Nobody interrupts Poison Ivy.
Creative Staff:
Story: Amy Chu
Art: Clayton Thomas Mann, Seth Mann
Colors: Ulises Arreola
What They Say:
Life. Death. Poison Ivy has power over both. But can she keep her friends and hold down a regular job at the same time? As Dr. Pamela Isley, she joins the prestigious plant sciences department at Gotham Botanical Gardens, but things quickly get complicated when a fellow scientist is murdered and it looks like the work of Ivy. Don’t miss the start of this new 6-issue miniseries!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Poison Ivy is a character that I’ve liked for quite a few years, long before she got the second life she’s gotten in the past decade with her alignment with Harley and the kind of fun stories she’s been able to get into. The lighter side of that configuration definitely went a long way in making her more accessible and fun, but I always liked the darker and more otherworldly side to her more. She’s always had the whole being of two worlds thing going on, one that’s been taken further in the last couple of years by truly being half and half in a sense with plants, resulting in her being a little more distant but also a bit more focused on what she really wants, and that’s to be with her plants.
Coming into this having not seen her in books for the last couple of years with my own reading, Pamela’s managed to get herself a good position within the science community, working in a lab funded by the Wayne Foundation, doing all kinds of research on hybrids and more. The prologue works nicely to show her off in Angola where she’s bringing back a rare plant that’s thousands of years ago while dealing with some local thugs who are intent on keeping people off their claimed property. It works well to show us the lengths Pamela will go to do right by the world of plants and how little she cares for people. There are those she respects, such as her mentor at the lab, Luisa, while also having a distaste for some of the men there, be it the old man Grimley that doesn’t like women in the sciences or the younger Winston that’s just a boorish person in general that works there.
While she’s enjoying the life she’s put together, into said life a little Harley must fall. Harley’s feeling a bit on the outs with Pamela since her focus has been on work and that helps to set the dynamic between them a bit – though hopefully less Harley for the remainder as I want more Pamela. This gives us a look at their relationship a bit in a good way while also allowing for a bit more action for those who need it. The bulk of the book really is about just showing us the life that Pamela has built down in the Canal section of Gotham, the fact that she has to deal with Gotham Academy students arriving on field trips, and the home life in addition to her research – which naturally gets a little out of control along the way so as to introduce tension, plot, and murder! It’s all solidly put together and works quite well.
In Summary:
Unrelated to the book but I’ll say it here again; I’m more likely to try a new $2.99 book than a $3.99 or $4.99 book, no matter the cast and creative behind it. Poison Ivy has the benefit of also having a good character and a great creative team behind it, so it was a no-brainer giving this first issue a spin. Amy Chu’s script is solid and through the internal dialogue and the interactions with others we get a great sense of Pamela at this state and how she’s living her life. The Mann’s put together a fantastic looking book that gives us a strong and intriguing Pamela but also fleshes it out with a solid supporting cast and a look romp of color with Harley. The more time spent in the lab and home the better as they really put together some great looking pages with the designs and layouts, all made better by Arreola’s coloring work. It’s a very fun book overall, but it’s also the setup book. Which, thankfully, actually does the hard work of laying things out, introducing us to characters, and establishing things. So many books just drop you in the middle and are inaccessible turnoffs. I’m in for this ride.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 20th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
