Warning! This article contains spoilers for Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #5 by Jody Houser, Adriana Melo, Mark Morales, Hi-Fi and Mikel Janin, on sale now.
Poison Ivy has only a few rules she really follows. She's an anti-villain who is willing to do a lot to protect nature and her Harley, but the one thing she seems hell-bent against ever doing is hurting the plant life on the planet. In many respects, she values it over every other life form on the planet. It was because of man's blatant disregard toward plant life that she turned to a life of crime in the first place.
However, in the newest issue of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, Pamela Isley breaks her one rule. In order to stop Floronic Man, Ivy needs to cut through the plants that have overtaken the city.
The Floronic Man
The Floronic Man has a very similar ability to Poison Ivy: he can control plants. It's so similar to Ivy's power that even Batwoman, who intercepts the pair of anti-villains, confuses his powers for hers. The Floronic Man uses his abilities to make plants swallow up all of New York City. In order to save lives and liberate the plants from his control, Ivy and Harley head in to free the city from the roots of evil.
But to do so, the two confront several plant-themed obstacles, all of which require Ivy to attack her darling plants while in psychic union with them. The first obstacle presented is a bridge leading into New York. Tree branches form a sort of fence keeping the two reformed villains out, which leaves Harley and Ivy carving through the foliage.
Later, once inside New York and after the two join forces with Batwoman, several walking tree monsters confront them. Ivy manages to take command of one of them, and pit the two against each other in a brutal fight. Thankfully, the final obstacle (several hostages held down by vines) is resolved without Ivy needing to butcher any more of her lovelies. Still, this is far more plant-slaying than we are used to seeing from Ivy.
Is This Out of Character?
Poison Ivy loves plants more than people. It seems somewhat bizarre that she'd turn on her plants, even if it is for a greater cause. However, what we also see throughout the comic is Poison Ivy in distress over her actions. She feels that the plants are being manipulated against their will and want to obey Ivy's commands to let her through. In many ways, using her powers against them like this is her freeing them from restraints beyond their will. Because of this, Ivy can emotionally distance herself from her actions. She's being forced into these actions through no ill will of her own. Furthermore, the plants are suffering, so, in some ways, she's putting them out of their misery.
Regardless, while the comic doesn't dwell on Ivy's emotional state, it's clear she doesn't enjoy anything that's going on. As mentioned before, the pair meet up with Batwoman, who at first is convinced Ivy is responsible for everything that's going wrong, until Ivy points out how she would never attack plants unless she had to. Though Batwoman humors the idea that the Floronic Man is behind everything going wrong, she doesn't buy into it until she sees Ivy turn the plant monsters upon each other and Ivy's emotional distress in doing so. The fact that Poison Ivy is breaking her one rule is proof that things just got serious.