#floronic man

[comicsiswild]

Poison Ivy (2022) #23

[jesncin]

Ma'alefa'ak, the people would like to know your top 10 monsters from less to most boink worthy, you're allowed 3 honorific mentions and no Johnstantine monster forms

in the spirit of Ma'al ranking the Green Lanterns, here's Ma'al's random opinions on most characters that pop up in DC top 10 monsters lists:

for the three honorific mentions:

Ma'al doesn't have a "top 10" because "nobody tops me unless I tell them to" and his opinions on who's most boinkable are susceptible to change from his mood, the vibes, the weather, the seasons, the alignment of the stars, etc.

[no-thanks-im-goof]

Some Thoughts on Woodrue & Poison Ivy's Origins

Poison Ivy (2022) #5

Poison Ivy (2022) #20 & #21

Hey its me with some old news,

Honestly I find it super interesting the like complete switch up to Jason Woodrue's entire look, characterization, & the details of his intentions from Issue #5 to Issue #20 and #21. Like him appearing in #5 is clearly a nightmare and it looks like a different artist (I think its Brian Level) but him having a completely different hair color and style in Issue #20 & #21

and Ivy thinking in issue #5:

How long did he think I would survive like this? A day, A week, A year? It would take me a long time to realize... that like a lab rat I was expected to die after I served my purpose. It was right there in is voice.

Woodrue saying:

"Your tough, not like the other girls you're going to hang on long enough to get some good data. A proof of concept."

him licking her face and having her think:

"At that point I leave my body, everything that happens afterward happens to someone else."

This version of the event reads violent and violating, like an assault, which matches up with previous iterations of her origins like Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy:

and Batman Secret Files: The Gardener (2021) #1 which is what Woodrue looks the most similar to in issue #5 of Poison Ivy (2022) :

Woodrue goes from this creepy nightmarish man who possibly tried to do this horrible painful "experiment" to multiple other women in issue #5

to in issue #21:

"A scared little boy pushing other people in the way of his big ideas."

If I'm being generous to the reasoning behind this change up, you could maybe read it as exploration of like how sometimes it can be mundane, even casual the way in which everyday ordinary people can hurt us. It doesn't have to be a big scary monster, but a familiar face not caring if or how they hurt you. Callous and apathetic.

But like I said that's me being generous, what I will say though:

I really really don't like the change to Ivy's origin story, everything they did with Bella was egregious (other people better at text analysis than me like @poisonpammy and @harlivycentral have posted about this and I think @poisonousquinzel too at some point, go check them out!) But, honestly I feel like what they chose to do with the story overall defanged and blunted Ivy's origin. They take away this really tragic and scarring event and throw her into the city and make her this unaffected "Girlboss."

Like we go from this:

To this:

From this:

To this:

In this version, Poison Ivy's creation wasn't a traumatic rebirth, no mental illness to speak of, no misanthropy, just her choosing her name as a way to make sure that she didn't endanger her old friends, and the removal of Harley's introduction into her origin story.

I know I started this long winded post just doing a little comparison about Woodrue and the changes made to him, but I think all of this points to this kind of bigger recharacterization of Ivy that's been happening throughout this series. One that feels less powerful, more shallow and just completely blunts the original messaging that it feels like the series set out to tell. It takes away what is so powerful and interesting about Ivy as a character and her origins and dulls it down into something more palatable for general audiences.

I guess I've been thinking about all of this a lot more, with it about to be her 60th anniversary, and the Mayor Ivy Arc starting. I'm just honestly a little worried that this isn't gonna be a bait and switch moment, that they're really going to finalize this transition that she's been going through throughout this whole series. Changing her character as a radical, complex, messy, and traumatized person who would seek to destroy systems of oppression, to burn it all down and start over, into someone whose almost completely unrecognizable.

Anyway, like I said I'm not that great at text analysis and writing so I'll just end this random thought train with a panel from Issue #6 that I've always thought is really beautiful.

[dailydccomics]

Harley and Ivy by Mikel Janín

[cgbcomics]

[why-i-love-comics]

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #36 - "20,000 Leagues II" (2025)

written by Mark Waid art by Adrian Gutierrez & Tamra Bonvillain

[vertigoartgore]

1984's Saga of Swamp Thing #23 page 23 (final splash page) by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben (words by writer Alan Moore). Source

[evilhorse]

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #36