Detective Comics #15

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE DIRT NAP In accordance with the Penguin's orders, Ogilvy buries Poison Ivy alive under six feet of dirt.   Batman, meanwhile is at a disadvantage in a battle with Clayface, who is adamant that Batman has done something to his wife. Or at least, he believes that he and Poison Ivy were married a month ago in Las Vegas. Since then, the pair of them had been on a crime spree across the country, doing Ivy's brand of eco-terrorism. Batman, however, believes that all of that is a lie; an illusion caused by Ivy's usual manipulations. The only question is how she is manipulating him when her toxins are typically transferred through skin contact, when Clayface doesn't have any skin.   Batman isn't in top form, having just been gassed and ambushed, but Clayface seems to be in better shape than usual. Strangely, he seems to be thorny. In fact, his clay body has vines running all over it. Ill-equipped to handle Clayface's onslaught, Batman distracts him momentarily with a bolo, plucking one of the flowers growing on his body for examination, and then making an emergency escape in his Batplane.   Ogilvy reports back to Penguin about the success of Poison Ivy's burial, and Penguin is quite pleased - if a little anxious. Despite his pleasure at being rid of Ivy's eco-terrorism, a visit from the Joker has got him on edge. Uncomfortably, Penguin explains that he has to go away to Arkham Asylum for a while, and must leave Ogilvy in charge. Ogilvy seems to have grander plans for himself.   After examining the flower, Batman realizes that the marriage between Ivy and Clayface is indeed a sham; an illusion. He has been watching Ivy since the fiasco in the Amazon with the Birds of Prey, and she has been laying low. Clayface, though, has been on the loose for a week, ever since somebody broke him loose. With a start, Batman realizes what happened.   Clayface has since moved on to terrorizing the Ellsworth Industrial Park (another of Ivy's targets), where the Gotham City Police Department has assembled to surround him. Commissioner Gordon receives a message from Batman urging him to pull his men back while he goes to work. Batman steps out in front of Clayface wearing a modified Batsuit. He sprays Clayface with a strong herbicide, and then explains how Ivy used a rare Amazonian flower called Salvia Heliconiaceae to make him susceptible to suggestion. She broke him out of Arkham because she needed a bodyguard after making enemies with the Birds of Prey and the companies she took down in the name of environmentalism.   The dissolution of his false memories is earth-shattering for Clayface, who actually believed that all of the things he remembered were true. To learn that Ivy never loved her - that it was all a manipulation - breaks his heart. In a fit of anguished rage, Clayface smashes through the pavement to the sewers, and escapes. Given that the Joker is still on the loose in Gotham, Batman feels he has other priorities than following him.   A short time later, Ivy finds herself saved from her early grave by Ogilvy, which comes as a surprise. He explains that he knew she would be able to survive, because of her plant-like ability to photosynthesize carbon dioxide into oxygen - which effective prevents her from ever suffocating. While Penguin had wanted her dead, Ogilvy saw a chance for himself, and buried Ivy with enough plant-life to keep her alive long enough to get her later. Penguin, meanwhile, is with the Joker, who is more unpredictable and murderous than ever - as such, Ogilvy doesn't expect him to return. Formally, he introduces himself to Ivy as Ignatius Ogilvy - henceforth to be known as Emperor Penguin. LOVE IN BLOOM Some time ago, Clayface received a letter in his cell at Arkham Asylum. This is just one of many letters he has received over the last while from Poison Ivy - all of them love letters. The more he received, the better he felt. One day, Ivy appeared in his cell with intent to spring him out. They were going to get out and get hitched.   Now that he's been freed from her manipulations, Clayface feels betrayed, though still nostalgic for the way the letters made him feel. Because he and Ivy had planned to rendezvous that night outside of town, he waits for her in the seedy motel room. Ivy arrives, finally, having been delayed by her premature burial. With the Joker back in Gotham City, she has decided that it would be best to leave, but Clayface insists that they stay. This is perplexing to Ivy, because he is not supposed to defy her. Too late, she realizes that he is no longer under her control, and has come for revenge.