Poison Ivy vol 1-7 by G. Willow Wilson, and various artists.

Poison Ivy finds herself severely depowered and dying. Before she dies, she sets out to complete one final mission to save the Earth by spreading deadly fungal spores that will end humanity once and for all.

I think many agree that Poison Ivy was right has been a growing refrain when petty billionaires and corporations are ruining our planet. It’s no wonder she gained a cult, but that’s getting ahead of things. Wilson does an excellent job of synthesizing the many incarnations of Pamela Isley (femme fatale, earth mama hippie, eco-terrorist, cynic, environmentalist, psychopath) into a multi-layered protagonist struggling to fulfill her desire for a green utopia even if she has to kill humanity and herself for it.

I think that’s one of the things that Wilson made me admire of Ivy. Her belief in her cause. She’s not a hypocrite, she knows she’s part of the problem by the fact that she’s a human. She knows she’s killing innocents who are not actively polluting the planet. They’re just collaterol damage and that’s fine in her eyes. But it’s not as easy as that.

Wilson dives into Ivy’s flaws like her desire for power, her attempts to mask her anger behind a worthy cause when it’s just vengeance, her willingness to run away, focusing on the small slights, not the big picture, her pride, her rage. It’s all there in its ugly rawness. Much like nature is not a purifying green, but a ecosystem of life and death, Ivy is not one or the other despite the attempts by well-meaning activists, caped crusaders, police and other people trying to box her in.

Poison Ivy speaks to our rage against the system, our desire to fight against those who violate our autonomy. For some she’s a power fantasy, but Willow does a great job in reminding readers she’s also a human.

So yeah, Ivy is depicted well here, the rest of the cast is okay. I’m kinda tired of bouncy Harley Quinn so it always feels like pulling the breaks on the narrative when she drops in as Poison Ivy gets distracted by her girlfriend. I get the importance as the potentially the only one Ivy cares about (even though she doubts whether she’s capable). But the new villain/allies like Undine, and old ones like Bella the Gardener, and Jason Woodrue aka Floranic Man are depicted as awesome foils to Ivy and her cause.

One downer would be the OC, Janet-from-HR (yes, the From-HR is practically attached her name), a rando civilian Ivy latched onto because she looks like Harley. I think she’s supposed to be some sort of morality pet and be a reader’s stand-in, but I don’t get her purpose. All she does is sleep with Ivy, Harley and Killer Croc, and cause mistakes. Seems like more trouble than she’s worth. I don’t get the attachment.

Same with Janet for Ivy. I get the initial cause as Janet was drawn by Ivy’s extreme measures of eco-justice (especially when the so-called good guys in the gov aren’t doing a great job of protecting its citizens) but being constantly on the run, having no job, being her assistant, be second to Harley, and in her own words “sleep with Ivy when Ivy’s bored,” she basically has no life of her own. Yet she sticks by her.

Omg, Janet-from-HR is the Harley to Ivy’s Joker.

Vol 1-5 were great diving into Ivy’s character, and her challenges but vol 6-7 are interrupted by greater comic events that I simply do not care about. Now she’s the mayor of Marshville, trying to topple the system from the inside and it’s not so interesting. Who knows, maybe it will get better after this arc when Ivy realizes she’s not meant for an office space.

Readers will also enjoy the ever-changing art that leans into cosmic and body horror. So many ways to see how plants, fungi and viruses are terrifying. It’s amazingly, grossly detailed you can’t look away.

Anyway, let’s go to less morally dubious characters like. . .

Absolute Wonder Woman Vol 1-3 by Kelly Thompson

On the Wild Isle of Hell, Apollo leaves the infant Diana with Circe, forbidding her from learning of the Amazons. Though Circe initially plans to let her die, she raises Diana instead, who grows strong and compassionate. As an adult, Diana learns of the Amazons’ banishment and enters the world to fight evil.

I love Thompson’s work revamping Jem and the Holograms, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and this was no different. Makes sense, since Diana is a witch in this incarnation. While her upbringing and adolescence are different from the mainline, Diana’s core traits of compassion and love shine through. It makes for a dynamic read as Diana encounters the grey of life much earlier and struggles to weigh her values of justice with the unmoving cruelty of the world and the gods. She is much more hardcore in utilizing her magic, and willing to sacrifice her arm for the greater good. (Don’t worry, she gets a cool mechanical one) Yet Diana finds a way to show that violence begetting more violence is not the answer, and that there can be another way.

