Gotham City has survived psychopathic clowns, cataclysmic earthquakes, and gang warfare, but will Gotham City survive Mayor Pamela Isley? After assuming office in Poison Ivy #42, the eco-terrorist-turned-elected official, Poison Ivy, sought to use her authority as mayor to advance her radical, green-friendly agenda in Gotham City. However, Ivy’s unconventional, and at times Machiavellian, approach to politics has not only cost her some supporters but also resulted in her gaining some enemies.
Ivy now finds herself in an unfortunate predicament of her own making, one where her grip on power is shaky at best and fleeting at worst. Every move Ivy makes is another nail in the proverbial coffin, all but guaranteeing that her time as Mayor will be cut short. However, if the upcoming crossover event, Batman: Bad Seeds, is any indication, Ivy will not be giving up her seat of power without a fight.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Poison Ivy #46!
While Ivy’s downfall seems inevitable, there are some in Ivy’s orbit who are desperately trying to save Gotham City from Ivy and ultimately Ivy from herself. Janet and Juhi conspire together behind Ivy’s back and hatch a plan to try to pull Ivy back from the edge before it is too late. Janet is convinced that there is only one person who can rein Ivy in and convince her to see the error of her ways, and that person is Harley Quinn.
There is one teeny, tiny flaw in Janet’s logic here, and that is that Harley and Ivy are no longer seeing each other after Ivy decided to end their relationship back in Poison Ivy #43. Harley might still be sour after the breakup and might not feel inclined to come to her ex-girlfriend’s rescue. Despite no guarantees that their plan will be successful, Janet and Juhi are left with no other options and must press on in their pursuit of Harley Quinn, in the hopes that she can talk some sense into Ivy before it is too late.
Janet and Juhi discuss Ivy and Harley, with Janet asserting her belief that the pair are “soulmates”, positing that Ivy knows it as well and that it scares her. If Janet’s assessment of Ivy is accurate, it could explain why Ivy pushed her away by breaking up with her. Perhaps Ivy was scared of losing Harley and wanted to preserve her feelings by ending the relationship before she could get hurt.
As Ivy becomes more and more isolated, she could be regretting her decision to push Harley away and may even want her back in her life again. Last issue, we saw Ivy struggling to write an apology letter to Harley in Poison Ivy #45, so not only has Harley been on Ivy’s mind since the breakup, but she may also want to patch things up and make amends with Harley. With Ivy feeling regretful and wistful in regards to Harley, then If Janet is able to convince Harley to talk to Ivy, then Ivy may be receptive to Harley’s words and might even heed her pleas for rationality.
Janet experiences police brutality at the hands of the GCPD. (Credit: DC Comics)
Along the way to finding Harley, Janet and Juhi come upon a group of GCPD officers who are chasing a teenager down the street for “loitering”. Janet intervenes in the chase and is rewarded for her efforts with a smack across the face by one of the officers. Juhi chastises the officer and reveals Janet’s identity as one of Mayor Isley’s cabinet members. The officer apologizes to Janet and agrees to let the teen off with a warning “for now”. This scene illustrates how dire the situation is in Gotham City right now, as even government officials are the victims of police brutality. The scene is also emblematic of Ivy’s failings as Mayor, as she has been largely ineffectual in rooting out the corruption that is plaguing Gotham, in particular the moral decay festering within the beating heart of the GCPD.
The issue has a few quotes that I feel are worth highlighting simply because they connect to the larger themes at work in this book, and I believe they effectively signal to the reader what G. Willow Wilson is most concerned with in writing Poison Ivy. When the teen asks if it is safe to go home, Juhi responds by saying, “I used to think a better world was possible. But the more I fought for a better world, the more I started to realize…that world is getting farther and farther away”. Juhi’s idealism and belief in a better world is clashing with the cruel reality of Gotham City, causing her to question everything she hopes and aspires to, and to wonder if making the world a better place is even possible at this point. Juhi’s despair and feelings of hopelessness may resonate with some readers who are feeling in the same way in their own circumstances and in the state of the world at the time that this comic is being published.
In the background of this scene, we see GCPD rounding up citizens while Juhi, Janet, and the teenager walk past Isley campaign posters that have been vandalized with an “X” over them. Later, Juhi comments on the Order of the Green Knight, who have been set loose on Gotham by Ivy, and are acting like Gotham is their own personal playground to do as they please. Juhi says, “This is what power does to people. Turns them into caricatures of what they thought they were fighting for”.
The issue has a few revelations and exciting cameo appearances. First, we learn that the teenager was the one who recorded the video of Ivy murdering the GCPD’s Crime Prevention Tech Czar, Marie Henley, at the end of Poison Ivy #40. According to Janet, Ivy’s administration was supposed to take care of the kid, but the teen says that her people stopped calling and checking in after Ivy was elected. Again, another example of Ivy’s inability to keep her promises to her constituents. Next, we see Catwoman, who, after a brief conversation, tells Janet and Juhi that they are the only ones who can stop Ivy.
After that, we see Warren White, aka Great White Shark, who suspects that Janet and Juhi are colluding against Ivy and doesn’t want them to do anything that will jeopardize his cushy position in Ivy’s cabinet. Warre is another example of someone whose proximity to power has corrupted him, and who would rather preserve an unjust status quo as long as he benefits from that inequality.
Next comes the big revelation, when Juhi reveals to Janet that she is the one who wrote the Shakespearean hollow crown monologue on the wall, first seen in Poison Ivy #43, that was taunting Ivy with her demise. Juhi claims she was motivated to go against Ivy because the “system” needed to be preserved. Janet calls her out, telling Juhi, “You think the system will protect you, but it won’t. It’ll grind you up like everybody else, because its only purpose is to protect the powerful people from consequences”.
Throughout Poison Ivy, we have seen Pamela Isley and her allies fight against unequal and unjust systems of oppression that prioritize the rich and powerful. Poison Ivy, as a character, is all about disrupting these systems and radically uprooting the status quo in favor of a green revolution. The central thesis of the book appears to be that the only way to create real, lasting change is to do away with the systems in place that impede progress. However, the book also shows the difficulties in achieving that aim.
The issue ends before we see Janet and Juhi finding Harley Quinn, leaving the reader to wonder if she will be able to help talk some sense into Ivy, and whether she will be successful in reversing Ivy’s unrelenting course hurtling towards her own destruction. The next issue, Poison Ivy #47, serves as a prelude to Batman: Bad Seeds and is sure to be a volatile issue, setting the stage for the crossover event.
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