Gotham City Sirens 

While all three women characters in Dini’s work are physically alluring and seductive, the character of Poison Ivy is intriguing due to the fact that her powers give her literal control over men. Poison Ivy has control over plants, but her identity is fully formed through her acceptance of her sexuality. Austin states, “Batman’s female villains exploit their sexuality to subvert typically female roles, using their bodies and turning them on their oppressors” (292). Poison Ivy does not simply use her powers on her oppressors, but she goes as far as to wield her sexuality as a weapon towards anyone who stands in the way of her goals. In Gotham City Sirens, this can be exemplified through something as simple as her hailing a cab without paying, to taking over a male villain in Gotham, The Riddler’s, apartment and keeping him under her spell. Dini’s portrayal of Ivy overpowering The Riddler is striking; not only is he a fellow Gotham villain, but he is a male villain. While a threat to the rest of Gotham, Poison Ivy’s full emersion in her sexuality provides her with the confidence in her strength and power to act as a driving force for Catwoman and Harley Quinn.