Today I watched Casually Comics video on Poison Ivy 's debut in Absolute Batman (I know I'm late to this) and I had seen the design and really liked it but actually hearing the detail I love it.
https://youtu.be/_ruV0e0tEnw?si=A9ZCrEMGQ8yn3fPH
This is the perfect way to do an Absolute Universe alternate take on the character. It has a lot of the appeal of the character but it mixes things up in a way you couldn't for the main version (which is what you want for an Absolute version, that's the point) Body horror was a great choice of direction. (They've toyed with it but this lets them go all the way on that idea) I love that the core gimmick for her is her plant theming expanding into life in a broader sense (all 6 kingdoms as the comic claims) (tho I don't want them to stray too far from the plant thing that should still be prominent, e.g. I don't want to see her controlling just actually birds, only bird plant abominations lol)
And I love how with the body horror her appearance is constantly changing from panel to panel (that's something that works really well with the comic medium) you can really feel how she's an amalgamation pulling herself together into something vaguely human. And it allows her appearance to be played with a lot, there's not a strict design she can have a bunch of different looks. And of course I love the multiple Ivy's she splits into sometimes. Of course if you have a page that has half a dozen versions of her on it you are going to see Poison Ivy drawn in interesting ways you wouldn't otherwise, it's very charming, very vibey, there's so much character to some of them.
And I love that they are using the scientist part of Ivy's character, that's the perfect thing to expand for an alternative take on her. Now she's a mad scientist and I love that for her. They're amping up some parts of her and lessening others to spice it up and give us something new. But it's still ivy and there's so much of the classic ivy villainy in her story. And they are playing with themes that have long existed with her character, the big one being humanity/ not being human.
I like the little bit of her backstory we get, and the starting motivation being her mother. Her backstory is something that's sorta disappointingly handled in the main comics so a nice clean slate for that is good. And I like that they set up Ivy being a nickname before she became Poison Ivy just because I usually call her Ivy lol
Also I can't tell but did they completely axe her environmentalism? I think it's just the curing/ healing people as her sympathetic motive. Idk I think she's kinda directionless without that core drive to protect nature. But maybe I just need to get on board with the fact that it's not going to be the same Poison Ivy (it is still Ivy having a good cause but taking it too far)
And I like that she is dead, that's iconic. I think she died in a fire and because of her research was reborn as something nonhuman, no, something beyond human. And fire is obviously a death/rebirth rich in symbolism. Phoenix. Change through destruction. Forest fires being necessary for bringing about new growth. Fire as both a source of life and death. Fire spreads. Fire consumes. The flame of knowledge. Or violence. It's pretty but dangerous to the touch, etc. (it's convenient that this version of Batman has a flame thrower lol)
I was going to include my thoughts on her human design/ the design on the variant covers, but this is obviously very long so I'm going to make that it's own post
I also have praise for her main design that I'm going to move to its own post as well
All art from Absolute Batman #17 and #18 (2026)
