Warning: SPOILERS forPoison Ivy#24
Summary
Gotham’s iconic villainPoison Ivyenters a period of rebirth — literally — with the reveal of her ultra-powerful version of a healing factor. Ivy’s brand-new power rockets her up the scale of DC’s most powerful characters, especially when factoring in the other powers, abilities, and changes of heart she’s accumulated over the first two years of her solo series.
Poison Ivy’s allies take a gamble onthe existence of a brand-new power for Pamela Isleyin a preview forPoison Ivy#24 by G. Willow Wilson and Haining. AsHarley Quinn clutches an apparently-dead Ivy, the familiar repeated phrases from Solomon Grundy prompt Ivy’s friends to think she could, very possibly, return to life: “Died on a Saturday. Buried on a Sunday… born on a Monday.”
Harley hands Ivy over to Grundy, and the preview ends with Grundy “planting” Ivy in Slaughter Swamp: his home and the place where he, like much plant life, cyclically dies and is reborn, again and again. Harley and Grundy seem to believe that Poison Ivy, under these conditions, will be able to return from the dead,giving Ivy one of the strongest (and strangest) healing factors in the DC Universe.
Variant Cover by David Nakayama
At the end of the previous issue,Poison Ivy goes down in a literal blazeof glory, sacrificing herself to burn up her enemy and abuser, the Floronic Man. Throughout this series — Ivy’s first solo ongoing series in the character’s long history —Pamela Isley’s powers have been growing exponentiallyand often out of her control. These powers include the ability to create a strange, zombie-like fungus that has reanimated a number of her casualties across the country. But despite this growth in her power, nothing so far has suggested that Poison Ivy has the ability to come back from the dead.
Rebirth through a literal planting in a magical swamp — especially with the help of her friends, who have played a large role in this latest arc — seems like the natural next step for Poison Ivy’s evolution.
Nothing has suggested that power, but it also wouldn’t be surprising in the least. Since the first issue,Poison Ivyhas been exploring new avenues for Ivy’s plant-themed powers, especially since she lost her true connection to the Green. Rebirth through a literal planting in a magical swamp — especially with the help of her friends, who have played a large role in this latest arc — seems like the natural next step for her evolution. IfPoison Ivy does return to lifeusing her own powers and connection to plant life, she will officially have one of the strongest healing factors in the DCU, especially if it turns out to be an innate and reusable power.
Variant Cover by Simone Di Meo
In fact, if Poison Ivy can manage to explore the full potential of such a unique healing factor,this new power could render Pamela Isley functionally immortal. Like a perennial plant, she will bloom time and time again. After two full years of the award-winningPoison Ivyseries, Wilson and her artistic collaborators continue to reinvent Ivy, achieving new heights for the character. With a power like this in her arsenal, there’s no telling whatPoison Ivywill do next — if she actually does manage to return from the dead.
POISON IVY #24 (2024)
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.
