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scans_dailyThe Poison Ivy storyline comes to a head.
Last time on BOP, Ivy was mortally wounded stopping a Talon. And now, the conclusion.
"It's been nine issues! Ivy's definitely permanently redeemed herself!"
They're shot down and crash-land, this apparently having something to do with the drugs that their pilot smuggles when he's on the clock. It doesn't really come up again.
They're attacked by these things and, as per usual, the issue is one long action sequence of fighting and running away from them.
Next issue, we flash-forward to two weeks from now...
Are there a lot of all-white board of directors in Dubai? Asking for a friend.
Flashback to the Birds, who have made their way to a jungle research facility.
Now Ivy's determined to enact her agenda before she croaks.
You know, I wasn't going to say anything about the Ventriloquist Dummy CEO, but this really is some poor art, isn't it?
So, why did she have to lure them to the jungle to infect them with someone when infecting people with poison is generally her things? Don't know; onto the next plot point.
Wait, wait, has Ivy been trying to bring the other Birds around to her way of thinking this whole time? Because that sounds interesting and is a compelling reason for her to join the BOP--shame we never saw it!
So wait, why doesn't she just DO THAT if she's going no holds barred? It makes sense if they're using her as an antihero who exercises some moral restraint, but this is all treated like her revealing that she was the one who killed Laura Palmer or something.
Unflashback to the present, where the Birds are helping Ivy with her corporate takeover.
Look, I can believe Martians, magicians, and 34E aliens that get superpowers from wearing skimpy costumes, but I don't believe in dartguns that go BLAM! Boo! Copout!
By the way, this is the third issue we're in now and it's not that I want Bendis to be writing this, but they are rushing so fast through this storyline when it could easily be a whole year of comics. Especially with Ivy being sympathetic and being willing to use nonlethal methods to achieve genuine good. All the Birds are taking this as a personal slight--"we THOUGHT you were our FRIEND!" And it's frustrating that neither them nor the story are willing to consider that Ivy might be in the right.
The Birds get into a big pointless fight scene with Ivy, which is another L with this storyline. There's no tension being built. The Birds just continually throw hands with Ivy, she fights back, then goes "Don't do that again!" and it's on with the plot. Okay, fine, it's an action comic, there's going to be punching, but I think this set-up cries out to go a bit deeper.
To compare to the arc in Breaking Bad where Walter was forced to work for Gus Fring, you didn't see Walter continually make moves against Gus, get beaten, and have Gus shrug it off, because that'd make Gus look like an idiot to keep allowing open rebellion against him.
They parachute down to an oil rig in the Gulf ofMexico America, which Ivy plans to evacuate before demolishing. The fiend!
Ivy's Gone Too Far! It's like speed-running an MCU movie, isn't it? Except they never even bothered treating her as a legitimate moral challenge to the Birds in the first place, so they're losing at storytelling to fucking The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.
Back at home base, they get into yet another fight with Ivy and this time they win! A satisfying end to this three-issue epic.
But now how will they stop the deadly virus that will kill them and all of humanity in only six months yah Batman gives them a cure between this issue and the next.
So, sorry for recapping three issues at once, but I wanted to get across what a waste of ideas these three issues, and Ivy's entire character arc, ended up being.
Last time on BOP, Ivy was mortally wounded stopping a Talon. And now, the conclusion.
"It's been nine issues! Ivy's definitely permanently redeemed herself!"
They're shot down and crash-land, this apparently having something to do with the drugs that their pilot smuggles when he's on the clock. It doesn't really come up again.
They're attacked by these things and, as per usual, the issue is one long action sequence of fighting and running away from them.
Next issue, we flash-forward to two weeks from now...
Are there a lot of all-white board of directors in Dubai? Asking for a friend.
Flashback to the Birds, who have made their way to a jungle research facility.
Now Ivy's determined to enact her agenda before she croaks.
You know, I wasn't going to say anything about the Ventriloquist Dummy CEO, but this really is some poor art, isn't it?
