Harley’s Crew | Book Club Wks 37 & 38: Spotlight: Poison Ivy

I have not seen the musical @Razzzcat, but that was a funny trailer! I’ve run into some marijuana demonization stories that channel that vibe from my interests in the Golden Age of superheroes. For some reason, I kept running into it with the Golden Age Blue Beetle. In the third issue of Fox Feature’s Blue Beetle series, there was a Beetle text story where teens were smoking marijuana and then randomly committing suicide. The first two episodes of Blue Beetle’s 1940 radio show also centered around our hero bringing down a dope racket with people killing themselves because of weed.

Leaves of Grass was far more balanced and not as sensationalized as those stories. But… there were moments. Like… what was Tim’s friend smoking that made him see all that?

I’m definitely with you on Woodrue’s character design in this story. Wonderfully madcap!

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@TheCosmicMoth I didn’t even know this was a thing!

@Vroom This either!

:eyes: …google searches…

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@Razzzcat, it is!

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Thanks @TheCosmicMoth for posting the link to the shows. I knew they existed, but had never heard them.

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No prob, @discordia57! Some of those episodes are pretty fun!

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Oooh thank you @TheCosmicMoth!! :green_heart: :dancer:t2:

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BTW @Razzzcat, and speaking of Mike Nelson, the MST3K movie is on Hulu right now (or did you already see it, as you mentioned you might do some weeks back?).

thinks of suggesting an MST3K: The Movie WAL

Yeah? No? Bueller? Seaver? Meachem?

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I’d be on board, but is that more of an “Iceberg Lounge” WAL?

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Yeah, or a DM deal. I wasn’t suggesting it as a Harley’s Crew function, but I’m glad you’re on-board! :slight_smile:

Although…Harley likely loves MST.

" “Manos?” Why the **** is the titular character’s name in quotes in the ****ing title? This movie has “****fest” written all over it!"

Harley is wise. :00_harley_quinn:

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I’m way late on this stuff, but I thought I’d share my thoughts.

Leaves of Grass

I never heard of this story until reading it for this club and…I was shook, as the kids say. I was NOT expecting Reefer Madness in comic book form, a Very Special Episode of Batman, guest starring Nancy Reagan. It’s so weird, I can’t tell if they were being absolutely serious and doing some '60s Dragnet stuff with Batman, or if was meant to be satirical and poking fun at some of the absurdities of both pro and anti pot people. I’m not sure if the writer even knows.

It truly feels like one of the top-tier so-bad-it’s-good Batman stories, and I say that as someone who has recently reread All-Star Batman & Robin.

Fruit of the Earth

I really loved the idea set up with No Man’s Land of making Ivy protector of Robinson Park. I feel like that’s actually a solid arc for her character, where she’s not only found a place of her own where her and her plants can florish, but also protecting the lost children and giving them that opportunity she never had.

I will say that after reading a lot of him in Detective Comics, it does feel a little weird to read Clayface as an unrepetant villain. I guess it still makes sense in a way with how Tynion writes it.

One thing I do want to give a shout out to is the art, or specifically the art team. First you had Dan Jurgens on pencils, who much like his writing is…safe, standard superhero fare. Then you had industry titan Bill Sienkiewicz, who is the exact opposite of that. You’d think it wouldn’t look good but surprisingly it does – it gives Jurgens’ art some extra pop and shine.

There’s more but I’m falling asleep while typing so :shrug:

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Better late than never @Jay_Kay! :purple_heart: Definitely never worry about that here! :harleys_crew:

:eyes: …looks at @iJest :hugs: I keep an eye out, so whatever and whenever you’d like! We’re doing V for Vendetta w/ DCHC for the next couple weeks if you’d like to be in on a current discussion. We’d love to have you! The book, the movie, and what makes it :00_dc_pride: relevant or whatever you’d like, really. OH! I found a thing yesterday!! I’ll go tag you there! :snake:

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@Razzzcat, have you read Batman Secret Files: The Gardener yet? Very relevant to some of the stuff we were talking about here with Pam.

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@TheCosmicMoth!! Hi! :hugs: :green_heart:

I have!! :poisonivy_hqas: What did you think? :eyes: I’m biased when it comes to Ivy, so I don’t know if my opinion can be trusted! :joy: Short version: Woodrue is still a creep and she’s magnificent, as always.

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Hey, @Razzzcat! :hugs:

Ummm… well, to start, it was funny that this issue was supposedly about The Gardener, but definitely ended up being more about Ivy. But… Ivy’s a more interesting character, so I’m not going to complain.

There are some things I liked. For instance, I liked that they brought back Pam’s study group history with the Hollands, Woodrue, and Sylvian (from Black Orchid). It’s good to have that bit of continuity back since it just kind of makes sense. I also liked that Ivy’s turn to villainy from idealism seemed more gradual here than it was in the New 52 origin stories. This, at least, goes the distance in explaining that Ivy’s motivations were pure and beautiful until they were twisted by Woodrue and his experiment on her.

However, it’s still not 100% clear how Woodrue got to Ivy. Seeing more of exactly what he said to her and how he convinced her to go along with his plans would’ve been nice. I also really don’t ship Ivy and Woodrue and it was kind of gross that they hooked up. There’s enough history to suggest that Pam is bi (if a plant-lady can be termed that way), but, really…? Woodrue…?

Overall, though, I was glad that it portrayed a more stage by stage evolution of Pam’s motivations and methods whereas it felt a little more sudden and less clear in the New 52 origins.

But, I’m not half the Ivy fan you are so I could be missing things.

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I’ll be back @TheCosmicMoth! Surprisingly (to no one) I have an opinion on the plant-lady! :laughing: But let me respond to this real quick.

No, no, no. Thats not a thing! You’re always thoughtful w/ analysis, and (I’m sure you know this, but I’ll say it again just in case :wink:) I don’t believe any one fan’s opinion should silence another when everyone is using their heads and being open. I often happen to agree with you :smile: But even when we don’t see exactly eye to eye, I enjoy the discussion just as much. :green_heart: Okay, talk soon.

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Good! I want to hear! :slight_smile:

:green_heart: :hugs:

I think I mostly just run my mouth until I stumble onto something, but I enjoy discussions.

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