Summary
Warning: Contains spoilers forPoison Ivy #23!!
Poison Ivywas an early addition toBatman’srogue gallery, and the two have spent decades dancing around one another. At a glance, it’s just another hero and villain rivalry, but the truth is more complex. Beneath tactics and lines drawn between “good” and “bad”, the two want the same thing: to save Gotham City. They’re more alike than different, and Pam’s thoughts in her last moments prove it.
InPoison Ivy#23 – written by G. Willow Wilson, with art by Haining – Pamela finally defeats the Floronic Man, but the victory comes at an extremely high price. IfIvy truly does succumb to her injuries, it will be the end for the environmental warrior, but she seems to learn several lessons in her final moments.
Those realizations represent many parallels sheshares with Batman, and the mistakes they’ve both made in their quests to save the city.Both Pam and Bruce operate as loners, defined by wrongs done to them, but they could both be something more.
Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy’s Codenames Get a Romantic New Origin Their Fans Can’t Miss
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy’s codenames receive a heartwarming new backstory, sure to evoke audible “awws” from fans with its sheer adorableness.
Poison Ivy’s Death Scene Drives Home Her Similarities With Batman
Poison Ivy#23 – By G. Willow Wilson, Haining, Arif Prianto, & Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Even with the Bat Family behind Batman, and Harley and the Hunting Shack Crew supporting Ivy, both struggle to escape their pasts.
Batman’s presence inPoison Ivyhas been cameos and memories, but as withany Gotham-set DC story, he still looms large. As the series has consistently emphasized, Batman and Ivy approach the same problem from different angles. Despite that, they’re guided by many similar ideas, especially about themselves. Both look at themselves as people who work alone, who are ready to do what’s necessary to save the world, yet they’ve managed tosurround themselves with people who fight for them. To Ivy, it took “a disaster” to realize how many people cared, and it’s a lesson Bruce has yet to fully embrace.
Even withthe Bat Family behind Batman, and Harley and the Hunting Shack Crew supporting Ivy, both struggle to escape their pasts. It’s ultimately what Pam gives her life to do. Her desperation to be rid of Jason Woodrue seeminglyleads to her death, just as Batman’s fixation on the death of his parents spurs him to pull on the cowl every night. In her last moments, Harley begs Pamela to realizeshe’s, “bigger than the things that made [her].“The words could easily apply to the Dark Knight, too, as he still defines his life by his tragic past.
Poison Ivy and Batman may be enemies, but the wisdom gained with her death could help them both.
They Both Need To Grow
Poison Ivy
Inducted into Batman’s rogues gallery in the 1960s, Poison Ivy is a metahuman who terrorizes Gotham with her poisonous touch and control over plant life. A misanthropic eco-terrorist, Poison Ivy is also depicted as an anti-hero, using her powers in attempts to regrow the environment in the wake of pollution and deforestation. Together with her lover Harley Quinn, the two are always ready to wreak havoc in Gotham.
Ivy and Batman both have noble goals, regardless of labels, but their baggage holds them back: their intense focusprevents them from cultivating important relationships and neither can move away from the wrongs they’ve endured.If she somehow survives the horrific encounter with the Lamia zombies and Jason Woodrue, Pam could become a more self-aware, stronger person than she already is.Bruce will likely never heedwhat she’s learned and follow suit, but they would both be more powerful with the knowledge.Poison IvyandBatmanmay be enemies, but the wisdom gained with her death could help them both.
POISON IVY #23 (2022)
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
