A Tale Of Two Ladies — Reviewing ‘Poison Ivy’ #30

This comic era of short double digits and relaunches can be hard for books without a bat or spider on the cover. To survive those higher double digits, you have to be more than good. You have to be memorable.

You need to attempt things that no other book will think or dare to do. You want to stand out so that fans are left thinking about your issue well after they put it down. Granted, that also just applies to keeping any comic story going, but the point still stands.

For thirty issues now, that has not been an issue for Poison Ivy. A gorgeous, thoughtful, relevant, character-rich, queer, sexy, smart, and constantly innovative comic book series, thanks to the continued and amazing work done by G. Willow Wilson, Marcio Takara, Arif Prianto, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and others that have joined them along the way.

As noted, being innovative is bread and butter for this series. The idea that they would do a two-for-one flip book sort of story wasn’t even shocking. It’s right up their alley.

Basically, the first half of the book starts with Ivy’s trek through the in-between spaces of the Grey (the fungal based ancients). She discovers more about their war with the Green, how humanity dominated the Green, and what the Grey wants from her. It ends with her meeting up with a wandering Janet.

Flip the book over and start again to read a story of Janet wandering through the swamp town of Marshview only to meet up with a member of the Green’s Parliament of Trees who is there to talk to (and insult) her about being a spy against Ivy because of her side character like treatment.  It ends in the middle, where she meets up with Ivy.

We saw this similarly done with the DC All In Special with Darkseid. This one is far more personal and intricate because of the more down to Earth nature.

Takara and Prianto have done amazing work with this series, and this elevates that work even more. Two stories that are similar but also allow some deviation and creative use of their styles to set them apart.

A rough edge full of soft deep detailed energy really sums up a lot of what Takara does. He finds a way to make these characters so human and relatable while never shying away from the rougher elements in play. Takara taps into those eco-horror vibes that have been there since day one, adding in the right beats to let this world feel familiar but also fantastical at the same time. This is a hallmark of most superhero stories, for sure.

Color tones run more toward the sort of middle ground, and are almost washed out. Darker tones run point, with the more lush and vibrant tones never far behind, again tapping into that very superhero-familiar energy without letting it dominate over the necessary tonal feeling of this series.

By golly, does the lettering in this series always rock beyond belief. There is a reason that Otsmane-Elhaou is in such demand for lettering work. Lettering gets taken for granted, often seen as just putting words on the page by too many. Really good lettering though is a true full art and really elevates those words and sounds.

Dialogue bubbles shift so dramatically, really emphasizing volume or tone. The voices of the characters and their emotions are so in sync and transparently clear. Takara brings the emotions to bear with the facial expressions and body language. Then Otsmane-Elhaou takes them home, dipping into various colors to allow different characters’ words to sound out, adding even more flavor to their speech. Don’t forget the layout, the SFX, and all the rest that really stand out at all times.

Poor Janet. While the character has been sidelined and often pushed around a bit, the way that Wilson handles her is really good. She’s the normal person thrust into this bizarre world of colorful villain types. Trying to make her presence felt yet failing as she wears her heart on her sleeve. Wilson shows us her thoughts and feelings while Ivy’s captions really hit home, showing how little the villain thinks about Janet. More than a few of us have been those people who were seemingly forgotten or ignored by people that we gave more to than we received.

Both these tales give us more insight into each woman and lays such great seeds. I find the Green and Grey to be so intriguing. The Green has been a huge part of various books at DC over the decades, but it’s not a realm I’m that familiar with. Wilson’s dabble into their past together and how humanity became dominant was intriguing and so sad because of the realities of seeing that in our own world.

Can’t wait for more kernels of these plots to drop. Here’s to another 30+ issues of one of the best series on shelves.

Poison Ivy #30 is now available from DC Comics.