So, why did she have to lure them to the jungle to infect them with someone when infecting people with poison is generally her things? Don't know; onto the next plot point.
Wait, wait, has Ivy been trying to bring the other Birds around to her way of thinking this whole time? Because that sounds interesting and is a compelling reason for her to join the BOP--shame we never saw it!
So wait, why doesn't she just DO THAT if she's going no holds barred? It makes sense if they're using her as an antihero who exercises some moral restraint, but this is all treated like her revealing that she was the one who killed Laura Palmer or something.
Unflashback to the present, where the Birds are helping Ivy with her corporate takeover.
Look, I can believe Martians, magicians, and 34E aliens that get superpowers from wearing skimpy costumes, but I don't believe in dartguns that go BLAM! Boo! Copout!
By the way, this is the third issue we're in now and it's not that I want Bendis to be writing this, but they are rushing so fast through this storyline when it could easily be a whole year of comics. Especially with Ivy being sympathetic and being willing to use nonlethal methods to achieve genuine good. All the Birds are taking this as a personal slight--"we THOUGHT you were our FRIEND!" And it's frustrating that neither them nor the story are willing to consider that Ivy might be in the right.
The Birds get into a big pointless fight scene with Ivy, which is another L with this storyline. There's no tension being built. The Birds just continually throw hands with Ivy, she fights back, then goes "Don't do that again!" and it's on with the plot. Okay, fine, it's an action comic, there's going to be punching, but I think this set-up cries out to go a bit deeper.
To compare to the arc in Breaking Bad where Walter was forced to work for Gus Fring, you didn't see Walter continually make moves against Gus, get beaten, and have Gus shrug it off, because that'd make Gus look like an idiot to keep allowing open rebellion against him.
They parachute down to an oil rig in the Gulf of
Ivy's Gone Too Far! It's like speed-running an MCU movie, isn't it? Except they never even bothered treating her as a legitimate moral challenge to the Birds in the first place, so they're losing at storytelling to fucking The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.
Back at home base, they get into yet another fight with Ivy and this time they win! A satisfying end to this three-issue epic.
But now how will they stop the deadly virus that will kill them and all of humanity in only six months yah Batman gives them a cure between this issue and the next.
So, sorry for recapping three issues at once, but I wanted to get across what a waste of ideas these three issues, and Ivy's entire character arc, ended up being.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 01:14 pm (UTC)Yeah... you could at least cite one incident, maybe? Not even a whole flashback, or even a panel, just a vague one-sentence allusion to some incident Ivy was actually pivotal for would do.
So many adventures they had together! All of them real!
Impressive that Katana managed to strike a killing blow on Ivy with her katana, which I'm pretty sure has to be a pretty deep stroke on your average person, and yet it in no way seems to have damaged Ivy's shirt.
Like how despite being mortally wounded Ivy manages to collapse in a way that still has her butt splayed out.
... I use the word "like" wrongly.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 03:44 pm (UTC)Yeah, a company would never base itself in a country with no taxes. Because old white execs love taxes.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 09:14 pm (UTC)BATMAN: Okay, but that doesn't change the fact that she's a murderous eco-terrorist. I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but she will absolutely betray you in the name of the environment and I don't understand why you would think otherwise.
-----
BLACK CANARY: So, umm, Batman, I don't suppose you have a cure for Ivy's poison?
BATMAN: Of course I do. Now, I'm not going to say I told you so, but will you at least consider that maybe you're reckless with who you put your trust in?
BLACK CANARY: Hey, screw you Batman! I trust every member of my team completely no matter how suspicious or murderous they are!
STARLING: (into phone) That's right, Mrs. Waller. The betrayal is going great.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-05 09:36 pm (UTC)It feels like destroying a massive rig like that is going to have environmental consequences one way or another, but especially if its started pumping. This is what, a year or so after Deepwater Horizon? Did no-one writing this think "gee, I know Pam gets a little hyper-focused on protecting the planet, but shouldn't her eco-terrorism, you know...not potentially cause further environmental harm?"