Poisonous Princesses Versus Roses and Thorns

Rose and Thorn, two women with two conflicted alter egos, making them four times the threat. On on world, the Thorn persona was a force for good, on the other, she was an agent of evil. On both worlds, Rose was an innocent bystander overwhelmed by her more dominant dormant personalities, which came out when injustice lurked. The catalyst for the Earth-One Thorn was avenging her police detective father's death at the hands of the Metropolis crime gang known as the 100. The catalyst for the Earth-Two Thorn was to feed her insatiable greed, forming a gang operating in Keystone City.

Each Thorn had a various adversaries, and met costumed crusaders such as Superman and the Flash who were either a friend of a foe. Two lethal ladies proved particularly dangerous when facing Thorn and Rose. These lasses were Pamela Isley aka Poison Ivy and Princess Maru aka Doctor Poison.

Poison Ivy was recruited by the 100's leader Vince Adam, using an alien computer known as K.A.R.L., into implement a scheme to capture his arch-foe the Thorn. Then computer suggests that Ivy seduce a sculpture named Malyun into inviting the Thorn to be use her body as a mold for his latest sculpture, for which he will donate a sizable amount to a local charity. Agreeing to do this, Thorn is tricked into becoming immobilized, and then her body is dumped into a nearby river. The computer begins feeling remorse, and when it too is dumped next to the Thorn, it radiates heat the melts her gold encasing. Freed, Thorn swimmed to the surface to find Poison Ivy and decisively defeats Ivy.

Doctor Poison was held captive, along with several other supervillianess, on the Amazon's Reformation Island. Freed of a training girdle by the criminal mastermind of Saturn known as Eviless, Princess Maru joins her new Villany, Inc. as Maru once more wears her Doctor Poison disguise. After initially capturing her arch-enemy, Wonder Woman, the Doctor and her fellow allies Cheetah, Blue Snowman and Eviless are overpowered by the heroine will rowing away from their prison. Quickly, the quartet once more subdues Wonder Woman, and return to the island. Once there, fellow female prisoners who have reformed... which at this point would've included the evil Thorn's alter ego of Rose... helped to recapture Maru and all except four remaining female felons.

While Poison Ivy used this occasion to reintroduce herself into the criminal community some time after her two capers which Batman and Robin thwarted, this was the last time Princess Maru appeared as Doctor Poison. 

Maru apparently grew content living among the Amazonian from then on, although around this same time another femme fatale would take her place in tormenting Wonder Woman, when the Huntress fought the heroine and her Justice Society allies. This golden age Huntress had seven separate battles versus her arch-enemy Wildcat, which mirrored seven separate encounters between Poison Ivy had with Batman.

Meanwhile, the Huntress of Earth-One followed the example of Doctor Poison of Earth-Two, reforming of her evil ways after just three appearances, unlike the Earth-One Poison Ivy, who joined the Injustice Gang just as the Earth-Two Huntress joined the Injustice Society (and Secret Society of Super-Villians).

Sinister SuperFoes Seduce Striplings

Soon after four Justice Leaguers and one Teen Titans of Earth-One formed a team to train youngsters to become heroes, five supervillians followed suit. And so were born the Super Friends and Super Foes. Super Friends Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin mentored Wendy Harris and Marvin White. 

Meanwhile, each of the Super Foes took an adolscent under his or her wing. For Penguin it was Chick, for Toyman it was Toyboy, for Poison Ivy, it was Honeysuckle, for Cheetah it was Kitten and for the Human Flying Fish it was Sardine.

Unlike the Super Friends, who successfully guided not only Wendy and Marvin but later Zan and Jayna to become junior superheroes, the Super Foes were failures. Given their wicked tendencies, the adult Foes were ultimately attacked by their young sidekicks. 

On Earth-Two, that world's Penguin and Cheetah also attempted to recruit junior minions, who likewise rebuffed those criminals. The golden age Toyman never explicitly trained a sidekick, although he employed Kid Kale to assist him. As for Poison Ivy and the Human Flying Fish, these two also aspired to train a second generation in Honeysuckle and Sardine, while this lass and lad had equivalents on Earth-Two who were henchwomen of Princess Maru, also known as Doctor Poison. 

The Super-Foes had a corresponding gang known as Villany Inc. They were formed when Eviless, leader of a female militia from the planet Saturn-Two, were captured after attempting to subjegate the inhabitants of Earth-Two. Sent to the Amazon's Transformation/Reformation Island in order to be rehabilitated, Eviless feigned death to enable her to take control of her captors including Wonder Woman and her mother Hppolyte. Soon, she learned of other fellow prominent prisoners, all former foes of Wonder Woman.

Declaring their loose-knit group would be called Villany, Inc., its membership included Cheetah, Doctor Poison, Giganta, Queen Clea, Blue Snow Man, Hyponta, and Zara. These eight femme fatale were a formidable opposition to Princess Diana and her fellow Amazonians, as they along with Eviless' fellow Saturnians overpowered Diana's sisters. Only four of their number ultimately escaped the island and returned to America, and all of them eventually were defeated by Wonder Woman and her Amazonian allies.

