New Batman villain The Gardener will receive an origin in the pages of the upcoming one-shot Batman Secret Files: The Gardener.
The 40-page special, written by James Tynion IV with artwork by Christian Ward, promises to delve into the past of Bella Garten, a former beau of Poison Ivy.
BATMAN SECRET FILES: THE GARDENER #1
- Story by JAMES TYNION IV
- Art by CHRISTIAN WARD
- Cover by JAMES TYNION IV
- $4.99 US | 40 PAGES
- Variant cover by EJIKURE
- 1:25 variant by CHRISTIAN WARD
- $5.99 US (Both covers card stock)
- ON SALE 11/16/21
- She is shrouded in mystery, her motives a secret, and one cannot help but ask: Who is Bella Garten, a.k.a. the Gardener, really? Green-thumbed storytellers James Tynion IV and Christian Ward dig deep into her past and unearth the secret origin of the latest addition to Batman’s rogues gallery. Learn not only how Bella Garten came to know Pamela Isley, but how she was integral to the origin of the woman who would one day be known to all as Poison Ivy.
First appearing in Batman #107 and named two issues later, the Gardener is an eco-terrorist who controls engineered animal-plant hybrids. The Gardener was Poison Ivy's college girlfriend at Gotham's Hudson University, according to Harley Quinn, who let on in Batman #109 that she had met Bella in the past. Bella still retains sympathetic views towards her old flame, and warned Harley to carefully monitor Poison Ivy's slow transition into a more powerful persona known as Queen Ivy.
Bella Garten is one of several new characters introduced by Tynion during his recent run on the Batman books. She is set to play a major role in the upcoming Fear State storyline, which features Batman and his allies fighting against the machinations of Scarecrow and the Magistrate, a shadowy figure who seeks to turn Gotham into a police-state.
Batman Secret Files: The Gardener #1, by James Tynion IV and Christian Ward, goes on sale Nov. 16.
Source: DC