Top 10 Poison Ivy Stories!

 

Yep, it is now time to take a look at Batman's best female rogue (sorry, Catwoman and Harley Quinn): Pamela Isley a.k.a. Poison Ivy! Created in 1966, Poison Ivy has gone on to be a staple of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, appearing in numerous adaptations outside the comics and has even gotten her own comic series in recent years, with rumors of a live action TV show in the works. Yet despite her undeniable popularity, Poison Ivy is arguable the one prime Batman villain who the writers can never quite agree on how to portray. Sometimes she will be portrayed as a wicked fem fatale motivated solely by greed, other times she will be a misunderstood anti-hero with her own strict set of principles, a damaged woman who thrives on being able to control and dominate others as form of catharsis, or her most common and well-known depiction: a nature-loving psychotic who seeks to kill anybody that dares threaten plant life in any way. 

To be honest, despite it being arguably Pamela's most famous portrayal, I have never liked the whole "crazy plant lady" archetype, as I feel it makes her come off as one-note and boring. Valuing plant life over human life is somewhat unique, but I do not find it to be an interesting motivation. And since this tends to be her most common depiction, especially in media outside the comics, I used to not care much for the character or understand her appeal (aside from the obvious, of course). The fact that a lot of writers have reduced her to merely being Harley Quinn's girlfriend (which I'm not a fan of) in recent years certainly has not helped matters for me. 

However, once I began digging more deeply into the comics and reading more stories featuring her, I realized how wrong I was. Poison Ivy is far more than just some tree-hugging hippie or the sidekick of Harley Quin; she is actually a very deep, complex and intriguing villainess with a slew of great stories to her name. So I am going to count down her ten very best comics right now!

10.) The Poison Tomorrow

by Dennis O'Neil & Michael Netzer

After Dinah Drake a.k.a. the Black Canary is infected with a mysterious disease, her lover Oliver Queen a.k.a. the Green Arrow desperately begins searching for answers. His quest soon leads him to Gotham City and of course, to the Batman. The Caped Crusader and the Emerald Archer soon discover that this is only the beginning of a sinister plot led by Poison Ivy and a corrupt businessman she has teamed up with, which will lead to mass casualties. 

The Poison Tomorrow might actually contain Poison Ivy's single most sinister portrayal in any comic. Here, she is a wicked monster who enjoys using and manipulating people any way she can, all for the cause of destroying most of the world. Why would she do this exactly? It is not for plant life, but rather because Ivy feels that people like herself, people who have a natural immunity to toxins (a small number indeed), are the superior beings who deserve to inherit the earth. This makes for a very interesting take on the character, one that is rarely seen. Ivy is also at her seductive best in this story as she takes immense pleasure in manipulating every man around her (including Green Arrow!), knowing they cannot resist her.

The ending of this story is also incredibly dark and not one you will soon forget.

09.) Ends of the Earth Part 2

by Scott Snyder & Tula Lotay

After a deadly botanical virus is unleashed by Mr. Freeze, Batman must turn to the most skilled botanist he knows for help in creating a vaccine: Poison Ivy! Convincing Ivy to help people she has come to loathe will not be easy though.

Our previous entry showcased Poison Ivy's evil side, but Ends of the Earth highlights her conflicted side. Ivy has no love for most of humanity, but she does tend to have a softer spot for children, whether she admits it or not. Batman knows this due to their history and tries to use this to his advantage when negotiating with her, but Ivy sees through it quickly. This comic really demonstrates just how skilled and knowledgeable a botanist Pamela truly is, which is a key part of her character that a lot of writers tend to forget for some reason or another. 

The conclusion to this tale also proves that, as cold as Pamela can be, she is still more human than she wants to be. 

08.) A Walk in the Park

by Greg Rucka & Shawn Martinbrough 

During the events of No Man's Land, Poison Ivy moved into Gotham Central Park and claimed it as her now home, even taking over a dozen orphans under her wing when they had nowhere else to go. However, now that the city has been rebuilt, the mayor has decided to reclaim the park for the city and wants Ivy out. But Pamela is not willing to give up her home or family without a fight...

A Walk in the Park might just be the most sympathetic and human that Poison Ivy has ever been portrayed. You feel her plight here as she not only nurtured an abused park back to health, but has taken very good care of all the children with her, who all look up to her. Pamela is not hurting anybody here and is objectively doing a lot of good. So when the police threaten to destroy the entire park just to get her out, it is very easy to sympathize and maybe even side with her. 