Of note is that both the Super Foes and Villany, Inc. had among their number their world's version of Priscilla Rich aka the Cheetah, as well as counterparts Poison Ivy and Doctor Poison. This would be the final appearance in costume of the Earth-One Cheetah, as her alter ego would succumb to an illness ending her life, with her successor Debbi Domaine replacing her as the Cheetah. As for the Earth-Two Cheetah, she would return again and again for rematches with Wonder Woman throughout the 1940's.

Poison Ivy abandoned the Super Foes for two other criminal organizations in the Injustice Gang and the Secret Society of Super-Villains, seeking revenge against her old foe Batman and new foe Wonder Woman. Doctor Poison retired from villany, apparently rehabilitated on Transformation Island as she never donned her green smock again. Both worlds' Penguins and Toymen continued to operate, while the Human Flying Fish and his counterpart the Seaman of Earth-Two were one-hit-wonders.

Twice-Told Tales: Envy Exacerbates Evil Empresses

Jealously is a bitter root and the heart of many a foul deed. And this often brings out the worst in a person, in their disposition, in their decisions, in their actions. Such an insidious emotion consumed two women in twin universes, which caused two Batmen trouble.

Poison Ivy was Pamela Isley, a former university student with an expertise in botany who turned to crime when she was jilted in  love by her duplicitous course instructor. She first made the scene in Earth-One's Gotham City by calling out three women for their meager criminal endeavors compared to her own. These women, Dragon Fly, Silken Spider and Tiger Moth, were led into a trap which also ensnared both Batman and Robin, until the Dynamic Duo turned the tables on her scheme. She would return.

Catwoman was Selina Kyle, a divorcee who was jilted out of her spousal support when her abusive husband cast her out for protesting. Seeking to steal from those who like her husband were both wealthy in money yet poor in heart, she began a long running adversarial relationship with the Dynamic Duo of Earth-Two. When author Neil Weston pens a book detailing the criminal careers of various female rogues, Kyle feels slighted when she herself is left off the list. Seeking to sabotage the production of a film based on this book, Catwoman continues to perplex actress Gala Kazon in her portrayals of the Delilah, the Wicked Witch and Circe. However, Batman and Robin eventually captured her. She ultimately married the object of her affection, former foe Bruce "Batman" Wayne.

While such tales never occurred with the Selina Kyle of Earth-One or Ivy's Earth-Two counterpart Doctor Poison, time and circumstance could get the best of any... man or woman, young or old, good or evil... if they allowed jealously to get a foothold into their hearts. 

Besides, both Catwomen as well as Poison Ivy and Doctor Poison had their hands full with the Batmen and the Wonder Women respectively, during multiple encounters with the heroes.

Poisonous Princesses Plaguing Amazing Amazons

Pamela Isley created the alter ego of Poison Ivy to strike out against men, whom she despised save for one lone male, and in order to obtain immense wealth. Initially, she had two solo outings in Gotham City, the first of which she used to compete with three other costumed criminals of the female persuasion. The second time, she sought to escape prison by  mesmerizing the object of her affection and the man who caught her, Batman. Thankfully, his sidekick Robin helped him defeat her.

Poison Ivy began her crooked career by moving to Gotham City, where she faced Earth-One's Batman and Robin a couple times, using plant themed weaponry. Among her natural abilities were an immunity to all poisons and the ability to scale any structure like an ivy. Her horticulture aptitude allowed her to genetically manipulated her chauffeur Igor and other henchmen into plant-man hybrids, as well as guns armed that shoot deadly thorns.

Years later, Ivy refined her schemes, such as when she tried to take control of Wayne Foundation by mind controlling its stockholders, including owner Bruce Wayne!  When this failed, she returned to gaining riches through other crimes.

Doctor Poison was secretly Princess Maru, a member of the royal family ruling Imperial Japan during World War II. Using her extensive knowledge in poison gases, she concocted a pair of diabolical chemical cocktails to interfere with the American military. The first was the drug labeled Reverso, which caused any exposed to it to act the exact opposite to how they were directed. This caused massive disciplinary proceedings in the United States' armed services. Her future arch-foe Wonder Woman and Captain Steve Trevor along with Etta Candy and the Holliday Girls were able to outmanuever Maru and her Axis minions.

Maru escaped her imprisonment, and soon organized another subversive attack. Under the cover as a professional dancer in  China, Doctor Poison used her second chemical cocktail to damage airplane engines, grounding the Allied Air Fleet. Despite capturing Steve Trevor as she had during their first encounter, she still proved unable to outwit the Amazing Amazon. Taken prisoner in the Amazonian Transformation, or Reformation, Island... it was hoped Princess Maru would forsake her life as Doctor Poison, This proved not to be the case, as Wonder Woman learned later.