I adore how Thompson incorporates myths like the minotaur, Persephone in the underworld, Pegasus, and more semi-modern literary myths like the Lady and the Tiger to be analogies for Diana’s challenges in the man’s world/Underworld. Plus it’s a fun irony to see Diana, patron of love leading undead monsters like a Disney Princess.

Diana’s usual crew like Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and Barbara Minerva are there too, but Thompson hasn’t made any drastic innovations to their relationships with Diana, or their histories. . . yet. I hope her take of Minerva turning into Cheetah will be interesting. Or perhaps giving Steve a new arc about his time as a soldier. Just as she switched up Diana and Zatanna’s friendship to a bait and switch with Zatanna getting a cool punk rock aesthetic.

Speaking of the mistress of magic. . . .

Zatanna: It’s Showtime by Jamal Campbell

Zatanna is going back on tour—or, at least, she’s trying to! Before her show can even begin, she’s found herself under attack by a strange new threat! The White Lady, a ghostly new adversary, has abducted her crew, forcing Zatanna to dive head-first into a world of tricks, curses, and…magical swords?!

A very fun mini-series that combines the best of Zatanna. Her showmanship, her magic hiding the deep vulnerabilities and scars of a lifetime of the people she loves dying. While I’m primarily familiar with Zatanna from her appearances in animation, it was easy for me to jump into the story without context. While Zatanna is arguably a solo act, she has a pit crew and assistant helping her refine her show and when the Lady in White abducts them, she has to get them back. I admire how Campbell shows the bond between the heroine and her civilian partners, emphasizing how they’re more than just her co-workers but like her travelling performer family.

But readers will really enjoy the vivid and creative panels of Campbell’s work. With homages to Berkley musicals, black and white Hollywood and film noir universes, tying the glitzy world of glamour to a twisty pocket dimension of horrors. There is so much detail to take in, that you might forget the enemy lurking in the corner like any good illusion.

Fans will enjoy the tragic inclusion of Basil Karlo aka Clayface enjoying the life he never got to have as well as the emotional reunion between Zatanna and her mother, Sindella, who has been unfortunately sidelined for most of her comic history. There’s a lot going on, but Campbell keeps the plot moving at even pace, limiting Zatanna’s powers with a reasonable obstacle and wrap it up in a way that showcases Zatanna in a better place in her life and her position on dealing with enemies.

It’s unfortunate that one of Zatanna’s assistant never made it out, but I think Campbell’s trying to leave it as a cliffhanger. At least I hope so, or else she’ll end up looking very callous, all smiling that “the show must go on” when her protege is dead.

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League by Greg Rucka

A daring heist aboard the most secure facility in the DCU! Cheetah and Cheshire assemble a team of misfits and oddballs to pull off the impossible—robbing the Justice League Watchtower…and getting away with it. All that stands between them and pulling off the most daring heist in history are a few tiny complications, such as the most sophisticated orbital platform ever constructed, its AI-driven security system, and one other thing…the smartest and most powerful heroes in the DCU. 

Again, I only know Cheshire from her YJ incarnation. I heard the comic one was much more ruthless, but I’m glad to see Rucka depicts her as an “on the clock” villain doing it for the paycheck than outright sadism. And she does care about her daughter, enough not to invite her on the heist. But Lian is her daughter, so she sneaks her way in. Unfortunately, that’s all the Cheshire content we get as this is primarily Cheetah’s story arc.

She has a much more personal stake in robbing the power source-beyond treasure and riches -it’s a chance to get rid of the god possessing her and regain her humanity. I almost wish I knew what comics to read to understand how Cheetah went from embracing the power and her jealousy of WW to wanting to be normal, but as it is, I understood the stakes.

Rucka doesn’t leave much time for emotional introspection as this is more of a urgent, high-speed heist with Cheetah and Cheshire grabbing a motely crew, and dealing with last-minute challenges when the heist inevitably goes wrong. It was fun to see the villains acting more like casual colleagues than backstabbing traitors, but I suppose that’s what made them use B-list villains than the heavy hitters. They don’t have the oversize egos that would lead them to ruin it for their own gain.

As a stand-alone, it’s fun, but the heist only takes place in #4-5. The first three issues were busy setting things up and getting a crew, which I think could have been condensed because frankly the heist is the most interesting part and drawing it out would emphasize the discreetness and timing to get everything right. And if he had to use the three issues for set-up, I wish there had been more for Cheshire and Lian’s personal arcs. As it was, I still don’t know why Cheetah and Cheshire are such close friends that they have nicknames for each other.