Review: Poison Ivy- Cycle of Life and Death
Quick Summary
Pros: The book has a unique and compelling mystery that will grab reader’s interest. The second half is very exciting and well written. Poison Ivy excels as a character throughout the book. The collection’s artwork looks great.
Cons: The book’s first half has a number of moments that feel out of place and contradict with other story elements.
Overall: In this collection, Poison Ivy stars in a murder mystery that will hold reader’s attention from beginning to end. This is a book with fun, excitement, and a wonderful examination into Poison Ivy as a character. There are a few bumps in the first half, but the second half is so well done that it more than makes up for it. Overall, this is a good collection for fans of both Poison Ivy and mystery in general.
Story
In Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death, by Amy Chu, Pamela Isley takes a break from crime and takes up her true calling, botany. This renewed interest in science leads to a unique murder mystery style story involving interpersonal relationship and character growth. By setting the collection up in this way, writer Amy Chu makes it accessible and entertaining to fans of Ivy as a character or fans just looking for a unique mystery. However, a few flaws in the book’s first half prevent it from reaching its full potential. Overall though, this is a fun book packed with reasons to read.
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Right from the start, the focus is on Ivy as a character. She has put a life of crime behind her and has entirely devoted her time and energy to botanical research. This change is not without its drawbacks though, as Ivy’s “all work and no play” attitude has led her to become isolated, even from her friends. The contrast between good and bad and the exploration of isolationism is a central theme in this book that helps Ivy grow as a person.
Alongside this, a whodunit-style mystery is unfolding. Multiple researchers have been killed at Ivy’s job site and her research notes have gone missing. Chu sprinkles in hints that indicate there is a more significant conspiracy going on here, though this isn’t fully revealed until the final chapter. The buildup here is well done and is something that really got me hooked into reading his volume.
However, within this first half of the book, readers will also find the majority of the book’s flaws. Most of these come from moments when intense action or deadly drama is thrown in simply for the sake of excitement. Each of the book’s first three chapters has a moment that sticks out poorly: the random bar fight, Ivy killing an old woman, and Ivy killing her coworker. These moments are incredibly forced and do not contribute to the story in any sort of significant way, besides providing some random violence. Some of these moments even conflict with the rest of the book’s message; Ivy dealing out vigilante style executions does not pair well with her quest for redemption. Overall, I would have preferred a more boring, but logical, introduction to one containing a number of cheap thrills.
Luckily, the second half of the book manages to avoid moments like these, likely because it is simply exciting enough on its own. This is because the majority of the collection’s drama and intrigue come to a head right here. The convergence of these elements leads to fun heists with Catwoman, tense situations involving Ivy’s “daughters”, and a climactic resolution to the mystery. It makes the book better overall and also gives it a worthwhile ending.
This portion of the book also continues to develop Ivy as a character, especially after the arrival of her “daughters”. These characters allow us to see Ivy take on a maternal role and forge a deeper connection with another living being, outside the Green. Ivy reaching out to Harley at the collection’s end is the pinnacle of her development and shows that she now knows the importance of connecting with others. All of this adds a dash of emotion among all the excitement and give the book a greater sense of meaning overall.
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Art
The vast majority of the pencils throughout Cycle of Life and Death are done by Clay Mann. Mann’s artwork is packed with detail, giving all of his pages a wonderful sense of realism. He also does well with character design, as every character here is distinct and different in a way that makes them instantly identifiable by the readers. In particular, Poison Ivy and her children are designed very well and look great on nearly every page they end up on.
Though this collection also includes a few additional artists on pencils and a host of different artists on inks, a solid level of consistency is maintained. None of the chapters look remarkably different and the majority of the differences will likely go unnoticed by the average readers. In addition, Ulises Arreola’s colors are maintained in every chapter, giving the entire work some additional consistency.
Continuity
Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death is a miniseries generally unconnected to the rest of the DC Universe continuity. Ivy’s appearance here does not follow her appearances in any particular comic book.
The main storyline ends here and is not continued in any comic book, as of now. However, Poison Ivy can be seen dealing with the emotional fallout of this comic in Trinity Vol. 1: Better Together (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn’s relationship has been teased in many comics but starts becoming more pronounced in Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City (Review).
- Ivy makes a passing remark about her past with Catwoman. This is, presumably, a reference to their time together in the Gotham City Sirens series, which begins in Gotham City Sirens Book One.