SUMMARY
Poison Ivy uncovers the key to successful supervillain team-ups, leveraging their vanity and survival instincts. Villains are prone to form alliances due to their self-interests, which are easily exploitable. Poison Ivy's insights provide a new perspective on past and future collaborations among villains.
Literature Review
An iconic Batman antagonist has discovered the secret to making supervillain alliances work effectively, and the answer is rooted in psychology.
Summary
Poison Ivy uncovers the key to successful supervillain team-ups, leveraging their vanity and survival instincts. Villains are prone to form alliances due to their self-interests, which are easily exploitable. Poison Ivy's insights provide a new perspective on past and future collaborations among villains.
In the comic series "Poison Ivy #18" by G. Willow Wilson and Luana Vecchio, Poison Ivy finds a way to make "baddie" team-ups successful. As she attempts to create an antidote to halt a zombie invasion she inadvertently unleashed, she forms an unlikely alliance with Killer Croc and Solomon Grundy.
When the dust settles, Poison Ivy narrates the secret behind the effectiveness of supervillain team-ups. By appealing to the vanity that makes them villains in the first place, manipulative characters like Ivy can make their comrades serve their purposes.
"One True Secret Origin of Poison Ivy": Batman’s Iconic Rogue Poison Ivy Gets a Historic New Origin Story. Poison Ivy has long been a staple in Batman's rogues gallery, but her life has often been seen through the lens of others. Now, she takes control of her narrative.
Poison Ivy Theorizes that Villains Use Vanity and Survival Instincts to Team-Up
In "Poison Ivy #17", the previous issue, Poison Ivy and Killer Croc work together in Slaughter Swamp to create an antidote for a zombie outbreak. They are unexpectedly aided by Solomon Grundy when they are attacked by zombies. After the zombies are defeated, Grundy is about to leave, but Ivy insists she still needs his help, not for a specific task but because she values the support.
Grundy initially shows disinterest until Ivy points out that as the swamp is infested with zombies, she can help him fight back. Ivy then explains how villains' selfishness can be exploited. "You can get us to do what you want if you appeal to one of two things - Our vanity ... or our highly developed survival instincts." By focusing on these qualities, she successfully recruits Solomon Grundy to her growing team.
Poison Ivy Knows How DC Villains Exploit Each Other for Team-Ups
This provides a clear rationale for why villains are quick to team up, despite it seemingly contradicting their self-interests. It is precisely these self-interests that make them exploitable. Grundy's desire to protect and survive in his swamp is the sole reason he joins forces with Ivy and Croc. Poison Ivy's explanation may also help re-contextualize previous supervillain team-ups against superheroes like Batman, offering clarity on past and future alliances.
"Poison Ivy #18" is now available from DC Comics.
POISON IVY #18 (2022) Writer: G. Willow Wilson Artist: Luana Vecchio Colorist: Arif Prianto Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou Cover Artist: Jessica Fong