Without a doubt, Scott Snyder has made quite the name for himself over the course of the past seven years, arguably becoming one of the most lauded writers to touch the Dark Knight in history. With his highly acclaimed run with artist Greg Capullo now behind him, he’s been hard at work crafting his own Long Halloween of sorts in the form of All-Star Batman.
So far, we’ve experienced a story arc that completely redefined the Batman-Two-Face relationship, which was followed by an incredible prose heavy tale involving Mr. Freeze. But, with the latest issue, Snyder turns his attention to one of the greatest femme fatales in all of comics – Poison Ivy.
Fresh off her own miniseries – Cycle of Life and Death – Pamela Isley will no doubt be making frequent appearances in various titles as the inevitable release of the Gotham City Sirens film draws near. More often than not, she’s existed in a bit more of a grey area in recent years, something Snyder spoke of in an interview with Comic Vine:
“Let’s rate her. I would say on the scale of zero to 10, with 10 being the Joker, who is irredeemably evil on all levels. Zsasz being like a nine. I would put her very, very low. I would put Two-Face as an eight to a nine, but with Harvey blended in, probably a little lower. Penguin is evil but he’s also kind of cowardly in his own way, so he hovers around a seven. Catwoman is probably the lowest. Catwoman is probably a one because she’s often such an anti-hero, but I’d put Ivy a little further along. I’d put her probably, in terms of villainy, a two or a three. Not very high. In terms of potential, as a villain and as a disruptive force, I would put her way at the end of the thing. She’s way stronger than most of the villains that I think have darker profiles than her, and seem sometimes like they’re more known for being threatening to Batman. I think her actual destructive potential is off the charts. In that way, she is one of the most interesting characters because she’s a villain, but she’s a very redeemable villain who I think veers into heroism often and also has this power set that’s out of control.”
Aside from her inclusion, fans should take note that the Riddler features heavily into this week’s backup story, no doubt reprising themes from Zero Year. Snyder added:
“The story is about the Riddler, but it’s about the Riddler in the way it’s meant to harken back to the early year in that stuff and all of that. It’s really about Duke and his relationship to the mythos and to the family. He’s trying to really find his place, and the Riddler is the first villain he ever came up against, too, because it’s when he first found and met Bruce. Duke was doing a crossword puzzle when we first met him to try to get smart enough to beat the Riddler. The Riddler has this echo of his own origin, his own Zero Year in that way. I think what the Riddler is planning in that back-up winds up speaking to Duke’s bigger fears about himself.”
All-Star Batman #7 is now available in comic shops.
