It’s the beginning of a brave new era of Poison Ivy as Pamela Isley ascends to the role of Mayor of Gotham City. But what is her vision for Gotham’s future, and how far will she go to protect it?! Let’s just say things are going to get pretty bloody! Poison Ivy as Mayor of Gotham?! Poison Ivy #42 is a solid jumping on point with an interesting premise.

I haven’t kept up with Poison Ivy, the character and the series, but it felt like with a new status quo, Poison Ivy #42 was a nice opportunity to hop in and check it out. And, I’ve clearly been missing out. Written by G. Willow Wilson, the issue has Ivy in a new position, Mayor of Gotham. I missed the how of it all, but with Vandal Savage heading up the GCPD, the concept of two villains in charge of the city is a concept that’s interesting and intriguing… and Wilson delivers an issue full of surprises.

Ivy to me started as a clear villain but over the years has morphed into a villain but at times hero, whose intentions are often right but the execution of what she does all wrong. Ivy is an eco-warrior, out to protect Earth and nature, that’s a noble goal and in our real world she’d be labelled an eco-terrorist. She does harm and damage while attempting to achieve her goals. So, now she’s in charge and Wilson is taking clear inspiration from the real world.

Pamela Isley does have to deal with more traditional comic villains (clearly storylines carried over from the previous 41 issues) but now she’s faced with meeting the high expectations of the people who elected her. While we might expect there to be some sort of con or nefarious plan out of this, the comic plays her rather earnestly. She seems to want to do good and lead well, and even confronts Savage about militarizing the GCPD even further. She wants that back as well as improving infrastructure, increasing affordable housing, increasing healthy outcomes, and moving to clean energy. If she wasn’t a past super villain, she’d sound like a progressive just elected to office.

The art by Marcio Takara is great. With Arif Prianto on color and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, the art event makes rather boring office meetings interesting and exciting. The characters look great and there’s a great emphasis on the variation of them. Savage and a demon like creature tower over Poison Ivy. Gotham also looks a little greener overall. There’s also a tension and sadness the art nails down as what is happening, and what Ivy gave up to make it happen, weighs on her.

Poison Ivy #42 does feature some of what’s been going on and not a complete fresh start, so new readers might feel a little lost. But, it’s a solid start that’s pretty easy to get into the big picture and enjoy. There’s something nice seeing Ivy bounce between being a Mayor for the people with great policy but also a hammer who is breaking tradition with how things are going. Overall, we’re teased with a story that’s not as straightforward in concept as it seems and full of layers. Overall, it’s a great start for a new direction.

Story: G. Willow Wilson Art: Marcio Takara
Color: Arif Prianto Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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