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Poison Ivy (Pamela Lillian Isley) is a DC Comics supervillain and is primarily an enemy of Batman. Created by Robert Kanigher, she first appeared in Batman Failing to catch on as a character, Ivy was not heard of again until the rise of feminism brought the need for a greater number of more independent female villains in the series. She was also used to replace the increasingly sympathetic Catwoman as a clearly antagonistic female supervillain for Batman, and then made further appearances in the Batman comic book series and in Suicide Squad. An origin story was later concocted for her. Poison Ivy was further popularized by the 1990s-era and co-starred in its flash animation spin-off Gotham Girls. Uma Thurman played her in the 1997 movie Batman & Robin. In the series Gotham Girls, Poison Ivy deemed herself as one of "the world's most prominent eco-terrorists." She is obsessed with plants, botany and environmentalism. She utilizes toxins from plants and her own bloodstream for her criminal activities, which are usually aimed at protecting the natural environment. She has created love potions that have ensnared Batman, Superman, and other strong-willed individuals. She is somewhat misanthropic and at times she has even mentioned that she would like a world solely ruled by plants. Fellow villain Harley Quinn is her recurring partner-in-crime and potentially only human friend. Pre-Crisis Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, a promising botanist from Seattle, was seduced by Marc LeGrande into assisting him with the theft of an Egyptian artifact containing ancient herbs. Fearing she would implicate him in the theft, he attempted to poison her with the herbs, which were deadly and untraceable. She survived this murder attempt and discovered she now had accquired an immunity to all natural toxins and diseases. (World's Finest Comics Post-Crisis: Life in Seattle and Gotham Post-Crisis, her origins were revised. Pamela Isley grew up wealthy with emotionally distant parents. She later studied advanced botanical biochemistry at university with Alec Holland under Dr Jason Woodrue. Isley, a timid, awkward, shrinking violet, was easily seduced by her professor. Woodrue injected Isley with poisons and toxins as an experiment, causing her transformation into Poison Ivy. * She nearly died twice as a result from these poisonings, driving her insane. The testing also made her barren, and she has treated her plants as children, mothering them ever since. (Batman: Shadow Of The Bat 1995 Annual Her first act: threatening to release her suffocating spores into the air unless the city met her demands. Thus, she became infamous as Poison Ivy. The Batman, who had appeared in Gotham that very same year, subdued her and thwarted her scheme, resulting in her incarceration in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane (Batman: Shadow of the Bat 1995 Annual Later, she states that she only started a life of crime to attain sufficient funds to find a location to be alone with her plants, undisturbed by humanity (Batman: Poison Ivy). A few years later, she would achieve this. She attempted to leave Gotham forever, escaping Arkham to settle on a desert island in the Caribbean. She transformed the barren wasteland into a second Eden, and was, for the first time in her life, happy. It was soon firebombed, however, when an American-owned corporation tested their weapons systems out on what they thought was an abandoned island. Ivy then returned to Gotham with a vengeance, punishing those responsible. After being willingly apprehended by Batman, she resolved that she could never leave Gotham, at least not until the world was safe for plants. From then on, she dedicated herself to the impossible mission of purifying Gotham (Batman: Poison Ivy). While in Arkham, Poison Ivy received a message through flowers that someone was going to break her out. That night, two women, Holly and Eva, successfully broke Ivy out and brought them back to their leader. She was less than happy to discover that it was the Floronic Man, formerly known as Dr. Jason Woodrue, her old college professor that conducted the experiments on her. The only human portion of him remaining was his head, while the rest of his body was plant-based. After striking a deal with him in the tunnels of Gotham, Ivy received a trunk full of money in return for samples of her DNA. Floronic Man was intending to combine their DNA to create a "child", all while flooding the streets of Gotham with high-powered marijuana. Batman showed up, and after being overcome by Holly and Eva, Poison Ivy turned on Floronic Man and let Batman go to fight the stoned maniac. In the end, Batman decapitated the Floronic Man, and Ivy escaped with her money. At times Ivy has shown positive, even maternal traits. When Gotham City was destroyed in an earthquake (), rather than