Poison Ivy has gone toe-to-toe with Batman plenty of times since her introduction, but Pamela Isley was not always Gotham’s most well-known eco-terrorist. Now, as the Lamia spores bring her latest misdeeds back to haunt her, she finally has a chance to tell her story from the beginning. As Ivy offers up her origins, she finally has a chance to tell the real story.
Poison Ivy #19 continues G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara’s stunning series, giving Pam a platform to tell her own story. After losing touch with the Green and living without many of her abilities, Poison Ivy has been on a journey of self-discovery, moving from an attempted plague to accepting people as a necessary part of the world. Now, DC promises to tell her revamped “one true secret origin” in February 2024’s issue of the award-winning series.
POISON IVY #19 (2023) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Release Date: | February 6th, 2024 |
| Writers: | G. WILLOW WILSON |
| Artists: | MARCIO TAKARA |
| Cover Artist: | JESSICA FONG |
| Variant Covers: | DAVID NAKAYAMA, YANICK PAQUETTE, JEREMY WILSON |
A story decades in the making! Long has her tale been told by others, but witness for the first time—in intimate detail—the one true secret origin of Poison Ivy, as revealed by the viridescent villainess herself. The GLAAD Media Award-winning team of writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Marcio Takara reunites to tell this heartbreaking and historic origin story as only they can. | |
Poison Ivy found pieces of herself she thought to be gone for good – and now she’s revealing more. Her journey thus far has pushed her to be more vulnerable, and that seems to be culminating in the truth of where she got her start.
Poison Ivy Tells Her Own Origin Story
Pamela Isley has been a thorn in Batman’s side long enough to see a handful of origin stories over the years. There’s a common theme in many of them, however, as she is used or experimented on in some way by a person she trusts. The current Poison Ivy series hints at much of the same, with her abilities coming from Jason Woodrue’s experiments. Only a piece of that story has been shown so far, though, and it offered just a brief glimpse into how she got her start. Throughout the series, Pam takes a deep dive into her own life and confronts some of the most difficult parts of her past by killing Woodrue (the Floronic Man) in Poison Ivy #6 by Wilson, Takara, Jay Leisten, Brian Level, Arif Prianto, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
Now, by telling her “true” origin from beginning to end, she can finish what she has already started. Pam has been reclaiming herself a piece at a time, both literally and metaphorically. Her old powers and connection to the Green are returning, and she has been eliminating the things that sought to hold her back — including some of her own thoughts. Unfortunately, she also spent quite a long time laying the seeds for humanity’s destruction. Those killed by her Lamia spores are drawn to her in their dreams and even beyond death. As they all begin heading toward Gotham, her place at the center of that web may prompt her to reveal how she became what she is. This new, mysterious origin could be the key to what’s happening and how to stop it.
Poison Ivy’s Origin Could Turn Her Into Batman’s Ally
Poison Ivy’s unique biology is at the heart of Lamia spores’ mutations. The spores grew and changed inside her body, kept alive and at bay by her healing factor, as she unleashed them to spread around the country. Crucially, Pam changed her mind about wanting the spores to wipe out humanity, positioning her to be both the problem’s cause and its solution. Her new origin may offer further insight into just how her body works. Alternatively, it may offer a deeper look into her connection to the Green and how it interacts with the Lamia spores. Batman’s city is at risk, and the whole world could be next, but Poison Ivy’s story could repair the damage.
