Poison Ivy #42 // Review
Pamela Isley is no stranger to power. As a PhD in botany, she’s an acknowledged expert on plant life. As a superhuman, she has the power to control plant life on a molecular level. She can project mind-controlling pheromones. Now she’s becoming acquainted with an entirely different kind of power. Now she’s the mayor of one of the largest cities in the United States. She’s become the mayor of Gotham City. Dr. Isley’s journey continues in Poison Ivy #42. Writer G. Willow Wilson continues a thoroughly satisfying run with Dr. Isley in an issue brought to page and panel by Marcio Takara.
Isley is getting a visit from Gotham City Police Commissioner Savage. He’s arrived late for a 10 o’clock meeting. She mentions it the moment he enters her office. She wants him to know that she’s not going to be a pushover like the previous mayor. She’s going to use the full powers of her office. She expects his full cooperation. He had been turning Gotham City into something of a police state. She’s demanding that he reduce the number of police officers on the street. He’s demanding that she take The Order of the Green Knight off the street. Police. Eco-activists.Police commissioner. Mayor. Maybe the two sides can work something out. Of course...matters with the commissioner are only the beginning of a very tricky day. She has to introduce her new cabinet to the city council. Her cabinet includes a towering guy with chalk white skin and a well-dressed man with an orchid for a head. Once she’s made introductions, there’s an unannounced meeting with a supernatural representative from The Grey and well...a lot of other concerns. And this is only the beginning.
Wilson’s been keeping with a respectable pacing for the series thus far. Isley’s sudden lurch into office is a bit jarring, though. The final panel of issue #41 had Pamela announcing her intention to run for mayor. The beginning of #42 has her already in office. It would have been nice to see her actually campaigning for the office. It’s kind of a sudden shift for the series. That being said, it feels totally natural as a progression from where she had been. It would have been nice to give Dr. Isley a bit more time in the lead-up to serving as mayor of the single most prominent fictitious city in the history of comic books.
Takara’s mastery of dramatic subtlety looks particularly brilliant on the page in issue #42. This is particularly apparent when contrast against previous issues. And the issues leading into this one. There was something in Pamela's posture in the previous issues that felt kind of crust fallen. As she has made it to a position of prominence with another layer of power from another direction, she is happy. Confident. And those of us who have been reading the series thus far feel a sense of satisfaction in that. Takara has done such a clever job of delivering intricate, little emotional shades in the face imposter of the title character. Here she is reaching a sense of prominence. It's really cool to see that happen.
And so even though it feels like a sudden lurch into a completely different phase in the life of Dr. Isley, there has been enough of a progression from the beginning of the series to get a strong feeling of evolution and the character of the lakes of which aren't often allowed in mainstream comics. Dr. Isley has had quite a journey over the course of the 3.5 years that she’s been working with Wilson. It’s very satisfying to see something like that in a title that is such a captivating window into a corner of the DC universe.
