Poison Ivy is a series that perfectly captures the complexities of its lead character. A villain on some days, and a hero on others, this series explores her desire to blame humanity and punish them while also connecting with them. She’s been leaning towards more heroic acts with a sharp edge as needed, but the complexity grows in this week’s issue.
Poison Ivy #11 opens with Ivy managing a few friends under the influence of what are, for all intents and purposes, magic mushrooms. However, as we learn later, these mushrooms have a different property partly because Ivy has abilities through the communication between mushrooms.
Through their experience Poison Ivy sees them more clearly, and vice versa. It’s an interesting way to connect humans to Poison Ivy, literally and figuratively.
Leaning into Poison Ivy’s sometimes “evil” or manipulative ways, she ends up using this group, putting them in danger. Once again, writer G. Willow Wilson puts Poison Ivy through the wringer to understand other people’s emotions and state of mind. Her growth in this issue, and the series, is tied to empathy. The only downside of this conflict is the enemy, who are caricatures of what you’d imagine super-American selfish oil-loving folks would look and act like. It might be over the top to be a kind of joke, but it doesn’t really work if so.
Looks like a good time.
Credit: DC Comics
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t go into monster mode; in fact, Wilson and artist Marcio Takara utilize her capability of violence to test her growth as a person. It’s an excellent moment for Ivy as she comes to grips with what she’s capable of and even ready to do, but empathy gets in the way. It’s rare to see a legacy character like this one get so much development so quickly.
Thanks to Takara’s art, this all builds to some rather gnarly gore in the final moments. It’s a good cliffhanger as we see Poison Ivy in grave danger, along with her friends. Her control may be in jeopardy, and Takara makes you worry for her. Ivy also looks fabulous, especially her hair, when she monsters out. Takara is particularly good at capturing the glint in the eye, adding to the character’s humanity and helping you connect with them.
Poison Ivy #11 is a great example of how far Poison Ivy has come as she’s evolved over the series. She’s capable of great violence, but her morals and empathy for humanity have changed quite a bit. Add a threat closer to Ivy’s world than she might like to admit, and we have a well-written issue that builds on what came before.
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