The debut of Absolute Poison Ivy was, depending on which side of the argument you sit on, either ruined by cover reveals and online discourse, or elevated because of the anticipation. Needless to say, only those who stay offline would have been surprised to see her in this issue. Luckily though, Scott Snyder keeps enough hidden from readers to keep things interesting and he did it again at the end of this issue with an unexpected reveal.
Poison Ivy
So technically this was not Poison Ivy’s actual debut as Batman had encountered her in Ark-M back in Absolute Batman #10, although Bruce only encountered her zombie like avatars. Absolute Batman #17 however brings us the full debut and origin story of Isley as she draws the attention of Batman by using her skills to take over a Gotham skyscraper, turning it into a nightmare of flora and fauna.
Most notably in this issue is the absence of Nick Dragotta. Dragotta has been instrumental in visualing the Gotham area of the Absolute Universe. Everything is dialled up to eleven, with each villain a little more twisted than the last. Thankfully, guest artist Eric Canete generally nails the brief. The only critique is in the first half, some of the action sequences felt rushed compared with the very polished flashbacks of Pamela Isley.
This is not the case however with the full reveal of Poison Ivy as Batman battles to the top of the building to face her. Batman defeats Ivy’s enchanting avatars but she finally reveals her real self; face-splitting to reveal more teeth as bestial limbs contort unnaturally creating a nightmare. This is a hellish version of Poison Ivy. The half-tone texture used in this issue is gently disorienting on the eye and used with great effect here.
Interestingly, Snyder opts to have Poison Ivy not just focussed on plants. In her earlier research, we are privy to Poison Ivy’s thoughts that she could stop at combining human and plant cells, but why should she stop there? She planned to unite the whole six kingdoms of life. Judging from the chimeras and monsters that Batman meets as he battles up the tower, including a biblically accurate seraphim, Ivy succeeded.
What is not clear though, is what Poison Ivy’s motivations are now, if any? We know that Joker has held her captive, experimented on her, but is she entirely under his control? As time moves on, will her spores be able to control Batman?
What may sway things in Batman’s favour is Pamela Isley never seemed to be a bad person. She pursued science in the hopes of curing her mother and saving her life. There are tones of grandiosity and luddism in her thoughts but nothing that would suggest she is entirely the monster she is depicted as. Will the little humanity left in her help move her?
Isolated Bruce
The comic essentially tells three stories. Firstly, it has the main action plotline, set in the present. As discussed above, it also has the story of Ivy’s origin. Lastly, it shows us the snippets of Bruce’s life outside of being Batman and it is not a positive one.
Bruce cannot find Waylon in the sewers and Ozzie refuses to see him, his security threatening to harm Bruce if he shows up again. Bruce promises that he will. Harvey has gone missing and Eddie completely ignores him. In short, Bruce is losing his friends; an strength he had relied on. Even Joe Chill has begun refusing to see him.
Realising this, Bruce becomes increasingly angry, lashing out and becoming isolated. As the people of Gotham see Batman as a hero, as one of them, Bruce feels less and less attached to them and even to being Batman.
“Sometimes I see that bat… and I barely know what the #$%& I’m looking at” – Bruce Wayne
Without his friends, Bruce would never have defeated Bane. It took the support of Harley, Waylon, Alfred, and the others to do it. Thankfully, Alfred is still there, having provided intel and support to Batman in Ivy’s tower, but it is the love of his friends that he needs.
Martha Wayne is not who she seems
One of the key differences between Absolute Batman with the main universe is that his mother is still alive. This was seen as potentially having a large part to play in the series however you would be forgiven if you had forgotten Martha Wayne existed as she has had a minimal role. The reason behind this has likely been revealed in Absolute Batman #17.
Having failed to find or speak to his friends, Bruce sought out his mum, only discover that Martha and Jim Gordon have a romantic relationship. We see Bruce walk away but it is hard to gauge his feelings about this development. Jim however swears when he sees Bruce walk away. This cannot have been how he wanted Bruce to find out and the three of them will have to work through this new dynamic.
“We’re always here, Martha… We knew one day you’d come back.”
While offering another emotional blow to Batman in this issue, which fuelled his disregard for self-preservation against Poison Ivy, this was not the big reveal that has got fans excited. At the end of the issue, Martha rings some mysterious figures who reveal they had been expecting the call. They reveal themselves to be the Court of Owls.
This brings up a lot of questions. Are the Court of Owls bad in the Absolute Universe? What was Martha’s role? Has she contacted them now because of her relationship with Gordon?
Fans are obviously excited to see the Court of Owls in the Absolute Universe, particularly as they are a Snyder creation. The only concern is that there is a lot going on currently and fans are desperate to see more of the Joker. With Man-Bat and Deathstroke to face Batman at some point, it is reasonable to ask how the Court of Owls will fit into this, however there are a lot of issues left to go and Snyder has not put a foot wrong with Absolute Batman yet.
Buy Absolute Batman #17 (Cover E Karl Kerschl card stock variant) – Forbidden Planet UK
Buy Absolute Batman Volume 1 – Bookshop.org US
Buy Absolute Batman Volume 1 – Bookshop.org UK
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