Jokers Asylum Poison Ivy #1

The creative team on Joker's Asylum: Poison Ivy #1 had a tough act to follow. Last week's installment was a strong creative endeavor and it is unfortunate that this issue will suffer from "not as good as" syndrome.

J.T. Krul follows the mandate of book-ending the magazine with the Joker as crypt keeper. His take on the Joker is the most blatant throwback to Tales From the Crypt yet. The Clown Prince suffers from a cartoon-y psychosis here and he speaks in self-aware puns and unapologetically enjoys cheesy gags. The rest of the story follows suit on that whole EC comics/Little Shop of Horrors/Tales From the Crypt feel. The plot shifts in forward motion with the botanical murder of an urban real estate developer. Batman then proceeds to investigate and ponder the Poison Ivy's motivations. Cut to Ivy talking to her plants and recap her own origin. Then comes plant-themed murder number two which reveals a pattern in Ivy's method. Segue to a young Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy's real name fyi) prancing naked in the forest - I've never seen so much strategically placed foliage and frankly, it's kind of hokey. In this scene she is portrayed as a flower child who snaps under the burden of hearing the vegetation's suffering caused by the brash flattening of forest to make way for real estate. It's a nice way of unobtrusively slipping ecological concerns into the story. Too bad for the developers though, two of which we learn by way of a construction sign are the ones who were murdered earlier, that Poison Ivy holds a grudge. Batman figures out Ivy's next target and tails him, watches him pick up an "escort", follows them to his house, gets attacked by plants, breaks free and sees Poison Ivy who turns out to be a decoy. Yes you guessed it, the blond prostitute was our favorite herbaceous homicidal freak the whole time.  She plants a paralyzing kiss on her victim (yes that's a pun, deal with it) and then violently hacks him with a hatchet. Cue the Joker sending us off with a zany quip.

This story carefully uses horror genre tropes but with tongue firmly in cheek. This doesn't mean Krul is reckless in his writing. He includes enough sophistication to make this more than just a superficial tale. For instance, in the last scene, sexuality is interposed with terror where Ivy seduces a man only to then chop his feet off with an axe and lop off the rest of his limbs. How's that for an analogy! This is implied and never explicit or graphic but it's genuinely horrifying. This key scene also ties in with the theme of nature's revenge and indirectly refers to a previous line delivered by Poison Ivy. Talking to a plant she says: "I will never understand how people can spend their time cutting, trimming, and killing you (...) it's like spitting in the face of God herself". It's an over-the-top yet smart way of telling a mother nature gone wrong story. One final strong point is the lettering. So far, Rob Leigh is handling the typographical duties of this series. This was a great editorial decision since the Joker is book-ending all of these books and Leigh's typography surprisingly ties it all together nicely.

The book however, does have flaws. As I mentioned earlier, the art is mostly well rendered and appropriately exaggerated but often tends to look stiff and sometimes a little silly. Another criticism I have is with the dialog. With exception of the Joker, it is dry and bland. Here is an excerpt from Isley's inner dialog: "I've always felt that way toward flora of all shapes and sizes. Ever since I was a little girl... when I was chosen to work under Dr. Jason Woodrue, I knew it was going to be a life changing experience. I just didn't know how literal that change would become." Are you asleep yet?

Despite it's weaknesses this is a fun book! Emphasis on fun! It's nothing especially substantial but it's a nice light snack. So sit down in your most comfortable chair with your favorite beverage and sink your teeth in this fanciful Tale From the Crypt, uhm I mean Joker's Asylum.