Poison Ivy #1
- Writer
- G. Willow Wilson
- Artist
- Marcio Takara
- Letterer
- Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
- Cover Artist
- Jessica Fong
- Publisher
- DC
- Price
- $3.99
- Release Date
- 2022-06-07
- Colorist
- Arif Prianto
This year, DC is celebrating Pride Month by sharing new stories revolving around their LGBTQIA+ characters from across the multiverse. Author G. Willow Wilson and artist Marcio Takara bring Pamela Isley into the spotlight in Poison Ivy #1. Ivy returns in a new body, with a new sense of purpose, traveling across the country in an attempt to take back the balance of nature in any way she sees fit. As far as she's concerned, humanity must pay for the crimes they've committed against nature around the globe in a truly gruesome way.
Poison Ivy's quest to bring balance to the green is a staple for her character. Yet Poison Ivy #1 really takes the reader through the pain that Pamela endures to achieve her goals. This story shows how selfless and headstrong the titular character is and underscores just how dangerous she can be. The story opens with Pamela reflecting on her life purpose -- not revenge, but love, whether that is her love for nature or her love of Harley Quinn. Ivy doesn't enjoy killing anything, but she will do what she must to protect nature. Poison Ivy #1 shows just how far Ivy is willing to go to see her plans come to fruition.
G. Willow Wilson does a tremendous job of depicting the dreadfulness of Ivy's new purpose in this first issue. Ivy mentions that she has this grand plan to restore the green back to what it was before human interaction, and once the world will start noticing what she has done, it will be too late. She is the narrator throughout this first issue. Wilson makes it known that Ivy knows that her days are numbered and lets Ivy reflects on her past in a way that prepares her for what she is about to do. There is no doubt that Wilson is setting Ivy up as an incredibly powerful and tenacious character.
This book has a vast amount of horror in it but is done in such a glamorous way. Marcio Takara depicts the destruction that Ivy inflicts upon living creatures in a way that captures how truly terrifying it would be to encounter Poison Ivy face to face. Takara masterfully draws the carnage the character leaves in her wake with a keen eye for both body horror and botanical illustration. The vibrant colors of flora mix with the disfigured faces of the dead. This book features shots of Ivy's face that illustrate how emotionless she is towards humanity. When Ivy is speaking about what she loves, the colors are warm and bright. All the attention is on the flora or Harley as they illuminate the panels. And when she is talking about what damage humans have caused, the colors are bleak and dreary.
Poison Ivy #1 brings Ivy front and center in the war against climate change. She will stop at nothing to reverse the degradation that humankind has done to the natural world. G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara prove that Ivy is a character of immense power, and when that power is put to use, it can be both beautiful and disturbing. This first issue leans into that dissonance to create a fascinating, tense comic that readers won't soon forget.