fight over territory like most of Batman's enemies, she took over Robinson Park and turned it into a tropical paradise. Dozens of children who were orphaned during the quake came to live with her, and she cared for them like sons and daughters, despite her usual misanthropy. After Batman rescued her and the children from being enslaved by Clayface, he recognized that staying with her was the best thing for them, and they remained in her care until the city was restored. Also, as part of a bargain to keep her freedom, Batman arranged it so that Ivy provided fruits and vegetables to the starving hordes of earthquake survivors. Also during this time, Ivy found Harley Quinn, who had almost been murdered by the Joker, amongst the debris of and nursed her back to health. The two have been best friends ever since (Batman: Harley Quinn). After Gotham City reopened to the public, the city wanted to evict her from the park and send her back to Arkham Asylum. They also mistakenly believed that the orphans in Ivy's care were hostages. The Gotham City Police Department threatened to spray the park with a powerful herbicide that most certainly would have killed every living plant in the park, including Ivy, and more than likely do harm to the children as well. Ivy refused to leave the park to the city and let them destroy the Eden she had created, so she chose martyrdom. It was only after Rose, one of the orphans, was accidentally poisoned by Ivy that the hardened eco-terrorist surrendered herself to the authorities in order to save the girl's life. Batman stated that, as much as she hated to admit it, Ivy was still more human than plant (Detective Comics Later on, she was manipulated with other Gotham characters by the Riddler in the "" storyline, in which she mind-controlled both Superman and Catwoman. Soon afterwards, the Riddler, who was being chased and attacked by Hush, approached Ivy and sought her protection. The short tale between Ivy and Riddler would play out as a back story in Detective Comics issues 797-799. In this arc, Ivy would battle the Riddler physically and psychologically. Ivy would come to physically dominate this encounter, humiliating and, for a time, leaving Nygma as a broken and defeated man. Poison Ivy came to believe that her powers were killing the children she had looked after, so she got Batman to reverse her powers and make her a normal human being once more. Soon after she was convinced by Hush to take another serum to restore her powers and apparently died in the process. However, when her grave was visited shortly thereafter, it was covered with vine and ivy, creating the impression her death would be short-lived. A short time later Poison Ivy appeared in Gotham Central "One Year Later", Ivy is alive and active. Her control over flora has increased, referred to as being on a par with Swamp Thing or Floronic Man. She also appears to have resumed her crusade against the corporate enemies of the environment with increased fanatical vigour, regarding Batman no longer as a main opponent but as a 'hindrance'. In Detective Comics Teams and Alliances Sexuality Though the true sexuality of Poison Ivy has never been outright said in comic books, due to showing attraction to both men and women, she is most likely bisexual. She has said numerous times that she is in love with Batman (Batman: Poison Ivy and Shadow of the Bat: Annual In Chapter 11, she is drawn to Two-Face and attempts to seduce him (even kissing him without trying to poison him), but is then rebuffed by a Harvey Dent who is still pining after his estranged wife Gilda Dent. In A.J. Lieberman's run on In Harley Quinn In Batman In Superman/Batman Her relationship with Harley Quinn has always been used as a point of reference to support lesbianism, due in part to the pinups Bruce Timm drew of the two characters hugging, the visual innuendos in the episode Harley and Ivy, and the Batgirl one-shot by Paul Dini in which Barbara Gordon asks Harley about the "close friendship" that she and Ivy share. Harley sarcastically responds that people repeat the same rumors about Batgirl and Supergirl. In the "Harley and Ivy" miniseries (May-June 2004), written and drawn by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, the two appear sleeping in the same bed. In the non-canon Joker/Mask, a crossover with Dark Horse Comics in which the Joker becomes the wearer of the magical mask, Harley asks Poison Ivy for help in getting Joker to remove the mask. Poison Ivy is depicted as showing a rather strong attraction to Harley, including her desire to get rid of the Joker. The dialog and art fall just short of blatantly stating an attraction at times. Powers and abilities The dangerous experiments placed a deliberate overdose of plant and animal based toxins into her blood stream that make her touch deadly and allowed her to boost her immunity to all poisons, viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Some