Poison Ivy writer G. Willow Wilson promised a "love story from the perspective of a villain" in the upcoming six-issue miniseries launching this June from DC.
DC's new Poison Ivy series comes from Wilson (Ms. Marvel, Invisible Kingdom) and illustrator by Marcio Takara. In a new trailer for the series, Wilson said that Poison Ivy will strongly focus on a Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy love story. "She kind of walks a very fine line between classic villain and kind of an anti-hero," Wilson explained in the trailer. "What it ends up being is really a love story from the perspective of a villain. Harley Quinn and Ivy, I think, are one of the biggest fan-favorite relationships in the whole 'Batverse,' and I think fans of both of the characters will be pleased."
Wilson further said that the series will see Poison Ivy deal with how some of her views compare to the rest of the world and where that leads the character. "Is she a carnivore?" Wilson pondered. "What does she think about environmentalism, as it exists today? Marcio just took some of the ideas I had in the script and pushed them all the way to their logical conclusion. If you read the first issue, you'll see what I mean, but there's something that Ivy doesn't expect and can't control."
The synopsis for Poison Ivy #1 reads, "Pamela Isley has been a lot of things in her life. A living god, a super-villain, an activist, a scientist, and dead. In a new body that she didn’t ask for and with a renewed sense of purpose, Ivy leaves Gotham and sets out to complete her greatest work—a gift to the world that will heal the damage dealt to it...by ending humanity."
Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff created Poison Ivy, and the character first appeared in 1966's Batman #181. Moldoff initially designed the botanical Batman villain after Bettie Page, a model who gained fame around the 1950s for her pin-up photos. Along with her appearances in comics, Poison Ivy is also one of the stars in HBO Max's animated Harley Quinn show.
Poison Ivy releases in June as part of DC's Pride Month celebration. The publisher will also release a 100+ anthology, DC Pride 2022, on May 31. The annual will feature stories on several recognizable DC characters, including a personal "Finding Batman" story written by Kevin Conroy, a separate Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy story, a coming-out story for Connor Hawke and more.
Additionally, Nubia: Queen of the Amazons by Stephanie Williams, Alitha Martinez, and Mark Morales will release this June from DC. The four-issue series will see the LGBTQ+ Black Amazon officially take the throne of Themyscira. Following that, DC Pride: Tim Drake Special will collect the character's coming-out moment from Batman: Urban Legends with a brand-new story that sees Tim teaming up with his former Young Justice teammates and the Batgirls.
Poison Ivy #1 releases on June 7 from DC.
Source: YouTube