Graphic Novel Review - 'Poison Ivy: Thorns' by Kody Keplinger (Writer), Sara Kipin (Artist)

'Poison Ivy: Thorns' is a gothic horror reimagining of the origin of DC's famous femme fatale ecoterrorist.

As well of being a victim of the patriarchy and the inexhaustible forms of misogynistic abuse that come with it, teenage Pamela Isley loves and idolises her varying-state-of-fridging mother very much. It was she who inspired Pamela's love of plants, and who had wanted to call her daughter Ivy. Pamela took her moniker from that, out of respect for her smart and passionate mum.

'Poison Ivy: Thorns' proves that Pamela Isley is very much, undoubtedly human. No longer is she a villain, a seductress created by the male gaze that traps poor innocent men and needs to be beaten and taken down a peg, thus "balance" is restored. She's an antiheroine, because she doesn't play by anyone's rules but her own. Toxic, entitled, stubborn and messed up men will not own and control her and her body anymore. She has agency, and power, and she will learn not to be afraid to use it.

(Heck, even before she fully develops her flower power and poisonous kiss, she has a personal greenhouse at her school, and she handmakes her red lipstick.)

What else does the comic prove about Pamela Isley that is now canon? She is very much, undoubtedly LBGTQ; her ecoterrorism, shady and scary home life, and metahuman horticultural powers are not the only things she feels she has to hide about herself.

Domestic abuse victim Pamela has been directly taught that no one but family is to be trusted. Her growing relationship with fellow high school student Alice Oh challenges this. And there is danger in that, too; in forming an outside connection, a friendship, an outlet for spilling her secret pain, and in falling in love. Alice only wants to help Pamela, to earn her trust through kindness, compassion and support. Is Pamela brave enough to allow such openness - and real love - in her terrifying situation?

Can poor young Pamela even trust herself after everything - every act, every façade, all she's suffered through to protect/possibly save her broken family - spirals out of control and comes crashing down?

Such is the intrigue of 'Poison Ivy: Thorns'. It is an updated, relevant and progressive origin for a DC character, like 'Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed', which came out the year before. It is beautiful in its gothic, Victorian aesthetic and art, that's set in modern times. Think Mary Shelley meets 'The Haunting of Hill House' meets 'The Little Shop of Horrors'.

One other thing I have to point out about 'Poison Ivy: Thorns': Pamela Isley isn't drawn as being skinny. Leaving aside the various scars of emotional (and hidden physical) abuse, she looks like a regular teen girl, a regular human, by all accounts. A rotund-hipped Poison Ivy (whose weight is never commented on) is something truly new, bold, daring and challenging. I love it.

For more of my thoughts on Ivy, read my review of 'Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death' here.

Women are strong. Women are amazing. Women possess power that is unique and intrinsic to them and them alone. Women survive, and thrive. Like everything in nature, they will continue to prosper, to flourish, to exist, no matter how much they are ignored, hated, dictated, beaten, abused, and silenced.

Final Score: 4/5