comics have even gone so far as to depict her as more plant than human, breathing CO2 and requiring sunlight to survive. Ivy is known to be able to seduce men and women alike, often using pheromones to do so. She specializes in hybrids and can create the most potently powerful toxins in Gotham City. Often these are secreted from her lips and administered via a kiss. They come in a number of varieties, from mind controlling drugs to instantly fatal necrotics. Her skin is toxic as well, although contact with it is usually not fatal. In some adaptations she can control plants via telepathy. For example, in Arkham Asylum: Living Hell she was able to manipulate plants telepathically, using roots to form supports for a tunnel she and another inmate named Magpie were digging to escape, and also spawning glowing fungi to entertain Magpie. Appearing in Gotham the same year as Batman, her aforementioned control of plants has increased significantly with each passing year. Before, just being able to manipulate plants such as vines ( for example), she has since become stronger. In Greg Rucka's Fruit of the Earth storyline, she controlled an entire tree to come down on Clayface, ensnaring him in its branches. More recently, in Batman & Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows, she can be seen bringing down a whole skyscraper with giant vines. Her increased strength has only recently been brought to everyone's attention one year later in Face the Face. She has been known to carry a cross-bow and a vine whip which she also has used as a lasso. At times, the vine has had thorns on it. She also occasionally uses hand thrown and blowpipe launched poisoned darts. Poison Ivy's athletic abilities have grown over the course of her career. She has learned a limited style of martial arts fighting. She is proficient at climbing and leaping. She is a strong and fast swimmer. In , her only physical power is an immunity to poison, and when using a poisoned kiss, she uses lipstick poisoned by toxins extracted from a plant. She admits to having a "hyperactive immune system" which prevents her from having children. In The Batman, she can even exhale mind-controlling spores in the form of a blown kiss. Poison Ivy has been identified by the Swamp Thing as a being with an elemental mystical component, who he called the 'May Queen'. Writers haven't referred to her in this way in quite some time, and it's unknown whether she still retains this mystical identifier, or has lost that for a purely scientific nature. Creatures Poison Ivy created several Plant-Creatures over the years, often used as bodyguards or to carry out her crimes: Along with these monsters, Ivy has also used her spores to create henchmen in the form of Dead-Fellows, men who were fatally infected and hypnotized into doing Poison Ivy's bidding, which, at the time, was to kill Batman during the storyline. Other creations Scientific incongruity There has been some controversy surrounding Poison Ivy's biology. It has been mentioned that her blood contains chlorophyll which, being a pigment, would theoretically cause her to have green skin. However, most portrayals of her (particularly earlier ones) depicted her with either ordinary tan, or off-white skin. This has been a source of fan speculation for many years. In recent years, DC Comics has depicted Ivy with green skin in some comics, although these are an exception to the norm. Although DC has made no real attempt to explain this incongruity, many fans believe that Ivy has the ability to consciously control her own body chemistry, and can change her blood to chlorophyll at will. Evidence for this is her ability to control what sort of poison her lips secrete (she has used types that were deadly, caused unconsciousness, created hallucinations, and put people under hypnotic control) and the fact that her skin is treated as toxic at some times, and harmless at others. An alternate explanation for this storyline was offered in Catwoman Vol. 1, Physical appearance Being a character that utilizes aesthetics to her best advantage, Poison Ivy has no shortage of different looks, ranging from variations of how she looked in her first appearance (with tights and flesh tone) to a naked goddess-like persona (i.e. Fruit of the Earth). Originally modeled after pin-up girl Bettie Page , Ivy is a manipulative, red-haired seductress. At her first appearance, her costume was a one-piece, strapless green bathing suit, covered with leaves. Leaves also formed her bracelets, necklace and crown. She also wore green high heels and yellow-green nylon stockings with leaves painted on them. These particulars changed somewhat when she re-appeared. She kept variations of this look from the 60s to the early 90s. It was not until that the character underwent a significant physical change, getting rid of the nylon stockings and high heels. During this time, she