This article contains spoilers for Batman: The Joker Warzone.
Poison Ivy has declared herself the new queen of Gotham City. The "Joker War" has brought Gotham to its knees. The Clown Prince of Crime successfully stole the Wayne fortune, and used it to equip gangs of hoodlums who wreaked havoc. Meanwhile, Punchline - his latest squeeze - dosed Batman up on toxins and left the Dark Knight incapacitated for days.
DC has just published a one-shot, Batman: The Joker Warzone, exploring the fallout from the "Joker War" and telling tales of those who were caught in the crossfire. This largely serves as setup, using the anarchy to launch a number of characters in new directions, ready for upcoming events. One such character is Poison Ivy, who hasn't played a major role in "Joker War," but has nonetheless been referenced. Harley Quinn took the broken Batman to a lair she and Poison Ivy shared, and it was raided by members of the Joker Gang.
In one of the short stories, "Ashes of Eden" by Sam Johns and artist Laura Braga, Poison Ivy returns to their old haunt - and is horrified to find the Joker Gang have despoiled one of her favorite places in Gotham. She burns the entire place down, declaring just one invasive species can destroy an entire ecosystem, and takes this as evidence she has squandered her attentions on Harley Quinn. "I let myself be distracted by pursuits of the flesh," Ivy fumes at one prisoner, "but I forgot that humans aren't like plants... I tried giving the world a paradise, and now the only choice I have left is to raise Hell." And so she renames herself after Epipremnum Aureum, which is called... Devil's Ivy.
Poison Ivy has shone as a major member of the supporting cast in the Harley Quinn series, so it makes sense for DC to make her more prominent in the comics as well. But, frankly, this particular direction is staggering with its character regression back to the villain Poison Ivy used to be. What's more, it ignores everything that has made Poison Ivy a fan-favorite in the hit DC Universe series. The relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is one of DC's most important queer romances, and it's a real shame seeing it twisted into this shape.
The short story in Batman: The Joker Warzone ends with Poison Ivy sending tendrils of plant-life through Gotham, planning to bring the entire city down. Apparently this is setup for what promises to be a major arc in 2021; hopefully DC will take the time to figure out how to handle this story a little better, and please fans rather than irritate them.