Harley, Poison Ivy, and Livewire wreak havoc when they plan to have a leisurely night out in Gotham City.
Like most of the Batman: the Animated Series characters,
Poison Ivy was redesigned for Season 4, going from a normal white lady to a grey-skinned weirdo. Also like most of the BtAS characters, this change was never explained on the show - we were just meant to assume it was a new art style and go with it from there. It's not like the comics have some big explanation why one issue will be drawn by Rob Liefeld and the next issue will be drawn by Mike Mignola, right? But in Ivy's case, a story did address it; it just happened to be in the tie-in comic.
In the back-up story in Batman Adventures #16, Redesign Ivy is sick and falling apart, so she turns to the one person who's as good with plants as she is: Alec Holland. She stumbles to his lab, pleading for help, explaining that she'd experimented on herself, changing her cell structure and DNA. But before he could do anything, she died and crumbled away to nothing. At which point his coworker, Original Design Ivy, walks into the room and reveals the green, plant-cotrolling Ivy was never her, just a decoy she'd left in Gotham so no one would bother looking for her as she started a new life. What a tweest!
All things considered, Poison Ivy's new design isn't a huge departure from what had come before - yes, she had the show's new proportions, like a narrow wasp-waist and big hips, but she was still wearing boots, gloves, and a green swimsuit, and she still had the Veronica Lake hair. Compared to things like Scarecrow or Mr. Freeze, this is nothing!
The Season 4 design is where Ivy began the process
that would eventually turn her green. He skin is gray, but it does have a slight green tint to it, so you can see how they eventually swung that way. Unlike most of McFarlane Toys' DCAU figures, this set doesn't do cel-shaded paint, so her clothes are solid green (rather than black with green highlights). The articulation is also pretty old-fashioned, since this is a re-release of DC Direct figure #08, so you can expect the kind of weirdness those old figures had, like H-hips, and no waist.
The '90s were a more innocent time, when controversial radio
DJs became infamous for doing things like saying "fart" live on the air, instead of things like claiming that mass-shootings never happened or that Whites are the superior race. Leslie Willis worked at WLXL and spent most of her time ridiculing Superman - considering that the station's call letters suggest it's owned by Lex Luthor, it's no surprise she seemed very secure in her job. During a big public rally in the park, Leslie refused to leave the stage during a thunderstorm, and ended up getting struck by lightning that had bounced off Superman. That last bit is probably why she got super powers instead of getting cooked like a microwave hotdog, but she still blamed Superman and wanted to kill him.
Eventually Livewire was being transferred for treatment in Gotham City, but when the truck was diverted due to a downed power line, she absorbed the ambient energy and made her escape. Escaping Batgirl, she randomly came across Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and the three decided to have some fun together. (Robbing banks.)
Technically Livewire appeared in the comics before the cartoon, but 1) only in the show's tie-in book, and 2) only because it takes so long for an episode of an animated show to go through production. The same thing happened with Renee Montoya. On Superman: the Animated Series, the character was voiced by Lori Petty, who made her sound scratchy, but cute: exactly what voice director Andrea Romano was looking for.
Livewire's colorscheme is blue: spiky blue hair, pale blue skin (though fully white on this figure), and a navy blue costume.
When this figure was released by DC Direct in 2017, she had bluer skin, but this still works okay. Her facial details and the lightning bolt cutout on the front of her costume are painted crisply. She's the only figure in this set to get any accessory (other than alternate hands): a blue lightning bolt that can fit onto her wrist.
When DC Direct released their Livewire (animated, not comic), she was only in a five-pack with three re-releases and one other new character. Who was that second character? Supergirl!
StAS Supergirl was introduced during that period when DC editorial was refusing to allow anyone or anything but Superman to have survived Krypton, so anyone who wanted to use Supergirl had to come up with an excuse for why she was allowed. The cartoon's tack was that she wasn't from Krypton at all, but instead from its neighbor planet, Argo; when Krypton blew up, Argo was knocked off its orbit, and while they built a forcefield to preserve themselves, it eventually began to fail and Kara was put into cryo sleep to save her life. Superman found her while visiting the former location of Krypton, and brought her back to Earth to join the family.
It feels like this figure was made at the wrong size. She's the same general height as Poison Ivy and Livewire were, but remember: they're adults, and she's a teenager. Her head is about 50% larger than either of theirs, so it looks oversized for her body; if she'd been reduced a bit, it would probably work better. Of course, that's all a holdover from DCD, nothing Todd did.
Given Supergirl's early-90s crop top and micro mini skirt,
it's always tough for companies to figure out how to do leg articulation for her. The Kenner figure made a solid skirt and had no joints below the waist, Mattel did a T-crotch with the skirt molded onto the legs themselves, and DC Direct made the skirt PVC while maintaining the regular joints that all their Animated figures have. One thing we would say, though? Kara, if you're going to be flying around above Metropolis in a miniskirt, you should probably put on some underwear. Some things never change, huh Todd? Her hair and cape are PVC as well, but she still can't look up, and there's still no waist joint. In this case, it could have been hidden by the lower edge of her shirt.
The set includes alternate hands for all three figures, and doll stands, plus three of the "reproduction animation cels" just
like Killer Croc and Baby Doll had. So nothing worthwhile. When DCD released their "Girls' Night Out" box set, it included Batgirl and Harley as well, but Todd isn't making you double-dip on them if you want these new releases, and that's the honorable thing to do. This is an Amazon exclusive, and is very affordable right now - less than $10 per figure, if you pick the right offer. At that price, it's not hard to overlook any shortcomings the set may have.
-- 04/23/25
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