was depicted as freely walking around naked. Her skin also turned from snow-white alabaster to green and has remained so in a majority of subsequent appearances. Currently, artists draw her in a green form-fitting one-piece bathing suit (as Jim Lee draws her). Other times she is seen in minimal attire composed of leaves (always following the bathing suit pattern). She is no longer drawn as having tights or high heels, and is most often depicted barefoot. When she is not, she is wearing "elf-shoes" (Karl Kesel in the Harley Quinn series and Jim Lee in Hush). In other media Batman: The Animated Series In the DC animated universe, Poison Ivy was voice-acted by Diane Pershing. Her first appearance, in , involved an assassination attempt on Harvey Dent, as retribution for construction over the last habitat of a rare flower. In the earlier days of the Animated series, her meta-human characteristics, such as her immunity to toxins, were stated on many occasions, portraying her as a human with an extreme affinity for plants. She mentions in "", in which she ostensibly reforms, that her unique condition has left her unable to bear children. This episode was her final appearance in the first series. The New Batman Adventures In the second series, she was aesthetically revamped to look more plant-like, her skin turning grayish-white. Ivy also became more humorous and seductive in personality, coinciding with her genuinely sympathetic relationship with Harley Quinn. Her fanatical mindset regarding the despoiling of plants and the ecosphere was also greatly reduced. She supposedly died in a shipwreck in the episode Chemistry. Subsequent spin-offs and appearances She apparently survived the shipwreck and returned in several spin-off series, including "Static Shock," and the Gotham Girls web-toon, in which she held co-starring role. The character also co-starred in the three-issue comic book miniseries Harley and Ivy, and was given her swan song in the critically acclaimed "Batman Adventures" comic book series, which contains stories about Batman's adventures in Gotham City after a break from the Justice League. In the Justice League series, she appears only once, in a lobotomized form in an alternate universe. Bruce Timm stated that he turned down pitches for Poison Ivy episodes on Justice League so they could focus on new characters and storylines, only bringing back a minimal amount of villains from previous shows *. Batman and Robin Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy in the film Batman and Robin. This incarnation, boasting over-the-top acting, strange costumes and even stranger hair styles, is largely considered the worst version of the character, a sentiment in line with the over-all derision poured upon the film from fans and critcs alike. This Isley was transformed when she was presumably murdered by her mad scientist boss, and soon fell in love with Mr. Freeze, leading to a partnership to destroy Gotham City. Ivy is depicted in the film using her powers (toxic kisses and pheromones) liberally, as well as using Bane, in this version similarly transformed by the same mad-scientist boss, as her sidekick.She was defeated by Batgirl, incarcerated and presumably frozen by Mr. Freeze as he saw that she betrayed him by nearly killing his near-dead wife, blaming Batman for the incidence instead. The Batman Piera Coppola currently voices Poison Ivy in the animated TV show, The Batman, complete with a new origin with stronger ties to Barbara Gordon. In this Gotham, Poison Ivy was a young environmental activist, and Barbara Gordon's friend. She convinces Barbara to help her with her "protests," which were actually scouting missions on pollutionary companies for her hired mercenary, the corporate saboteur Temblor. In an attack on one such company, a plant mutagen fell on her during a battle between Temblor and the Batman. She awoke in an ambulance afterward and manifested powers similar to her other incarnations, most notably telepathic plant control, and an ability to exhale mind-controlling spores when she blows a kiss at her desired target. She swiftly turned her powers to furthering her ecoterrorist career, before being stopped by Batman and Barbara in her debut as Batgirl. Video games Poison Ivy has appeared in most of the Batman video games over the years. She appeared as a boss in Batman: The Animated Series, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD, the video game adaptation of the movie Batman & Robin, Batman Vengeance and Batman: Dark Tomorrow. In most of these games Ivy does not fight Batman directly and usually watches in the background while Batman fights one of her plant monsters. In The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD and Batman Vengeance, Diane Pershing reprised her role from Batman: The Animated Series. Trivia Bibliography See also | |||||||
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