Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #4 Review #PoisonIvyLeague (WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD)

Well, I’m sure, after last time I reviewed Poison Ivy, that everyone was wondering what I’d think of this issue. Would I like it, would I hate it, would it further the problems of the last one or recover from them? Well, let’s not waste any time and dive into Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #4 to find out.

So, right off the top, I do need to make mention of the fact that, yes, Poison Ivy apparently kills someone. However, this issue, it didn’t bother me NEARLY as much. In fact, I actually thought it worked perfectly within her personality. The details are kinda spoiler heavy, though, so I’m gonna write this in white within brackets. If you don’t wanna know what happened, don’t read it, but if you do, highlight the whole thing to find out. [Okay, so long story short, Pam finds out that Victor in the lab was the one who stole her notes, was the murderer all along, and used Pam’s research to try and create his own human/plant hybrids. The thing is, there was only ONE successful test subject, who was able to call out through the Green to Ivy for help. All of the others, who numbered in the dozens, maybe HUNDREDS, of fetuses? Not so lucky. Between that and the fact that Victor was going to threaten her and her children, Pam lost it, destroyed the lab, and damned near took herself, Catwoman, Darshan, and the girl with it in a rage, though it’s implied she killed Victor as the lab was brought down around him.] Suffice to say, after that? I don’t blame Pam for killing him. It’s something I wouldn’t expect Batman or Superman to do, but that’s strictly because they’re the people that don’t cross that line except in the most extreme of circumstances, because they’re the ones who HAVE to maintain that line between justice and vengeance, to show we don’t have to go down that road. To see Pam cross the line because someone did something so horrific? Not that big a big deal to me. Hell, I might’ve killed that guy, and I’m someone who values all life!

Other than that, the issue is relatively solid. I will say that, while I feel like Catwoman could’ve been used a bit better, seeing her and Darshan play off each other and show one another up back and forth was kinda fun. One minor nitpick: Because Clay Mann is doing Trinity for DC Rebirth, he had to take off early, and while those that replaced him are all good (or even great in the case of Ethan Van Sciver), they didn’t necessarily gel together that great at points in this issue. I guess the only other problem is that the murder mystery is over, but we’ve still got two issues left, so other than an insane amount of just throwing everything at us, I’m not sure where we go from here. I’m kinda hoping for/expecting a Gotham City Sirens reunion by the end, and the giant plant monster that’s been teased, but how it all ties together? I don’t know. But in terms of this issue on its own and judged by its own merits? Can’t complain too much.

 

Anyway, that’s all I had to say about this one. Big improvement in my eyes over last issue. Let’s hope it keeps up for the last two issues. Until then, lemme know what you think in the comments, and I’ll see you back here for issue 5. Ja né!

Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #4 Preview

At this point, I’m just hoping they can go one issue without killing anyone. Also, gotta admit, this IS kinda making me wish we could get a new Sirens book. Anyway, here are the preview pages for Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death #4!

• Catwoman and Poison Ivy—reunited! As the body count rises at the Gotham Botanical Gardens labs, Ivy needs Selina’s help to solve the puzzle…a mystery that seems to involve Ivy’s blossoming children!

http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/poison-ivy-cycle-of-life-and-death/2/

Wonder Woman Fans Should All Be Buying Sensation Comics

So, you remember a while back when I mentioned that DC has these amazing digital first comics that they never seem to do anything with in terms of advertising the crap outta them to make boatloads of bucks? Well, here’s one of them, and of all the books they sell as digital first, this is the one I feel they should be backing most: Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman.

If you don’t know, Sensation Comics, while not being the first book to feature Wonder Woman, was the first one to show her on the cover, and was the primary book that told her Golden Age stories. Recently, it was decided to bring it back as a digital first comic starring Wonder Woman, and is not a part of the New 52…and thank goodness for that, because as anyone who has read practically anything in the New 52 that Diana appeared in (with a few good exceptions, not gonna lie) can tell you, this is NOT the character we know and love. As such, the various writers for Sensation Comics (because there’s a different one for each story, and usually 1-3 stories in the printed versions sold in stores for those of us who can’t buy online) are pretty much allowed to tell the tales of the Wonder Woman they love from varying perspectives and in different scenarios. For example, Gail Simone tells a story about Wonder Woman being called in by Oracle to stand in for Batman in Gotham City. Jason Bischoff wrote a story about Diana as a child. Even alternate takes that keep the primary elements of the character intact are present, like Sean E. Williams’ Wonder Woman as a rock star. It’s AWESOME.

