Poison Ivy has one of the most complex morality systems in the DC Universe. Her love and attachment to all things green has caused her to fall on the villainous side more often than not. While Ivy normally causes havoc around Gotham, she was once recruited to help the Justice League save the world.
Justice League United #0 by Jeff Lemire, Mike McKone, Marcelo Maiolo, and Carlos E. Mangual saw the dawn of a new branch of the Justice League in The New 52. After the Justice League of America disbanded, following the fallout from Trinity War and Forever Evil, an opening was left for a new branch to form. JLU saw the introduction of Equinox and Alanna Strange, the wife of Adam Strange who also returned in this series after a brief hiatus. These heroes would join Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, and many more to form the JLU and work selflessly to keep the world safe. JLU would often call on particular members of the DC universe to defeat world-ending threats. Poison Ivy happened to be one of those powered beings.
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Justice League United #11 by Jeff Parker, Travel Foreman, Jeromy Cox, and Steve Wands depicted members of the JLU recruiting new heroes to the team in order to prevent a creature from taking over the Earth. Among those recruited are Mera, Swamp Thing, Etrigan the Demon, and Poison Ivy. While the other new members were more or less persuaded to help, Ivy was kidnapped with no choice but to assist. Alanna Strange grabs Ivy in a Gotham bar where she is experimenting with a new drug and teleports her to a boat floating on Lake Erie. Ivy is introduced to her new teammates but is ultimately confused over her inclusion since Swamp Thing is already present.
While Poison Ivy is able to control and grow plants and greens, Swamp Thing is the living embodiment of all things green. Swamp Thing explains that there is something wrong with the algae within Lake Erie. His concern seems to change Ivy’s demeanor for the better until giant blobs of red flesh attack the ship. She exclaims even more confusion about her situation as she feels no presence of plants in the area. Mera creates a giant wave that takes the heroes further out on the lake until they arrive at an entire island comprised of the strange red flesh.
Etrigan decides this is a good opportunity to attack the island and slashes a hole into it. This proves to be counterproductive as Ivy and Swamp Thing lose their connection to the green afterwards. Things get worse quickly as Swamp Thing is absorbed into the island, which then grows a form of sentience. Etrigan blasts the island with fire while Mera creates a forcefield for the heroes to regain their composure.
Within the force field, Ivy finds a small bud where she can channel Swamp Thing. Equinox amplifies Ivy’s powers which allows Swamp Thing to talk directly from Ivy. He explains how the island is growing and what its plans are before the island shoots out of the water into the air and begins to fly towards civilization. The team is able to defeat the island using the combined attacks of Etrigan, Equinox, and Mera. Upon their arrival to shore, Ivy is absolutely devastated by the League’s actions.
Even though the JLU was able to destroy the creature, Swamp Thing was also destroyed in the process. Ivy tells the team that she can still sense Swamp Thing but very faintly. Ivy is angry at the league as she believes they sacrificed the most unique creature in the world for their cause. She then leaves the team in a hurry and claims that she will do whatever she can to bring Swamp Thing back.
Ivy has proven time and time again that she can do good if it’s for the benefit of plant life. While Ivy has proven beneficial to Batman in thwarting evildoers in Gotham on occasion, she continually proves that she does not work well on a team. She sacrificed herself in Arkham Knight to save Gotham from Scarecrow’s fear gas, but in reality, she did it to save Gotham’s plants; saving the city was an added bonus. Justice League United gave Ivy the chance to work with a group of heroes, but in the end, she proved that she will always work better on her own.
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