This title picks up after the events of Heroes in Crisis, though reading HiC is not required to understand this book, as Jody Houser makes sure to succinctly recap those events. That said, I think there is a benefit in having the foreknowledge of HiC before jumping into this. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is a limited six issue series and presumably will revolve around Poison Ivy and what may or may not be a new level setting for the character.

This issue is a bit odd in that it feels like it is also intersecting with some of the events going on in the DC Universe right now [ see Justice League and the Year of the Villain ]. At the time of this writing, I am not 100% clear on what exactly is happening in those events. This is an important point to know since Ivy is presented with some sort of gift that appears to retcon what happened to her in HiC. This is not 100% determined from this issue alone. The way the sequence of events happen really has a retcon feeling. There is a cliffhanger that brings back an old Ivy adversary who hasn’t been seen in a long time. Additionally, the cliffhanger would seem to indicate that whatever changed Ivy went through in this issue was merely cosmetic.

Amanda Conner’s Harley Quinn is so prolific that she has, in more than one way, redefined how Harley and Ivy should look. Here in this series debut, Adriana Melo’s art and Hi-Fi’s colors evoke Conner’s styles in the body and facial models used for Harley and Ivy. They come off as doing their version of a Conner Harley and Ivy. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as Conner’s style resonated with a huge audience. Delivering something to people that feels somewhat familiar can be a key to success.