They're a pair as classic to comic fans as peanut butter and jelly. Harley Quinn, the former clown-princess of crime turned "chaotic neutral" force for sometimes-good, and her bestie Ivy, former botanist turned literal plant lady. They've been close friends, confidants, and occasionally something more across decades of history and multiple media formats. But they've just had one of the biggest changes ever in their relationship: death! In Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #1, writer Jody Houser explores the new, still-changing dynamic between the Sisters of Evil! OK, team name is in the works. Continue reading for the scoop and my ensuing thoughts on this new series! Real quick--can we talk about those sister Artgerm variants? Yes, please! I'm never the person who buys two copies of the same comic, but here I am. I'm a big fan of Stanleu "Artgerm" Lau's work on comic variants, and collect as many as I can. There are very few artists who I seek out to find variant work of, even if I don't read the series, and Artgerm is one. I'm so pleased with this duo of covers!
Let's start by going over how we got here. The recent event by Tom King, Heroes in Crisis, was unlike anything we'd ever seen in comics. It addressed the mental health issues that come with being "super" that the reader likely never thought of before. Here we have all these characters who spend their days trying to save people, stop people, or solve world-ending scenarios, and that isn't even mentioning the battles, wounds, and constant threat on their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Which in turn means dealing with constant failures, losses, and even deaths. The mental strain on supers who live these kinds of lives can break a person, and so Sanctuary was founded. Sanctuary was created in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska with Kryptonian technology. It was run by robots who were said to have the will of Batman, the compassion of Wonder Woman, and the honor of Superman. In these ways, the robots could best assist their patients and keep as much risk as possible at bay. Heroes and anti-heroes alike used Sanctuary to heal their traumas, hidden from one another with robes and masks. Harley Quinn was never supposed to know about Sanctuary. As a former Psychologist and current mental patient herself, Harleen Quinzel was seen as too much of a risk to find out about this place for people to "fix themselves". There is a certain level of instability she shows when it comes to her former occupation, that the founders of Sanctuary decided it would be best she not attend or be made aware of the activities others participate in there. They wouldn't want any harm to come to those trying to heal. Ivy was a patient at Sanctuary. She'd been through as much as any of them, and kept their secret from her friend. With Harley being Harley, however, it didn't take long for her to follow Ivy and discover the secret therapy sessions. Heroes in Crisis is a fantastic event that addresses the mental strain our most familiar DC characters go through on a regular basis due to their occupation and occupational hazards. IF you haven't read it, I can't recommend it enough, and I'm about to spoil it for you so go read it! For anyone still reading, let's continue our summary. While dropping in on Sanctuary uninvited, Harley winds up getting framed for the shocking murders of everyone at the facility at that time--including her best friend and companion, Poison Ivy. It also includes Wally West, the Flash who had been disappeared from reality for years (during DC's New 52 reboot), only to be dropped back into a world where no one remembers him. All Wally's memories were intact, but none of his friends or loves ones had any idea who he was. It's no wonder Wally was at sanctuary. Harley is forced into going on the run while she's hunted by various DC heroes who believe her to be the murderer. She ends up getting help from Batgirl, who refuses to believe she was capable of killing all those people, including her best friend. In an ending that twists time, Wally himself turns out to be the killer. In a final act before planning on sacrificing himself, Wally returns to the scene of the murders and uses his Speed Force lightning to spark life into a single rose. Out of the rose grows Poison Ivy, now truly one with the green. As long as there is plant matter on Earth, Ivy can't really be killed. That is so fudging sweet! This was a fairly quiet reveal that didn't have any pomp and circumstance, but it elevates her character beyond just the sultry botanical villainess into territory she's never been. She's now a being more along the lines of Swamp Thing, a character who amasses great respect while holding neutral to pretty much anything but the survival of The Green (for anyone