I love how G. Willow Wilson recontextualizes some of the outdated elements of Poison Ivy’s pre & post-crisis origin stories. Instead of Ivy being initially obsessed with seducing Batman during her first outing as a supervillain, Wilson reveals that this was actually a false narrative that Ivy herself concocted after the caped crusader foiled her first eco-terrorist scheme. A desperate bid to try & appeal to the patriarchal delusions held by the doctors at Arkham Asylum, in exchange for early release.
Misguided beliefs that even Batman himself is shown to be susceptible to, as is evident when the dark knight falsely dismisses Ivy’s attempts to acknowledge the necessity of radical action to disrupt the corrupt status quo that’s endangering Earth’s environment and its people, as her simply attempting to seduce him with her plant pheromones.
A false perception of Ivy’s intentions that’s deliberately reflective of the character’s initial portrayal in both her original Silver Age first appearance and her post-Crisis on Infinite Earths origin story.
Overall, I felt that this was a necessary & insightful update to Poison Ivy’s backstory, reframing the previously established elements of Ivy’s history in a manner that stays true to past continuity whilst simultaneously discarding the outdated & misogynistic elements of those older stories in exchange for meaningful examinations about unjust hierarchies. How even the most well-meaning individuals who help enable said-hierarchies will often cruelly dismiss & ostracize marginalized voices who threaten to radically alter the status quo. In essence, Wilson allows Ivy to regain control over her own narrative, reframing the previous sexist interpretation of Ivy’s villainy being primarily motivated by an obsessive lust for Batman, as a form of unreliable narration perpetuated by an corrupt patriarchal status quo and the men in power who enforce it.
From Poison Ivy (2022) #21 by G. Willow Wilson & Marcio Takara.
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