I have always thought that Poison Ivy was one of Batman's greatest villains and iI would love to see a live action version finally do the character justice. Uma Thurman's turn in Batman and Robin was a campy mess. The Poison Ivy arc going on in Gotham is a little creepy - a young girl with the body of an adult seducing men... whatever happened to the plant angle? Hopefully one day we will see a comics-accurate version.
Ivy WAS introduced in the Batman '66 continuity - the comic book continuity. She was also included in the Batman '66 Meets The Man From UNCLE mini-series. She's portrayed as a southern belle. Maybe Ann-Margaret, Tina Louise or Raquel Welch would have made a phenomenal femme fatale. Shame that there really was only Julie Newmar's Catwoman and Jill St. John's Molly as standouts on the series. Ivy was introduced in the summer of '66, surprising that she wasn't used on the live action series...
ReplyDeleteWell, "the plant angle" was more of an addition than a part of her earliest depiction...
ReplyDeleteCW is using "the plant angle" gradually. Adult Ivy is using a plant-based, externally applied chemical as a narco-hypnotic perfume.
ReplyDeleteAirDave... Poison Ivy was introduced when I was 9 years old... Batman 181, June 1966. Understand this the New DCU 52 book Batman'66 is an homage to the TV show. Poison Ivy is part of the pre-crisis Batman canon.
ReplyDeleteOh please... don't remind me of That Movie. When someone says that Catwoman or The Fantastic Four (either version) is "the worst superhero movie ever made," I respond by saying, "Oh, so you've never seen Batman and Robin?" Really, The Arnold was the only good thing in that movie, despite a cast so incredibly talented that they should have made him seem like an embarrassment. I guess he was just the only one who knew how to play off that abysmal script.
ReplyDeleteOnto Ivy, I'm only caught up to Gotham through last season's penultimate episode, and I'll probably have to wait for the DVD set to see the current season, but I'm eagerly looking forward to it all.* My exposure to this character in the comics has been spotty, especially outside the No Man's Land story arc, but I will say that the costume you show here -- very close to her original look -- is the one I really prefer, though I also prefer her just a little less powerful than with this "plant animation" ability... though to be fair, she might need it to give Hulk much challenge.
*I would welcome only one spoiler: Did Fish Mooney ever work up a "supervillain name"?
Bob, though I do find Batman & Robin a so bad, it's good film, I can definitely agree with you on Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze, especially his ice-related puns and who could forget the "You Lie!" line.
DeletePS to AirDave: I've always had a liking to Marsha, Queen of Diamonds. If she's appeared in the Batman '66 comic, I think it'd be interesting to see Ross pit her on this blog against Jack of Hearts!
ReplyDeleteBob G.: "No" to the Fish question, "yes" to the Marsha.
ReplyDeleteI preferred the original Poison Ivy, myself. Her main gimmicks were hypnotic lipstick, explosive hair, and an uncanny knack for climbing walls. And an obsession with proving herself superior to three other female felons who looked remarkably like Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, and Gina Lollobrigida. The "plant angle" was added in JLA #111, where Chronos helped her create a device that sped up plant growth, and was gradually built up more and more over the years.
The only reason B&R sucked at the box office was the idiotic costume designer who put Kevlar nipples on the Bat-armor! As far as I'm permanently concerned, George Clooney was being overly chivalrous in assuming all the blame for the failure.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous Really are you gonna forget Akiva Goldsman the killer of franchises? It was his shoddy script that was the problem. Nor should we forget WB mgmt that ordered Schumacher to make it more kid friendly like Batman '66 friendly. In the age of Knightfall and No Mans Land yet. Those are the ones to blame.
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ReplyDelete@Isaac: the Kevlar nipples were the most visible flaw, however. So, yeah; that still bears the primary blame in my ret-con-proof book.
ReplyDeleteThe Bat-credit card was the scene that killed it for me.
ReplyDeleteEspecially the "never leave the cave without it" line. That scene was just plain stupid.
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