Review:
The exotic and real-world Sheep-Eater plant in Chile takes a longtime to bloom, flowering only once every decade or so. It is both beautiful, with its tall yellow flowers, and deadly, with its reputation of capturing and killing sheep and birds.
Poison Ivy, the beautiful and deadly Batman villain-turned-antihero, likewise took a long time to bloom. First appearing in all her evil beauty in Batman #181 (1966), she became a regular in Harley Quinn's orbit and in titles like Gotham City Sirens. But her first solo series had to wait until 2016, in the six-issue limited series collected here.
As Doctor Pam Isley, she works at the Gotham Botanical Gardens, researching hybrid blending of human and plant DNA. As Poison Ivy, she applies the research to grow two plant-human hybrid children of her own. But someone at the Botanical Gardens has their own agenda for how to apply her research.
Amy Chu cultivates a slow-moving murder mystery, with each new plot bud slowly opening up. The fastest growing elements in the tale are her two children, her 'sporelings' Rose and Hazel, who age through years of human development in a matter of weeks. The story is a beautiful, quiet tale with bursts of violence.
Clay Mann does the majority of the pencils, handling four of the six chapters, with Seth Mann doing the same on inks. They give us verdant visuals bursting with life. Ivy is stunning, tall and sexy, uninhibited and comfortable in her own skin even as she struggles with her humanity and how to relate to others.
The softness and sexiness of the two Manns' art gives way to an edgier final chapter by a team of five artists. The art of this final confrontation is filled with thorny and spiky hard edges, befitting the clash of wills and powers portrayed.
Ivy is hardly alone in this lush tale. We get a couple Harley Quinn cameos and a more sustained role for Catwoman. And the final battle brings Swamp Thing into the arrangement.
It all adds up to a portrait of our hero as one who is intelligent, passionate about nature, but who also feels so lonely in her unique blend of human and plant. Her first solo adventure is well worth the wait and the read.
Description:
POISON IVY BLOSSOMS INTO HER FIRST SOLO ADVENTURE!
There’s animal. There’s vegetable. And there’s somewhere in between.
That’s where Dr. Pamela Isley, a.k.a. Poison Ivy, finds herself. Instead of battling the Dark Knight, she is now a researcher at the Gotham Botanical Gardens, studying the possibility of creating plant-human hybrids.
But when her fellow scientists start turning up dead, she’s both the natural leading suspect…and the only person (or plant) who can crack the case.
To solve the mystery, Poison Ivy must team up—or throw down—with her oldest friends and closest frenemies, from Harley Quinn to Catwoman to the Swamp Thing. Can she keep things under control, or will she be responsible for a deadly new harvest?
Find out in POISON IVY: CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH. Sprouting from the brains of the up-and-coming creative team of writer Amy Chu and artist Clay Mann, it’s a mean, green murder mystery starring one of Batman’s greatest rogues!
Collects: POISON IVY: CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #1-6
Authors: Amy Chu
Artists: Clay Mann, Seth Mann
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Sept. 13, 2016
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN: 978-1401264512
Pages: 144 pages
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