''Poison Ivy'' is an ongoing

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

written by G. Willow Wilson, with art primarily by

Marcio Takara Marcio Takara is a comic book artist known for his work on books such as ''Incorruptible'', '' The Incredibles: Family Matters'' and ''Dynamo 5''. Career Takara has named Stuart Immonen and Jim Lee among his artistic influences. From 2010 to 2 ...

. The series centers on the DC Comics villain Poison Ivy who, following the events of the "

Fear State "Fear State" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in late 2021, featuring Batman and his family. Primarily written by James Tynion IV, the arc is his second and final major arc on '' Batman'' in ''DC Rebirth''. The main stor ...

" crossover, finds herself depowered and dying. Before she dies, Ivy sets out to complete one final mission to save the Earth by destroying the human race. Originally intended as a

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

, ''Poison Ivy'' was later expanded into an ongoing series by DC Comics. The first issue was published by DC Comics on June 7, 2022, with subsequent issues published monthly.

Publication history

Poison Ivy is a DC Comics character who was first introduced as a plant-themed

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

villain in 1966. Beginning in the 1990s, a significant aspect of the character has been her relationship with Harley Quinn. A

starring Poison Ivy was announced by DC Comics in March 2022 as part of the publisher's "

Pride Month LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically in June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and ha ...

" initiative. ''Poison Ivy'' was originally intended to be a six-issue miniseries written by G. Willow Wilson with art by

, coloring by Arif Prianto, and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. In August 2022, DC Comics announced that the miniseries would be extended by an additional six issues, with Atagun Ilhan joining Takara in illustrating the second arc. In February 2023, DC Comics announced that the miniseries would be further expanded into an ongoing series. The first issue was published by DC Comics on June 7, 2022, with subsequent issues published monthly.

Synopsis

The miniseries takes place after the events of the DC Comics "

" crossover storyline. Poison Ivy finds herself severely depowered and dying. Before she dies, she sets out to complete one final mission to save the Earth by spreading deadly fungal

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s that will end humanity once and for all.

Themes

Poison Ivy's villainy is often motivated by a desire to protect the natural environment from man-made destruction, and the climate change crisis is at the forefront of the story. Wilson was particularly interested in exploring the juxtaposition between Ivy's noble goal to save the Earth and the "questionable-to-evil" lengths she will go to achieve it. Wilson also described ''Poison Ivy'' as a "love story from the perspective of a villain." It features Ivy and Harley's relationship prominently, with most of the miniseries being told in the form of letters that Ivy writes to Harley. According to the writer, the miniseries depicts "plant-based body horror" which was new territory for her.

Critical reception

According to review aggregator Comic Book Roundup, the first issue scored an average of 8.9/10 based on 15 reviews, while the ongoing series as a whole averaged 8.7/10 based on 57 reviews as of November 2, 2022. Reviewing the first issue, Bleeding Cool's James Hepplewhite wrote that it was a promising start, while ComicBook.com's Nicole Drum thought it was "very close to perfect" but did not like how Ivy and Harley's relationship was portrayed. In their reviews of the second issue, both Drum and AIPT Comics' David Brooke praised the complex and humanized version of Ivy presented by Wilson. However, Brooke found that some of the supporting characters were written as idealized caricatures, which in turn made Ivy come off as somewhat heartless in her willingness to kill them.

Collected editions

References