Joker’s Asylum: Poison Ivy, #1 (DC)

Writer: JT Krul Art & Cover: Guillem March

Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy, #1 Cover by Guillem March

The latest in DC’s recently-launched “Joker’s Asylum” weekly, in which the Joker delves into the backstories of Batman’s rogues gallery, brings hyper-sexualized eco-terrorist Poison Ivy to the fore (bearing the cringe-inducing title Poison Ivy in “Deflowered”). In my experience, Ivy has always come across as one of the Dark Knight’s most underdeveloped villains. “Joker’s Asylum: Poison Ivy” does little to remedy this.

After a brief (single page) origin refresher course, this one-shot has Ivy acting, as ever, on behalf of Mother Gaia or whatever motivating quasi-spiritual singularity, eliminating a trio of “human” (read: greedy, unfeeling, environmentally insensitive) land-developers guilty of clearing out one of Gotham’s outlying forests in order to erect tracts of luxury homes. To this end, she employs her usual earth-friendly arsenal – strangling people with vines, seducing and paralyzing them with venomous lipstick, &c. Her M.O. is painfully obvious, and it takes Bats about six minutes to put all the pieces together.

It’s boilerplate Poison Ivy. She’s sexy (as March’s hairpin curves and discretely placed laurel leaves point out), she has some sort of vaguely-delineated Eve complex and, yeah, she can control plants and trees and vines and all that. Ivy’s brand of extremist ecological zeal may have a place in comics, present global circumstances being what they are, but unfortunately, the tendency for Batman’s villains to be written off as insane ideological absolutists destined for Arkham’s padded walls results in any resonance to Ivy’s advocacy being similarly shrugged off as the ramblings of a tree-hugging looney.

The Incredible Hercules, #119 (Marvel)

Writers: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente Pencils: Rafa Sandoval

The Incredible Hercules #119, Cover by Romita, Janson & White

Word from the bandwagon is that Greg Pak’s “The Incredible Hercules” is one of the best Marvel titles being published. Hype notwithstanding, #119 (part three of the series’ tie-in to Marvel’s Secret Invasion “event”) secures Herc’s place alongside “Invincible Iron Man” as probably the most consistently entertaining (non-Avengers) Marvel book gracing the racks nowadays.

Issue 119 continues the quest of the God Sqaud-Ajak the Eternal, the Egyptian deity Atum, the Japanese god of evil Mikaboshi, Snowbird (daughter of the Inuit goddess Nirvana and former Alpha Flight member), Hercules and the mortal boy genius Amadeus Cho (with, of course, “his pup in-tow”)-as they invade the domain of the Skrull gods, destroy them, and thusly take the wind out the sails of the Skrull forced invading Earth. Developing the reveal in the previous issue, the Squad learns that Cho’s dog, Kirby, is a shape-shifting Skrull agent, sent to jeopardize the quest into the pantheon of alien gods.

The book works not only because the mission of the God Squad reeks of all the stuff that makes superhero comics worthwhile in the first place (ie. immortals beating the divine snot out of each other for Universal supremacy), but because the whole “Who Do You Trust?” tagline of the Secret Invasion series works particularly well amongst the unlikely alliance of gods, many of whom have millennia-old quarry with one another. Herc’s development as a group leader who must learn to employ more than his Olympian strength to get out of a tight spot continues, though his “I punch stuff, it falls down!” ethos by-and-large trumps any sophisticated tactical engagement.

Sandoval’s pencils continue to impress. His ability to render a chaotic scrum between the God Squad and a cavalcade of lesser alien gods is clean and comprehensible, expanding upon the SMASH-centered action of “The Incredible Hulk” series which Herc usurped. A great read, especially for mythology and folklore nerds who have grown tired with the of Asgard.

The Mighty Avengers, #16 (Marvel)

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Pencils: Khoi Pham

The Mighty Avengers #16 Cover by Aleski Briclot

Despite the assortment of C and D-list Marvel heroes who make up the team, and the fact that they by-and-large tow the pro-registration company line in the wake of the Civil War event, “The Mighty Avengers” is currently one of my favorite Marvel titles. The recent Secret Invasion tie-ins have been especially compelling (often moreso than the standalone mini-series). Both the tie-ins and “The Mighty Avengers” series as a whole afford readers an opportunity to explore the histories and motivations of some of the Marvel’s more neglected heroes (Miss Marvel, Wonder Man, Giant Man, Ares, &c.) and to understand how these characters figure into the larger goings-on in the Marvel Universe.

The latest Mighty Avengers issue continues this trend, this time focusing on Elektra, the first person revealed as a Skrull way back in “New Avengers Illuminati.”* The story sees Daredevil’s oft-enemy/oft-ally as battling the Skrull agents sent to kill her and assume her form. Some of the martial arts action is pretty good-with Elektra taking on Skrulls assuming the form of Wolverine, Daredevil, Ghost Rider and herself, but where are the Mighty Avengers in all this?

It’s great the Bendis is using both “Mighty” and “New Avengers” titles to flesh out the story behind the scenes of Secret Invasion, but this story is better suited to a one-shot than an Avengers book. With Hank Pym, Tony Stark, Jessica Drew, Jarvis and who-knows-who-else closely implicated with Secret Invasion and the larger arcs of “The Mighty Avengers,” resorting to an Elektra story seems a bit disappointing. Its not that the book wasn’t an enjoyable read. It’s just that, well, at the end of the day Elektra, Electro, and the Hand just don’t do it for me.

*Nb. Speaking of that “Illuminati” run, what is Dr. Strange up to during the Secret Invasion? Doesn’t this seem like the kind of thing he should just be stopping by snapping his fingers?