Saturday, July 21, 2007

A Walk in the Park, Part Two


Detective Comics #752
January 2001
The Gotham authorities prepare to spray Robinson Park with RC-60, a military herbicide capable of incredible devastation. Batman, meanwhile, is in Robinson Park himself, hoping to persuade Poison Ivy to leave: if she stays the herbicide will surely kill her, and perhaps also the children who are there with her. Also, Sasha Bordeaux, Bruce Wayne's bodyguard, searches for him when she discovers his abscondence.
In Robinson Park, Ivy defends herself to Batman, telling him that before the quake, the park was a complete mess, and no-one cared. Now, however, it is a paradise, and all through her efforts; she's not going to let the city ruin it again, and she's prepared to die for her cause. Not wanting to hurt the orphaned children who have made the park their home, Ivy tells them to leave and to encourage others to uphold the (environmental) principles she has taught them. She, however, will stay. Reluctantly, the kids leave, but one of their number, Rose, will not allow Ivy to die: she stands off against the police with a stolen cannister of tear gas, and leads the other children back into the park. Ivy assumes that Batman forced them back in order to get her out, but Rose tells her the truth of the situation. In so doing she grabs Ivy's arm and takes in some of Ivy's poison. Ivy is forced to carry Rose out of the park into the arms of the emergency services and is herself arrested. Batman is able to make it back to Wayne Manor (as Bruce) sometime before dawn, only to find Sasha Bordeaux waiting for him, not at all pleased.

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