The Green Thumb Of Fascism — Reviewing ‘Poison Ivy’ #46

They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely. What about an absolute power which is backed up by ancient universal elemental forces? Surely, that must be an even quicker path towards the worst levels of absolute corruption.

That’s the case for Gotham City currently as the reign of Mayor Isley continues to bring the city ever closer to the brink in Poison Ivy #46. A frank look at the realities of power from G. Willow Wilson, Leandro Fernandez, Arif Prianto, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Living in Gotham City is never easy, but it sure seems to be an extra crappy place to be currently. I didn’t have Poison Ivy being in a series which turns its eyes towards a plot that mirrors much of the reality facing our society on my bingo card. Nor did I have Ivy becoming a tyrannical symbol utilizing the government system. Yet, it works.

We take a complete break from the title character this issue, which is a bold and smart move. Janet and Juhi as the vehicles to witness and comment upon what Ivy has been doing is also a great move. They are the voices of support and opposition and are relatively kind of the “normal” folks compared to Ivy and the rest of the cast.

We’re almost fifty issues into this series that began as a mini, and it keeps hitting hard. Wilson is building to some big things, and a hard fall is clearly imminent for it’s protagonist. Where this will go in the long run is a mystery, and I’m all for that. I could read Ivy and company’s stumbles and victories and failures for another 50 issues easily.

There’s a specific mood and feeling that has been established through most of the 46 issues of this series. That being the very rough, dark, but also dense style that Marcio Takara employs. He creates a very eco-horror aesthetic that has served the series well. At first, I thought everything was business as usual in this issue, before realizing that the art that I thought was Takara’s was actually that of Fernandez.

Upon closer inspection, they are different and have their own idiosyncrasies, but they also share so much in common. There is a lightness to everything on the page while also being dense as hell. Fernandez captures the emotions and small amounts of action with grace and kinetic energy. We feel the overwhelming feeling of the police force and green knights as they turn the city into a different kind of hellscape.

Part of what helps the artwork also match up is the similar way that Prianto approaches the color scheme. These are the same rougher textures and lighter swatches from the palette to really give the world a larger feeling, letting the spaces have their own life and breezy feeling so that the darker elements stand out with a bigger contrast.

Without Ivy or the Parliament of Trees there is less of the really bold lettering choices happening. This doesn’t stop Otsmane-Elhaou from doing what he does best with the lettering. He allows bubbles and fonts shift in size, shape, and style to best express volume, tone, and feelings. I’m a sucker for yelling actually appearing like yelling with font becoming huge and imposing on the page. Those jagged bubbles are perfect, just like the smaller bumpy whispering or muttering bits of speech.

We get a ton of SFX in a short span of time and each of them is tangibly audible. It feels like a loud boom in the room with how in your face they are, helping ramp up the tension that is already palpable.

Poison Ivy #46 is now available from DC Comics.