Warning: contains spoilers for Catwoman #28 and Batman/Superman #15!
DC's most eco-friendly femme fatale has had quite the journey through comic history. Pamela Isley (aka Poison Ivy) gained a reputation as an evildoer by utilizing her intoxicating plant-based powers to become one of Gotham's most feared villains. She has mastered her abilities, taking control of a huge variety of plant life to facilitate countless crimes and heroic endeavors. Notorious for her ability to seduce and manipulate others, her potential to become incredible in the DC universe was clear from the start. But partly due to how powerful she has become, it seems she has lost her presence along the way... through no fault of her own.
A character who once openly wore her evil side on her sleeve, protecting what she cares about at all costs, Ivy has since lost touch with her more villainous persona. Poison Ivy may have been Gotham's largest threat not too long ago. However, like many other intimidating villains, the Vine Vixen recently went from eco-terrorist to neutral anti-heroine. This transition mirrors that of fellow Gotham City Sirens: Catwoman and Harley Quinn. But while these killer Gotham villains-to-heroes have had multidimensional storylines since steering down a more heroic path, Ivy hasn't had the same experience.
Since this transition, it looks like DC may be unsure what direction to take Poison Ivy in. The issue comes not from DC choosing to turn Ivy over to the side of good over evil, but rather from a lack of commitment to embracing her role as either hero or villain. A collective of fans would love to see this new age of Poison Ivy, but find that she is stuck playing a non-impactive role in the background of recent comics. Though some series have featured brief Poison Ivy appearances, from Batman White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn to the post-Joker War Catwoman, nothing has quite given the villain what she deserves.
Recent comics Catwoman #28 and Batman/Superman #15 continue a disappointing trend in using Poison Ivy as a plot device rather than a character. The latter uses her as the expert who assigns the World's Finest their new mission, while the former reveals her as the source of a new drug at issue's end. While it will be enjoyable to see Catwoman on a mission to save her friend and sometime ally, these stories rob Pamela of agency and treat her as a prop. Stories like DCeased: Dead Planet and Injustice give Ivy a larger role, but only in apocalyptic narratives. Part of the problem is that Ivy's powers have become over-sized, making it difficult to write stories for her in the context of DC's regular, interconnected reality.
DC history has shown Poison Ivy can be an incredibly interesting, powerful character, and things may be looking up in 2021 with Pamela having recently declared herself Queen of Gotham, but while stories like Heroes in Crisis pumped Ivy up as a planet-level presence, ongoing stories have failed to find a way to capitalize on this version of her character, leaving her in narrative limbo - a device rather than a hero or villain. Considering her relationship with Harley Quinn has made her one of DC's most notable LGBTQ+ characters, it's unfortunate that the comics have stalled in regards to Poison Ivy's evolution as a character whose ecological focus has only become more relevant to the real world. Hopefully, Poison Ivy will be given a larger spotlight in issues to come, or else DC will start looking at how the character needs to change to give her a true place in future stories.