Still, when the dark threatens to overwhelm me, I'll remember how you took a bullet for me. You couldn't do that if you didn't love me. 
Batman: Poison Ivy is a one-shot published in 1997. It was published on May 21, 1997.
Synopsis for "Poison Ivy"
On a tropical island east of Nicaragua, a young woman comes to bring offerings to the goddess that she believes resides there. The goddess who returned life to the island is in fact Poison Ivy, enjoying her seclusion from the urban scene of Gotham City. Despite Ivy's admission that she is not a goddess, the girl begs her to make her family's farmland fertile again. Just as Ivy agrees, though, the island is suddenly firebombed by helicopters, killing the young woman and all plant life thereon. The firebombing was the result of a test by Russian mercenaries of a new incendiary gel. Vengefully, Ivy influences one of the perpetrators to destroy their equipment and kill himself and his companions.
Back in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne attends the release party for Christopher DeJardin's new perfume "Inferno." While sneaking off to use the phone, he realizes that all of the security staff are ex-cons. Soon after, he meets Christopher's head of security, Sonia Kristova. Bruce deduces from her Ukrainian accent that she has previous ties with the KGB.
In Washington, D.C. Ivy sits down beside a man named Milo Frommer at a coffee shop. She influences him into taking her home with him, but she soon reveals that she knows he invented the incendiary gel called Prometheus, and she kills him.
The next day, at DeJardin's perfume factory, Bruce overhears Kristova tell DeJardin that Frommer is dead. Later, he returns to the Batcave and deduces from the way that Frommer died - massive fungal poisoning - that Ivy killed him. This is perplexing, given that both he and Alfred had thought she was imprisoned at Arkham Asylum.
Ivy eventually influences two men under the employ of Aleksandr Morovkin - a big time black-marketeer who sold the Prometheus gel to the mercenaries - to bring him to her. With Morovkin bound before her, she reveals her plan to bring vengeance down upon everyone responsible for the Prometheus project. When Morovkin accuses her of being insane, Ivy feels the need to explain how she has merely been pushed too far.
When she was younger, she was working on her thesis on plant and animal hybridization in Seattle, when she came to work under a scientist named Jason Woodrue. Woodrue seduced her, and then used her as a guinea pig for his experiments. As a result, her touch became toxic, and she could never be intimate with other humans again. Eventually, though, she gained control over her toxicity and managed to manipulate her pheromones in order to gain near complete control over the opposite sex. Hoping to get away from humanity, she came to Gotham looking for the money that would buy her solitude, but her crimes did not go unnoticed by Batman, in whom she has a certain unrequited romantic interest. Finally, she managed to escape to her island, until it was destroyed, and now she wants justice.
Commissioner Gordon reveals to Batman that Ivy was transferred to Belle Reve in Louisiana, but seduced the warden and escaped soon after. Batman next visits Arkham Asylum to question Killer Croc, as he and Ivy spent a lot of time together before she escaped. Croc tells him about Ivy's island, and Batman later realizes that the island was firebombed. Linking Morovkin's disappearance with his involvement in Prometheus, Batman deduces Ivy's motives.
After some interrogations, Batman finally finds out that Sonia Kristova took the incendiary gel that Frommer created and sold it to Morovkin. This gave capital to DeJardin in order to offset his business losses. He tracks Sonia down just in time to save her from being killed by a species of plant that releases deadly spores. Batman reveals that he knows of her connection to Prometheus, but she refuses to confess.
Batman catches up to Ivy at her warehouse hideout, placing her in handcuffs, but before he can release Morovkin, Sonia shows up in a helicopter and blows up the warehouse. Sonia takes Ivy hostage aboard the chopper, but Ivy causes the male pilot to send the chopper off balance, and she kicks Sonia into the river. Batman is waiting for her in the water, and apprehends her.
Meanwhile, DeJardin packs his things to get out of town, but Ivy catches up to him and manipulates him into confessing his involvement with Prometheus to Jim Gordon. After confessing, DeJardin feels that he has nothing left to lose, and tries to shoot Ivy. Batman, arrives on the scene, however, and takes the bullet with his Kevlar armour. Angrily, he knocks DeJardin unconscious before turning his attention to Ivy. He explains that her misfortune does not justify murder. She resigns herself to a return to Arkham Asylum, and considers that Batman's selflessness is proof of his love for her. Batman replies that she doesn't know the meaning of the word.
Appearing in "Poison Ivy"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Poison Ivy
- Christopher DeJardin
- Sonia Kristova
Other Characters:
- Killer Croc
- Milo Frommer (Dies)
- Aleksandr Morovkin
- Leonid Petrovich
- Georgi Lenin
- Phoebe Bryce
- Jason Woodrue (Flashback only)
- Sylvian (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Gotham City
- Washington, D.C.
- Nicaragua
- Seattle (Flashback only)
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue was released as one of four one-shot graphic novels to coincide with the release of the 1997 Batman and Robin movie. The covers to all four issues interlock to form one composite image in the order (from left to right): Batman: Bane, Batman: Batgirl, Batman: Mr. Freeze and this issue.