Ivy's chauffer Ivor Evan tirelessly and faithfully ferried around his mistress Pamela. Unlike his Earth-One counterpart Chuck, the chauffer of vigilante (and secret criminal) Tom "Spider" Hallaway who drove the all-terrain Black Widow vehicle for his employer, Ivor drove only a standard limousine. While Chuck had a lengthy career serving Hallaway, just prior to the Spider leaving Earth-Two for Earth-X with the other Freedom Fighters. Ivor's association with Ivy was much shorter in duration, cut short by his transformation into a hideous human-plant hybrid that Isley spawned as a weapon against Batman. Shortly after Ivor's death, Ivy would partner up with Hallaway's doppleganger on her Earth, the Black Spider.

Ivy started out as brilliant college student Pamela Isley, who immersed herself in the study of botany. She was led into a life of crime by her college professor boyfriend Marc LeGrand. After he betrayed her following her theft of rare herbs, after which he tried poisoning her, this traumatic experience scarred her for life. Isley adopted the alias of Poison Ivy and forsook any further romance with the opposite sex. Except for Batman, and Bruce Wayne, though "both" spurned her.

Although the Batman of Earth-Two never had occasion to meet Princess Maru, he did meet and battle her brother and fellow doctor, Prince Daka. Doctor Daka had, like Doctor Poison, focused on attacking the United States with advanced scientific tools. After a few encounters versus one another, Batman proved victorious while Maru's sole sibling met an untimely demise.

The original Huntress took Doctor Poison's place in the Earth-Two's Injustice Society, just as Poison Ivy took the place of her world's Huntress on Earth-One's Injustice Gang, as primary female members of these infamous groups. 

Ivy was also a one-time member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains for a brief period. She fought other heroes such as Thorn, Flash, and various members of the League. At one point, while a brief member of another criminal group known as the Super Foes, Ivy recruited a young protegee in the girl named Honeysuckle, though she betrayed Ivy to the Super Friends, turning over a new leaf!

Maru herself reappeared years later as a member of Villany, Inc., a band of supervillianess led by Eviless of Saturn, all former prisoners on Reformation Island. They proved unsuccessful in vanquishing their mutual foe, Wonder Woman, and returned to island prison once more. During her stay on this Transformation Island, Princess Maru would've met another femme fatale, Rose "Thorn" Canton, a foe of Wonder Woman's fellow Justice Society member, the Flash.

Groovy Girls of Gotham Week: Terrific Trio

Seeking training on being a heroine from the Batman Family of Earth-One, since none of her own relatives over on Earth-Two knew of her dual identity, the Huntress first met silver age Batman and Robin (mentioned previously).

The Dark Knight then suggested that Helena Wayne seek out Batwoman and Batgirl for helpful hints. After initially encountering her mother's counterpart, the Catwoman, and stopping her latest crime... Huntress as Helena meets Kathy (Batwoman) Kane and Barbara (Batgirl) Gordon. After some girl talk at Kathy's circus grounds, they are aroused into activity by the presence of the trifecta of terror of Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Madame Zodiac. Each caught her prey except Zodiac, escaping Batwoman's grasp

While Batgirl and Huntress wouldn't meet again until the tragic Crisis on Infinite Earths, their careers mirrored one another in several areas. Police commissioner father, budding romance with their Robin, a longterm we friendship with Kara from Krypton, affiliation with the Justice League and Justice Society (though Babs never became a full fledged member), and earning the respect of their own Gotham City and fellow heroes as they stepped out of the shadows of Batman as true legends.

Madame Zodiac first appeared during this Earth-One crooked caper with Catwoman and Poison Ivy as her pawns, however she would soon return attempting to secure power from within the center of the United States’ military power, inside the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. Zodiak was again confronted by Batgirl, who this time was able to defeat the problematic prognosticator. Zodiac would later return as a woman named Marissa, seducing a fellow foe of the Batman Family, a man named Theodore Carrigan.

A seamstress named Corinne was Marissa’s counterpart on Earth-Two who in 1946 Gotham City got caught up in a misunderstanding, which ultimately led her into a life of crime. When she, along with two of her coworkers believed they had misplaced $99.00 from a suit purchased by wealthy businessman Bruce Wayne, each attempting to earn back this money on their own to balance their costume shop’s register. For her part, Marissa wore a Catwoman costume while pretending to be the feline felon and stealing fake pearls to win the prize money for best impersonation in a contest. Batman discovered that he as Bruce Wayne was responsible to the missing money, and replace it himself.

Marissa and Theodore as their alter egos of Madame Zodiac and Doctor Zodiac hatched a scheme to unleash tremendous power upon their world which they could control. When thus in fact tipped the balance of power and led to their being pawns to another’ schemes, they aided the World’s Finest Team of Batman and Superman in saving Earth-One, at the cost of Doctor Zodiac’s life

Corinne moved to Keystone City in 1948 and began a new career as a prognosticator, tricking wealthy targets into believing she could predict the future. In fact, she was learning where these rich clients kept their valuables, then informed her criminal husband and his gang who would steal these items based on codes she gave them over the radio. The Flash discovered this scheme, and cornered Madame Corinne’s husband Big Pete, who accidentally died of electrocution from a lighting bolt. What became of Madame Corinne has yet to be told.