Warning: Spoilers for Poison Ivy #24 ahead!
Summary
Poison Ivy’srecent brush with death has providedDC Comicsreaders with some tantalizing new hints about the cosmology surrounding its mysterious Green. As Ivy communes with the Green — the dimension that governs all plant life — at a deeper level than ever before, her discussion with an as-of-yet unknown avatar of the Green also clears up a confusing issue about her recent powers.
Poison Ivy#24 by G. Willow Wilson and Haining deals with the aftermath ofIvy’s fatal duel with her nemesis, Jason Woodrue. While her body is placed to rest in Slaughter Swamp to regenerate, Ivy’s consciousness finds itself plunged into the Green where she comes face-to-face (so to speak) witha mysterious tree-like entity that speaks for the Green.
The entity, which she may have encountered before, chidesPoison Ivy for attempting to control the deadly Lamiafungus, citing thatthe power of mushrooms and fungi lies outside the Greenand is therefore not hers to take.
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Poison Ivy Discovers a Possibly-New Entity in the Green
After Misusing the Parliaments of Life
In DC’s tangled cosmology,the various elemental forces and types of life are divided into “Parliaments” by which they are governed. While the first one to appear was the Green (the domain of vegetation, led by the Parliament of Trees) inThe Saga of theSwamp Thing#47, the Parliaments have been expanded upon across various iterations ofSwamp ThingandAnimal Man.Aside from the Green, the next most recurring Parliamentin DC is the Red, which governs animal life (and all animal-based heroes) and is led by the Parliament of Limbs.
1985’sThe Saga of theSwamp Thing#47 by Alan Moore, Stan Woch, Ron Randall, Tatjana Wood, and John Costanza is available now, digitally and in collected editions, from DC Comics.
This explanation may sound straightforward, but things get tricky when discussing mushrooms. While mushrooms are often thought of as vegetation, they are in fact neither plant nor animal; DC cosmology has them assigned to their own Parliament, the Grey (and tangentially related to the Black/the Rot, which are the forces of decay). This means that Ivy’s Green-based powers should never have worked on the Lamia spores, and that they did fall under her control means thatIvy (who is aligned with the Green) has been violating the balance of powers between the Parliaments.
Does DC Have a New Mystery God?
While the identity of the avatar Ivy speaks with is yet unknown, there are a few clues provided.Its existence as a tree clearly suggests it to be a member of the Parliament of Trees; likewise, Ivy refers to it as “the tree of life.” Whoever this entity is, it seems to have a vested interest in Ivy: Ivy says that she first saw it when she received her powers, and despite Ivy having violated the boundaries of the Parliaments of Life, the entity simply resurrects Ivy with a slap on the wrist and the admonishment of “no more mushrooms.”
The boundaries between life, death, and the Parliaments are tenuous; war between the cosmic factions is not uncommon given just the slightest provocation.Poison Ivy#24 fixes the plot hole that arose fromPoison Ivy’suse of the Lamia, but in doing so places her precariously inDC Comics’cosmology as someone able to violate the boundaries of the Parliaments at will - and someone with a mysterious backer within the Green, who is most definitely protecting her.
POISON IVY #24 (2024)
Poison Ivy
Inducted into Batman’s rogues gallery in the 1960s, Poison Ivy is a metahuman who terrorizes Gotham with her poisonous touch and control over plant life. A misanthropic eco-terrorist, Poison Ivy is also depicted as an anti-hero, using her powers in attempts to regrow the environment in the wake of pollution and deforestation. Together with her lover Harley Quinn, the two are always ready to wreak havoc in Gotham.
