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Title: BATMAN No. 181 * 1st Poison Ivy Appearance
Publisher:DC [Indicia: National Periodical Publications, Inc.]
Date Published: June, 1966
Description: CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: "Subscription crease front cover; light spine stress lines to cover; moderate cover tanning; moderate finger bends on cover; moderate staining to cover; moderate wear all corners of cover; moderate wear all edges of cover." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.
 
CGC Census: 3600 graded copies (3170 Universal, 216 Qualified, 116 Signature Series, 98 Restored). 
 
GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $367 in 9/23.
 
Credits: Cover: Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson (inks). Scripts: Robert Kanigher, Gardner Fox. Art: Sheldon Moldoff (signed as Bob Kane), Joe Giella (inks), Chic Stone (?), Sid Greene (inks). Overstreet: "Intro. Poison Ivy; Batman & Robin poster insert."Bat-cyclopedia: "On Earth-1, Lillian Rose had an affair with her college botany professor, Marc LaGrand, who asked her to accompany him while stealing an Egyptian artifact from a Seattle museum. He wanted the artifact's contents: rare herbs, some of which he used in an attempt to kill Rose, silencing the only witness. Instead, she survived and acquired immunity to natural toxins.... Taking the name PAMELA ISLEY and the costumed persona of Poison Ivy, she set out to show her power over men. She arrived in GOTHAM CITY, taking on three women — DRAGON FLY, SILKEN SPIDER, and TIGER MOTH — who billed themselves as Public Enemies Numbers One, Two, and Three. Ivy proclaimed that she was actually Public Enemy Number One. This was all part of a scheme on Ivy's part to drive the various costumed felons to compete with one another while she waited them out. Batman and Robin apprehended them all." — Robert Greenberger, The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Ballantine: 2012, p. 295.
 
Poison Ivy Debuts: "[1966] also introduced a new super-villainess to Batman's life: Poison Ivy, a manipulative mastermind whose powers of seduction were matched only by her criminal savvy. 'Batman had very few recurring female characters by the time the 1960s rolled around,' says historian Matthew K. Manning. 'So to see a new villain who was a woman was already an interesting idea, especially one as obsessed with becoming public enemy number one as Poison Ivy was. Her eye-catching costume made a strong first impression on readers.' Ivy and her foliage-laden outfit debuted in the pages of Batman #181." — Andrew Farago and Gina McIntyre, Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond. Insight Editions: 2022, pp. 54, 57.The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, including a copy of every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales over the next two years. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.
Enjoying PBA's Batman sale? A very small number of softcover and limited edition hardcover auction catalogues are available for purchase. The catalogues are fully illustrated, thoroughly researched, and make excellent reference works for Batman fans. To order a copy, or to inquire about consignment opportunities, contact Ivan Briggs, PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com.