DC’s new Absolute Universe setting is built around twists. Part of the fun is seeing new takes on classic DC Comics‘ characters and how one small change inspires bigger changes. In the case of Absolute Batman, this means a Dark Knight with one surviving parent and without billions of dollars. Poison Ivy has undergone a similar change, resulting in a new look and new powers that make her more dangerous than ever.
Written by Scott Snyder, with art by guest artist Eric Canete, Absolute Batman #17 introduces the new Poison Ivy. Reference to the villain had been teased in earlier issues, with the Ark M prison containing an “Isley ecosystem.” The new issue is the first time Dr. Pamela Isley makes an appearance in the flesh. However, by issue’s end, it is clear that the idiom “in the flesh” may not be at all appropriate to the plant-controlling Pamela.
A flashback details the Absolute Universe Pamela Isley’s life and how her mother’s illness inspired her to become a scientist. Her mother nicknamed her “Ivy” because of her habit of climbing on everything she could as a child. As in the main DC Universe, Isley’s studies lead her to merge plant and human cells. In the new universe, however, Pamela does not stop at plants.
Absolute Batman’s Poison Ivy Powers Explained
Poison Ivy’s history continues to unfold as Absolute Batman hacks his way through the foliage surrounding the Heart Building she invaded in the present. As in some versions of her history, Pamela Isley became trapped in her lab as she was trying to reclaim her work from a dubious corporate partner. The same thing happens in the Absolute Universe, but with more extreme results due to how her research had changed.
When Batman reaches Poison Ivy, Alfred Pennyworth warns him that his readings indicate she has gone beyond controlling the local plant life. The astonished aide of the Dark Knight says that whatever he is facing is “part human, part plant . . . part everything.” This confirms that beyond being a plant-human hybrid, the Poison Ivy facing Absolute Batman also has elements of six different life forms. These are plants, animals, fungi, protista, eubacteria and archaebacteria.
The horror grows as it is revealed that the nymph-like being whom Batman faced was not the real Pamela Isley. The comic concludes as the real Poison Ivy emerges. Far from a beautiful redhead nymph in leafy clothing, she is a gestalt that is barely recognizable as humanoid.
Absolute Batman #17 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
