A Classic Batman Villain Is Borrowing A Storyline From Daredevil: Born Again

G. Willow Wilson’s “Poison Ivy” is one of the most remarkable success stories at DC Comics in the last few years. Originally announced as a miniseries, the comic struck a chord with readers and it has kept going; “Poison Ivy” is currently approaching issue #50! Among the many Batman villains, Pamela Isley definitely has some of the greatest potential to stand on her own.

Poison Ivy was conceived in the femme fatale image of Julie Newmar’s Catwoman, but she’s evolved into more of an ecoterrorist. Her twisted ways of saving the Earth can make her a compelling lead.  “Poison Ivy” does that, and reframes Batman himself from Ivy’s POV, i.e. a self-righteous, mysterious, and frustrating thorn in her side.

In the latest arc of “Poison Ivy,” Pamela is trying a new strategy — as mayor of Gotham City. At the end of “Poison Ivy” issue #41, she resolves to run for mayor, deciding she needs to get legitimate power to take it away from her enemies. Issue #42 opens with her taking office, having won 70% of the vote. But Ivy is still a super-villain; she bulldozes past the city council to enact her agenda, and that’s only the start.

“Poison Ivy” issue #43 sees Ivy lure a polluting businessman to his death in the sewers. The latest issue, #45, opens with Ivy’s ecoterrorist acolytes forcing a news broadcaster to report positive coverage of the Isley administration. “Freedom and liberty are nice,” Ivy muses in narration. “But you know what’s nicer? Order and control.”

Superhero fans might be reminded of another recent storyline about a super-villain mayor. In “Daredevil: Born Again,” Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime (Vincent D’Onofrio) became mayor of New York City. Mayor Kingpin vs. Mayor Ivy is a true pick your poison choice.

Mayor Kingpin comes out of the “Daredevil” comics by writers Charles Soule then Chip Zdarsky. The arc culminated in Fisk tightening his grip on superheroes then resigning as mayor during the 2021 crossover “Devil’s Reign.” Why, besides recency bias, did “Daredevil: Born Again” go with this story out of decades of comics to choose from? It gave the series a relevant edge.

The United States is in an era of naked political corruption, and “Daredevil: Born Again” laid it on thick with allusions to President Donald Trump via Mayor Fisk. Is New York City electing a crime boss as mayor really that hard to believe when a man previously charged for working to overturn the results of a presidential election is now the president again? Ivy as Gotham’s mayor also rests on the idea that public criminal history doesn’t preclude election to high office, but I’d argue it comes from an opposite sentiment.

It’s a meme among “Batman” fans that, with worsening climate change, Ivy feels like less and less of a villain; she’s just trying to save a planet on fire. G. Willow Wilson’s “Poison Ivy” has indeed wrestled with how good or bad its lead is. The first arc is about Ivy trying to wipe out humanity by spreading a virus via a cross country road trip, but that experience ultimately reawakened her empathy. Confronting her past and her future, Ivy has been trying to be a better person and more strategic in her militant environmentalism.

Poison Ivy as a reformist mayor trying to help Gotham City isn’t a story dismissing politics as a rotten arena like Mayor Kingpin is. Rather, it legitimizes Poison Ivy as someone trying to do good.

The other half of the aforementioned “Poison Ivy is a good guy” argument is that, in an era of sky-high income inequality and increased awareness of police brutality, Batman being a billionaire and practical deputy of the Gotham City police means he doesn’t really resonate as a hero. This even made it onscreen in “The Flash” (2023), when Batman (Ben Affleck) holds the Lasso of Truth and says Gotham would be better if he gave his money away.

Recent Batman comics are responding to this criticism by reframing Batman as less an establishment hero, and more of an outlaw vigilante. During James Tynion IV’s “Batman” run, Bruce Wayne lost most of his money. The new “Absolute Batman” by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta is a ground-up reimagining. “Absolute” Bruce Wayne is a city engineer, while the Joker is a trillionaire with world-shaping influence.

Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez’s “Batman” fits into this, too. Poison Ivy’s mayoralty will culminate in the upcoming “Batman” crossover arc “Bad Seeds,” and it’s not just her hunting Batman. Immortal caveman villain Vandal Savage recently became police commissioner of Gotham City (long story) and has been turning the city’s police into Batman’s enemies.

In “Batman” issue #2, a pair of cops shoot and book Robin/Tim Drake for “resisting arrest.” When Batman comes to free his sidekick, one of the cops is shot by friendly fire. Savage frames Batman & Robin with a bloody batarang left at the scene, branding them criminals.

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In “Batman” #9, after Savage and the GCPD launch their anti-Batman offensive, Bruce has Wayne Manor blown up. Batman has retreated even deeper into shadows, while one of his worst enemies sits adored in Gotham City Hall.