unfamiliar, The Green is a term used to describe nature on earth; it is interconnected through the planet; Swamp Thing is deeply connected/a part of it, and now so is Ivy). Ivy has always made it clear the survival of nature is her ultimate goal, even when she stalked Gotham as a strict villain. This change legitimizes her claim as protector of natural things, as well as confirms her new non-human status. Now we're all caught up to where we start off in Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #1. Harley has just gotten Ivy back, and they're learning about her new powers as they go. It isn't just her new plantlike form that will take some getting used to, their entire dynamic as a duo has been shifted. Ivy died, and Wally did such a good job of framing Harley that even she thought she's killed them. It's a rough patch if I've ever heard of one, and it'll be interesting seeing their new dynamic smoothed out in time. Ivy is having some issues with her physical form. Now that she doesn't have a human body, she's made up of plant material in humanoid form. At the beginning of the issue, we see her as she was when Wally first resurrected her: green musculature surface forms but no skin. A scene in a dressing room shows even that simplified shape is difficult for her to maintain. Growing herself back from a flower is not only physically exhausting, its completely out of anyone's ballpark, so I have no doubt Houser will be further addressing the mental issues that led Ivy to Sanctuary in the first place. In the meantime, the problem of Ivy's body is solved by none other than Lex Luthor! Lex has been going through some very drastic changes in DC comics recently, so do a quick search on Year of the Villain if you're curious what his deal it. Back in our book, he's sent a funny little drone over to Harley's place on behalf of Ivy. Harley doesn't trust Lex, with good reason, but hands it over after seeing how much her friend is struggling. Whatever the fertilizer in his gift contained, it does the trick and Ivy is able to fully grow herself a complete body and clothing! I for one am very excited about the potential of Ivy being able to change her appearance at will. I'm visualizing montages of outfit changes and hairstyle tests! OK maybe not, but it's a fun idea! While Ivy works on herself, Harley does some introspection as well. She'd been a hard core villain for years when she and Joker were together, but she kicked his sorry butt to the curb ages ago and has been trying to earn her name as a solo-act villain ever since. Thing is, she just got framed for murder by one of the ones who was supposed to be a hero, and that'll open anyones eyes. Harley informs Ivy she's decided the tweo of them are going to try their hands as heroes for once! I have a feeling her black-and-white understanding of good and evil will be challenged very soon, possibly by a "real" hero questioning her motives. At the end, we get a neat intrusion from a Swamp Thing character, the Floronic Man! Full disclosure, this is my first encounter with good ol' Floronic Man. But, after some research, this is what I've come up with: Jason Woodrue was a sometimes exile from another dimension, sometimes professor with great knowledge of botany, depending on the origin you subscribe to. As Floronic Man, it was him who discovered Swamp Thing was not the man Alec Holland, but high-intelligence plant matter that fed off Holland's corpse and absorbed his memories and intelligence. Later, he tried to feed off Swamp Thing's connection to The Green, which drove him insane, and ever since he's been out to kill anything non-plant. There's some other history as well, but that's the gist of it. He has encountered Poison Ivy before, in 1996's Shadow of the Bat series, in which he and Ivy team up to break out of Arkham, he pays her drug money for DNA to make a plant-baby, she decides she doesn't want that, and turns him over to the Bat. It's unclear as of issue one what history Houser will be keeping between them, but I'm sure they will maintain some kind of past. He's come to get some help from Ivy, whatever that may mean, as he claims to be able to command the will of The Green at last again, and is close to obtaining the "Parlmiment of Flowers". It all sounds VERY relevant to Ivy in her new state, and the two agree they've felt a shift of power in The Green. What is Floronic Man up to? What other discoveries will Ivy make of her new abilities? Will Harley be able to stick to her Hero plan? And most importantly, are we about to get a Swamp Thing cameo?? Whatever the answers may be, you'll find them in Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #2, out October 9th! (Shit, a whole month? Time to catch up on the rest of my reading list, I suppose...)
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