Cover of the first issue.
Poison Ivy (2022) is a monthly miniseries starring the Batman character Poison Ivy. Debuting on June 7th, 2022, it is written by G. Willow Wilson, illustrated by Marcio Takara, and colored by Arif Prianto. The miniseries was first announced in March 2022 and was originally intended to last six issue before being extended to another six issues and then ultimately becoming an ongoing monthly book.
After the events of Fear State, Poison Ivy's control over her plant powers are drastically reduced. Worse, she finds that she has very little time left among the living. She swears to save the Earth from the total destruction of nature before she dies.
This comic book contains examples of:
- Artistic License – Biology: Ivy's new plan involves the use of spores to sprout fungi in people. The issue is her powers come from the Green (plant life), whereas fungi are an element of the Grey, a completely different force. Despite this change and her not hearing the Green anymore, no mention is made of this shift, as if treating mushrooms as always in her power set.
- Body Horror: Ivy's lamia spores cause anyone they infect to sprout fungi from their bodies, killing them instantly. As they die, their bodies become compost and the art really sells how unsettling the transformation is to see. The spores also have an effect on Ivy, causing protrusions that resemble dead leaves to grow on her skin and she has to shave them off frequently.
- Brought Down to Badass: Ivy lacks the godlike plant powers she had as Queen Ivy in Fear State. She still retains her impressive botanical knowledge and can kill people with lamia spores. Issue #9 suggests she still has her greater powers but is subconsciously suppressing them somehow.
- Epistolary Novel: Most but not all of the issues are (illustrated) letters that Ivy sends to Harley, her Love Interest, about her evil antics, feelings for her, and angst over knowing she'll die. It adds an extremely personal touch to the comics and it's very much Played for Drama.
- Festering Fungus: Poison Ivy's Evil Plan consists of spreading the spores of a deadly fungus able to grow on human beings, producing much Body Horror and eventual death for the victims.
- Girlboss Feminist: Beatrice Crawley is the CEO of FutureGas and presents herself to the public as a proud feminist. However, one of her employees accuses of her not being very kind to her female employees when they ask for maternity leave.
- Greenwashed Villainy: The villain of issues #7 and #8 is Beatrice Crawley, the CEO of FutureGas who has been celebrated for her company's ecofriendly policies. However, FutureGas company is revealed to be infecting people and plants with chemicals that turn them into monsters. Crawley is also a former assistant professor to Dr. Jason Woodrue, Ivy's former mentor, and is deliberately pushing her company's technology to continue his twisted vision.
- Heel Realization: The people Ivy meets throughout her journeys clearly have an effect on her and her resolve to carry out her plans of genocide. Her confrontation with Jason Woodrue in issue #6 has Ivy finally realizing that her rage at the planet's looming doom is misplaced and she has only been punishing those who are convenient rather than those who are responsible.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Gwendolyne Caltrope is a deconstruction. She genuinely wants to improve people's mental and physical health while being cautious of the environment. However, the bigger her company got, the less control she had over it due to having to delegate, and some of her employees were more concerned with meeting her demands than being ethical or careful. This resulted in them unknowingly using lamia spores in the manufacturing of Gwendolyne's smoothies.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Beatrice Crowley used her chemicals to turn people and plants into monsters. Ivy turns her into a giant monstrous-looking tree, unable to move or talk.
- Mythology Gag: Recalling the first costume she adapted when Pamela first became "Poison Ivy", the design is the exact one from Batman: The Animated Series.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In issue #11, Ivy gains the ability to travel through the mycelial network just as she and the lamia spores infected are about to be run over by oil workers.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Issues #10 and #11 feature Gwendolyne Caltrope, the female owner of a company called Glop who claims to be dedicated to improving health and the environment. Her name and company establish her as a not-so-thinly veiled pastiche of Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Power Loss Depression: Ivy loses most of her Green powers due to merging with Queen Ivy back in Fear State. The flashbacks in issues #1 and #2 show that she is deeply saddened by this, though the news that she is dying may also be a factor.
- Shadow Archetype: Jason Woodrue is presented as one to Ivy herself. Not only is he the one who made her what she is (and thus stands for her traumatic memories), but he also preached a pessimistic, almost nihilistic view that humanity can't be saved (and thus stands for Ivy's misanthropy). It's when Ivy actually defeats Jason that she abandons her quest to destroy humanity.
- Shout-Out: Flashbacks in issue #21 reveal that during Ivy's first time imprisonment in Arkham, an inmate in the cell next door named Violet gave Ivy words of encouragement that inspired her to endure ever since, though Ivy's never seen her again after that. This nods to Valerie, the unseen next door cellmate of the protagonist(s) in V for Vendetta.
- Terminally-Ill Criminal: Merging with Queen Ivy has left Eco-Terrorist Poison Ivy both severely depowered and terminally ill. Her letters to Harley reveal that she has about one year left. She then sets out to eradicate humanity with Festering Fungi before she dies to save Earth from pollution.
- Victoria's Secret Compartment: Somehow and for some reason, Harley carries her phone in her cleavage.
- Villain Protagonist: Ivy may have a noble goal of saving the Earth, but her methods involve infecting people with deadly spores that kill them and turn them into compost. She stops being a villain after killing Woodrue in issue #6 and realizing the error of her ways.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In issue #11, Ivy is able to take control of Janet and other women at a wellness retreat thanks to an evolved form of the lamia spores. Under Ivy's command, they try to blockade an oil refinery and nearly get run over by the workers in the process, only avoiding death because unlocks a new power. Janet chews out Ivy for putting herself and others in danger for her agenda.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Ivy learns that she is dying from being fused with her Queen Ivy doppelganger and tries to do as much as she can to save the Earth from destruction before her death.
