy see the light by getting their hands on the only person who might be able to convince her own anything – Harley Quinn, who is obviously not on the best terms with Ivy at the moment.
But before they find Ivy, they’ll have to make their way through Throatcutter Hill, which has been transformed by Ivy and Savage’s rule. First they encounter a random teenager being brutalized by the cops, and protect him on his way home. Then they encounter both Catwoman (who tries to give them a bit of advice on dealing with Ivy) and the Shark, who is essentially working as Ivy’s eyes and ears on the street. Along the way, we learn some very interesting things about Juhi, who has always been a bit of an enigma since she joined the cast, and her presence adds a fascinating supernatural element to the story. We know one thing she was responsible for – but has she been pulling more strings behind the scenes? This issue did a great job of slowly pulling back the curtain to show us just how corrupted Ivy has become, just in time for her reign to become the entire DCU’s problem.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