Ivy's ultimate decision by the end is both sad and selfless, reminding everybody why she is such an interesting character. 

07.) A Kiss of Death Times Three

by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada & Jack Abel

(These covers have nothing to do with the actual story I'm discussing).

A recent string of assassinations of high-profile ambassadors soon catches the attention of none other than Wonder Woman, who soon discovers that the assassin is Poison Ivy herself. And with Steve Trevor-Howard next on Ivy's list, Wonder Woman must find and stop the tumultuous temptress before it is too late.

Alright, so now we are getting back to Poison Ivy's evil side. Ivy is truly a cold-blooded killer here, as she effortless dispatches these ambassadors with wicked precision. Her motive, however, is not mere money, but rather access to a rare African herb offered by her employer. With it, Ivy plans to use the herb's properties to increase her pheromone power and finally be able to control Batman. This is intriguing all on its own, but we are given further context for Ivy's obsessive need for control, as A Kiss of Death Times Three actually provides readers with Ivy's first ever origin story! It turns out that Pamela (who is actually named Lillian Rose in this story) fell deeply in love with her college professor, Marc LeGrand, who manipulated the poor young woman into stealing items for his personal research. Then once Pamela/Lillian served her purpose, LeGrand poisoned her to leave no witnesses and left her for dead. However, the results were not quite what he had expected. 

This is a great origin story for the character and I am not sure why it was altered so much in later years as this is my preferred version. It gives a lot of context to why Pamela/Lillian is so fixated on controlling men after being used and abused so badly by someone she gave her heart to. The fact that Poison Ivy also fights Wonder Woman instead of Batman in this arc is just the unique cherry on top of its quality. 

06.) Violent Reactions

by Chuck Dixon, Staz Johnson & James Hodgkins

A brand-new criminal dubbed "the Weed-Whacker" is going around Gotham City destroying numerous trees and plants because... he is actually just some random guy with really bad allergies. Naturally, with all of the other rampant crime in Gotham, the Weed-Wacker does not exactly rank the highest on Batman or the police's list of priorities. However, there is one person who takes immense offense to the Weed-Wacker's actions and moves him to the top of her priority list: Poison Ivy.

As I stated in the beginning of this article, I am normally not a fan of the "crazy plant-loving lady" depiction that we often get of Poison Ivy, as I typically find it to be one-note and boring. Thankfully, Violent Reactions actually makes great use of this trope, as it is hilarious that Ivy takes a complete joke like the Weed-Whacker deadly seriously, to the point where she seems him as the true psycho and monster. 

Despite this effective humor, Ivy is still incredibly lethal here as she kills two hostages while escaping Arkham Asylum and even gives Batman a pretty good fight! If writers are going to insist on portraying Pamela as a plant supremacist, I wish they would be as creative and entertaining as Chuck Dixon is here.

05.) Look...But You Better Not Touch

by Alan Grant & Brian Apthorp

A new villainess known as Poison Ivy has come to Gotham City and she has her eyes set on the Batman as her "perfect man". But first, she needs money. While holding up a charity dinner event with her henchmen, Ivy ends up poisoning Bruce Wayne with a toxin that will kill him in 24 hours. If Bruce is to have any hope of surviving, he must track down Ivy as his alter-ego before time runs out.

As you may have gathered, this is a retelling of Batman's first encounter with Poison Ivy and it far exceeds the original in my opinion. Pamela's characterization is perfect here, as she takes whatever she pleases as payback against a society that has used and abused her. The reason Ivy is so fixated on the Dark Knight is because she has had nothing but horrible experiences with the men in her life and desperately hopes that he will be the exception. This adds a lot of sympathy to Pamela's character as she is clearly scarred from her past and does not know how to make genuine connections with people (men in particular) as a result. 

Despite these sympathetic qualities, Ivy is still extremely deadly and cruel in this story, as she takes great pleasure in controlling others and mercilessly killing anyone who gets in her way. The way in which Batman manages to defeat her at the end and obtain the cure is also really clever and filled with irony. 

04.) Cast Shadows

by Ann Nocenti & John Van Fleet

A mysterious plant-based plague has hit Gotham City and infected numerous people. Batman naturally suspects Poison Ivy, but the villainess denies any culpability. Despite his suspicions, the Caped Crusader recognizes that Ivy is likely the only person who can create a vaccine with her expertise in botany and reluctantly teams up with her. However, things go south very quickly for the two.

