The Poison Ivy ongoing continues to impress in Poison Ivy #7, as Dr. Pamela Isley’s quest to save The Green becomes even more life-threatening and presciently themed. Poison Ivy #7 is the first issue of Ivy’s second arc – after DC Comics announced that G. Willow Wilson’s acclaimed series would be immediately getting another six issues to expand on Pamela’s journey – and it features a a new artist on interiors, Atagun Ilhan. Ilhan, who is illustrating issues #7 and #8, brings a haunting, evocative vision to Ivy’s newest adventure, with impressive shadow work and explosive action scenes.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Poison Ivy #7!
Poison Ivy #7 serves as Poison Ivy’s first stepping-stone into her rediscovered life purpose, after the brutal killing of her deranged, abusive former professor Jason Woodrue, the madman known to DC’s heroes as Floronic Man. The first arc of Poison Ivy ended with Pamela realizing that humanity is part of The Green – after several important engagements with caring and conscientious humans – and that her true mission should not be to slaughter the human race, but instead to target those bastards on top who are actively harming the Earth with endless capitalism, environmental destruction, and a careless disregard for life.
Poison Ivy #7 formally introduces the readers to Poison Ivy’s newest enemy – a surprise person from Dr. Isley’s past, environmental “innovator” Beatrice Crawley. Cawley is the founder of “FutureGas,” a company that is purportedly able to frack the Earth for oil without harming nature (to be clear, fracking is a destructive, horrible practice that is destroying our real-world environment). Poison Ivy #7 masterfully re-centers Ivy’s most dangerous enemies away from supernatural, ultimately mindless threats, onto the true villains of the real world: “evil that convinces you it is working for the greater good.”
Wilson is able to provide the reader with real, tangible lessons and messages about the depressing reality of our waking world in a way that does not feel like pandering or heavy handed. After saving a group of local farmers from one of the plant monster’s that attacked Ivy in Poison Ivy #4, the farmers ask Pamela to not report the incident, citing Ms. Crawley’s promises that these “issues” are temporary, and that they finally have insurance and steady employment. This is a strong but compassionate indictment of America’s broken systems – health insurance, employment, farming practices, environmental safety, labor laws, the list could go on – and the reader leaves the issue feeling immense sympathy for locals who are willing to turn a blind eye to protect their families.
Ilhan’s art and Arif Prianto’s coloring provide the perfect level of sinister mystery to both Ivy’s sneaking around and Crawley’s “girl boss” brand of evil machinations, and while this issue did not show off enough of Ivy’s impressive powers – especially compared to the finale issue #6 which provided bombastic, explosive use of plant-based abilities – the action between Ivy and the plant monsters and Ivy and Crawley was intense and beautifully framed.
Eventually, after sneaking into Crawley’s office and discovering mysterious fungi samples, it is revealed to Ivy that Crawley was in fact another student of Woodrue’s when Pamela was studying under him, and she knows exactly how to take Poison Ivy down. It is important that Wilson was able to show that the trauma of Woodrue’s experimentations and influence on Ivy has not gone away just because of his death, and that the vengeful spirit of the deranged Floronic Man is still a part of Ivy’s fight against corruption and the death of The Green, even if her mission has shifted. The issue ends on a brutal cliffhanger, with Crawley using some type of spray to disrupt Poison Ivy’s powers, allowing the poisonous lamia fungus to takeover her body and seemingly incapacitate her, with Ivy praying for a miracle to come: hopefully in the form of one Harley Quinn.
While the narrative tool that allowed Ivy to write her thoughts out in a letter to her true love Harley Quinn is missed in this issue (seeing as the letter she wrote summarizing the first arc was sent to Harley in issue #6, prompting Quinn to begin a journey to protect her lover), Wilson continues to provide engaging, insightful views into Ivy’s mind, with Arif Prianto continuing to impress with his masterful lettering.
Poison Ivy #7 is all the evidence needed to prove that Wilson’s acclaimed series deserved its second arc – and probably a third, and fourth – with a beautiful, important message wrapped up in gorgeous art, exciting action, and a truly haunting cliffhanger ending.
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