So yeah, I HIGHLY recommend anyone who is a big Wonder Woman fan, who is sick of everything that’s been done with her in the New 52, buy Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman. Seriously, as much as we joke, the heads at DC Comics are NOT completely stupid. If enough people buy, if there’s a big enough reaction to it, they’ll eventually go “Hey, you know what? This is doing way better than our New 52 Wonder Woman books. Maybe we should try to make THAT book a bit more like THIS one.”

Can we see more of Etta Candy tackling ninjas, please? 😀

Anyway, that’s all I have to say on the subject. Leave a comment on how you feel about the whole Wonder Woman scenario, the current books, and even her upcoming Wonder Woman ’77 book, and we’ll see how things play out. Ja né!

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises #18…….Wut?

Okay, I’ve made it clear that I do not read Batman: The Dark Knight on a number of occasions. I find the stories to constantly be wrestling at the border of being boring or downright chaotic/nonsensical. As such, I did not read Batman: The Dark Knight #18. However, after reading about Batman: The Dark Knight #18, there was one moment in that book that I had to discuss…THIS.

…Okay, everybody with me now: Palm up front, aaaaannnd GO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZxzJGgox_E

…So, I decided instead to do some in-depth analysis to demonstrate, for those who may not get it, why this is BAD.

1. If there is a single person who cares even a little bit about the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Natalya Trusevich, I would love to hear your explanation as to why. I’m sure I mentioned this before, but when Ivy tried to create a hallucination for Batman in Detective Comics #14 and appeared as Natalya, I had a “Who the F is Surge?” moment when she showed up. I don’t find that they have any chemistry beyond what he usually has with his usual flings, and I don’t find her all that interesting, except for when she occasionally pwns Bruce for being…well, Bruce. But c’mon, that’s not that hard. Give me something more to work with. Good grief, I honestly find Dr. Chase Meridian from Batman Forever to be a better match for him, and she regressed into a giggly schoolgirl trying (and failing) to be slutty whenever he put the Batsuit on!
2. Oh God, the dialogue. It is literally him repeating “This is who I am” over and over and over again. Oh, they tried to change it up by having him stress one word, saying “This is who I am” when they got to the Batsuit, but that was it. Ooh, that’s TOTALLY different.
3. The reason he does this is because Natalya decides she’s had enough of the usual Bruce Wayne antics and Bruce, in response to this, has a hallucination of his parents (yes, seriously) telling him when he was a kid to someday find the woman that will complete him. Okay, I am not against the idea of Bruce settling down and having a family, but if he thinks this woman is the one that completes him, he CLEARLY is even more out of his gourd than I thought.
4. Clearly the New 52 version of Bruce Wayne has not revealed his secret identity to many women before (in particular Catwoman), because I’m honestly trying to remember a single time in the comics that he ever revealed his identity as Batman to a love interest that didn’t end BADLY. The closest I come to is Catwoman, since nobody died and, while he decided they couldn’t have a romantic relationship just yet, they did continue to work closely together and flirt back and forth. But Natalya? She is so kidnapped AT BEST.
5. This one’s actually kinda dumb, and I could be way wrong, but I don’t think the primary Batsuit that Bruce uses is situated there. Not a big deal, just another level of stupid I couldn’t ignore.
6. While I do admittedly find it kind of funny for Bruce to take a girl that was gonna dump him and go “You don’t want this? Bitch, I’m the Goddamn Batman!”, it is HORRIBLY out of character for him. And so is that smile on his face that just says “I am going to show you something SO cool!”.
7. If you need any more reason to not like Natalya, it’s her reaction to all of this. She doesn’t even seem in shock so much as “I am witnessing…something…”. Now, granted, that’s the artist’s fault as much as anything, but still…

So yeah, there ya go, comic. You fail. In seven very distinct ways with just ONE page, YOU FAIL!

Anyway, leave your comments below, and feel free to check in this Wednesday with What I Bought Today, which will include Detective Comics #900. Ja né!

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• SPOILERS: Batman – The Dark Knight #18 (gothamspoilers.com)