Batman and Poison Ivy's dynamic/relationship has always been among the most complex and interesting in his rogues gallery but Cast Shadows has possibly the best representation of it. They are firm enemies who distrust each other, but underneath all of that tension, the two seem to have a respect and even longing for one another. This makes for an engaging love-hate dynamic between the two, as you are never quite certain how they are going to approach and respond to the other (especially Ivy). 

Beyond the well-written dynamic, the story also takes some unexpected twists and turns. Without giving too much away, Ivy is both responsible and not responsible for the outbreak. While she typically revels in her power, Cast Shadows cleverly portrays Pamela's powers as more of a curse than an advantage, as even she cannot always control them and can lead to unintended outcomes. 

03.) Pavane

by Neil Gaiman & Mark Buckingham

(Don't get too excited; Green Lantern and Poison Ivy don't appear together in this story).

A government agent known only as Stuart approaches Pamela Isley in prison and interviews her to see if she would be a good recruit for the Suicide Squad. However, the unsuspecting agent soon falls under Poison Ivy's seductive spell and becomes completely obsessed with her. 

Few stories have ever portrayed the effectiveness and frightfulness of Poison Ivy's seductive powers as well as Pavane has. Despite his position, Stuart is just an ordinary man and it doesn't take long for Ivy to sink her hooks into him. We see the gradual process of Stuart slowly losing his sanity as Pamela begins to overtake his every thought. Stuart knows something is wrong with him and that Ivy is dangerous, but he cannot stop thinking of and longing for her, no matter how hard he tries. Pavane plays out like a horror story as Stuart continues to lose control and Ivy begins to show her true colors.

Beyond the excellent psychological tension, this comic also gives us a good insight into Pamela's backstory and mindset. Again, she is somebody who thrives on dominating and controlling others, and Stuart is simply her latest victim.

02.) Poison Ivy

by John Francis Moore & Brian Apthorp

Pamela Isley has left Gotham City and moved to a remote island where she has, at long last, found peace and contentment. Unfortunately, this does not last long as a group of rebel soldiers decide to test a bomb they purchased from America on Pamela's island. She manages to survive, but her island does not as all of the plant life she spent so long nurturing is completely decimated. Enraged, Isley becomes Poison Ivy once more and sets out to exact revenge on not only the rebels, but anybody who had a hand in creating the bomb. Her quest naturally leads her back to Gotham and into conflict with the Batman.

This story manages to perfectly encapsulate Poison Ivy's cruel, violent side, as well as her sympathetic and human side. Ivy is very sympathetic here as she was minding her own business and not hurting anybody, only for her home to be obliterated by uncaring guerillas. As such, we are able to empathize with her desire for vengeance, but Ivy begins to take things too far when she targets people who had no say over how the weapon was utilized. 

Ivy's interactions with Batman are also a highlight yet again here, as neither wants to be enemies but are far too different people to be anything but. Pamela arguably is not even the true villain of the story, which only adds more layers to an already superb comic.

01.) Hothouse

by John Franchis Moore & P. Craig Russell

  

After a university professor mysteriously jumps to his death, Batman investigates only to find that a released and reformed Pamela Isley has begun working at the campus. The Dark Knight proceeds to question her and learns that a new drug called Eden Spring that Isley was forced to synthesize for blackmailers might be the culprit. As Batman looks into Eden Spring, he finds himself suddenly beginning to develop very strong romantic feelings for Isley...

Poison Ivy's entire schtick (aside from plants) is that she is able to control people through pheromone excretion, but Batman is the one person strong enough to resist her. However, Hothouse smartly turns this trope on its head as this time, an unsuspecting Caped Crusader falls deeply under Ivy's spell and starts to become obsessed with her. This is naturally all according to Ivy's plan as she believes herself to be in love with Batman when in reality, she just wants to control him. And that really is the root of Poison Ivy's character: control and dominance. More than perhaps any other story, Hothouse perfectly exhibits Pamela's desire for power over others and the twisted satisfaction she derives from it. She is incapable of telling the difference between love and control since she has never experienced the former, only the latter. 

Bruce Wayne has rarely been as psychologically vulnerable as he is here, with Ivy almost completely taking over his mind and occupying his every thought. While certain stories might explore her character a little more deeply, Hothouse is arguably the most effective and unnerving Poison Ivy has ever been as a Batman villain, earning it the top spot on this list.