Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, DC Comics | Tagged: Batman, dc comics, fear state, poison ivy

Poison Ivy Returns To Batman and Gotham From August

Published Wed, 19 May 2021 10:18:10 -0500

As part of DC Comics' Fear State event this autumn, we are going to get the return of Poison Ivy, alongside the new character who is thematically tied to her, The Gardner.

The solicitation for Batman: Fear State Alpha #1 states that "and with the arrival of a mysterious anti-Oracle and the return of Poison Ivy…Batman might have more than he can handle!". And the cover to Batman #115 features Poison Ivy and The Gardner. Or is it just Ivy now?

Poison Ivy has been treated in a very haphazard fashion by DC Comics in recent years. Turning from a stock Batman villain-with-a-point to an altruistic protagonist with the Birds Of Prey, there was an editorial and creative battle back-and-forth between those two positions, with creators and editors dodging one editorial dictate, then clashing with the next. So Poison Ivy was either an environmental activist villain, Harley Quinn's firm-head-on-her-leafy-shoulders girlfriend, or a wise scientist with remarkable insight looking to make the world a better place for everyone. The Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy mini-series even literally split her into two people, good cop and bad cop Poison Ivy. Then, simultaneously, the Batbooks reinvented her as Queen Ivy, looking to destroy Gotham (while keeping an eye out for Harley) and captured as a source for new drugs hitting the streets of Gotham.

While in the main Batman book, we saw new character The Gardner getting rather involved with just what it was that Harley Quinn was up to. Rather than being pitted against each other, could Gardner and Poison Ivy have a team up in the works?

Yesterday Ivy was freed but looked a little doo-lally. What will happen between now and Fear State? And might her own pheremones have a role to play against Scarecrow?

Batman: Fear State Alpha #1 –   The event over a year in the making begins…Fear State settles upon Gotham City, and no one is safe! Overwhelmed by the dual threat of the Scarecrow and Peacekeeper-01, Batman and his allies have been one step behind since the events of Infinite Frontier #0…and with the arrival of a mysterious anti-Oracle and the return of Poison Ivy…Batman might have more than he can handle!
Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Riccardo Federici
Main cover by Ben Oliver
Variant cover by Dylan Teague
1:25 ratio variant cover by Jorge Jimenez
1:50 ratio variant cover by Francesco Mattina
40 Pages; $4.99 ($5.99 card stock variant cover)
On Sale Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from DC Comics

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