Pamela is dying. She’s probably not all that certain how she feels about it. As long as she can remember, her body hasn’t really felt like her own. So maybe on some level, she feels as though it’s not any of her business what she thinks about the fact that it’s not exactly going to be living for much longer. She’ll find new levels and layers to the confusion in the shadow of her own death as Poison Ivy reaches its sixth issue. Writer G. Willow Wilson continues her road trip with Ivy, aided by artists Brian Level, Marcio Takara, and inker Jay Leisten.

Batman has given Poison Ivy a bit of advice. It’s not actually Batman, though. It’s her subconscious speaking to her through the image of someone she thinks of as being Batman. So maybe on some level, it’s her superego that’s actually giving her advice in the disorientation of a dream. So what does any of this have to do with the fact that she’s bleeding under a scalpel that she’s holding to her throat? It’s really anybody’s guess. Suicide is an option, but maybe there’s something she doesn’t know. And maybe it’s something that she’s not letting herself understand.

Wilson’s dive into the psyche of Ivy gets considerably deeper and darker in her sixth issue. It’s remarkably vivid stuff that speaks quite strongly about the will of all human life to maintain even in the face of overwhelming odds. Odd to think that there’s a sense of survival in a story that involves its title character spending three pages or more with a scalpel to her throat, but survival comes in the strangest places for someone living halfway between the human and animal kingdoms. Wilson has found a very unique and provocative place for Poison Ivy to inhabit. 

The art team doesn’t quite live up to the depth of what Wilson is putting together. The darkness of the story feels a little like it might almost be overcome by the garishness of the color even as it is bathed in shadow. Overall, though, the art team manages to hold onto what it needs to hold onto in drama and darkness and action and elation. It’s a hell of a journey between two covers, and the art is keeping up with Wilson’s script pretty well throughout the entirety of the plot.

Wilson has found a very intriguing place on the page. The art team does a pretty good job of moving with the grim nature of the action, but not everything is perfectly in sync with itself as it moves along to the issue’s conclusion. Where Ivy goes from the end of the chapter will be interesting. Wilson could take Ivy in any of many directions as things continue to fall apart for her, but it’s been such a weird and textured journey that it’s difficult to imagine any conclusion feeling satisfying in the face of such a strangely ambitious adventure.

Grade: B