First Appearance of Poison Ivy: Batman #181 (1966) Value

Poison Ivy first appeared in Batman #181, cover-dated June 1966. Carmine Infantino created her as a design sketch, and Robert Kanigher developed her in the script for that first story, where she goes by the identity Lillian Rose; Sheldon Moldoff is also credited as a creator (Wikipedia). The name Pamela Isley came later.

PriceCharting values by grade, retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $218.50
• 4.0: $218.50
• 6.0: $518.75
• 8.0: $1,094.99
• 9.2: $2,707.42

Ungraded copies sell about once a day, so the lower grades are well supported. The top of the market is a different story. CGC reported that a CGC 9.8 copy sold for $96,000 in the Greenwich Collection sale on August 10, 2023, beating the previous record of $90,000 set in 2020; at the time it was one of only four copies graded 9.8, with none higher (CGC, August 15, 2023). PriceCharting's own 9.8 figure, based on about one sale a year, is far below that, so for a top-grade copy look at the auction record rather than the guide number.

Her real name is Dr. Pamela Isley. In the post-Crisis origin she is a botany student of Professor Jason Woodrue, who injects her with poisons and toxins as an experiment and transforms her. In the pre-Crisis version, a man named Marc LeGrand tries to poison her; she survives and becomes immune to all toxins (Wikipedia). She is immune to toxins and poisons and controls plant life through a force called the Green (Wikipedia).

People who destroy plants and nature. Wikipedia describes her as a doctor of botany turned misanthropic ecoterrorist who sees herself as nature's defender against humanity, and CGC's write-up says her deep connection to plants leads her to see humanity as a threat to nature.

The two have long been close, and since 2015 they have been written as a romantic couple, which writers have confirmed (Wikipedia). Harley's own first appearance is on our Harley Quinn first appearance page.

• Batman & Robin (1997): Uma Thurman
• Gotham: Clare Foley, Maggie Geha and Peyton List
• Harley Quinn (HBO Max animated series): voiced by Lake Bell
• Batman: The Animated Series: her debut episode "Pretty Poison" aired September 14, 1992; Bruce's friend Harvey Dent gets engaged to Pamela Isley and then collapses, poisoned (Wikipedia episode list)

Film and TV sources: Wikipedia.

Some searchers want the plant, not the villain. Two questions come up with this search:

• What does poison ivy look like when it first starts growing? Leaves grow in clusters of three leaflets. Young leaves are usually light green, and some sources say they are reddish while expanding before they turn dark green; in fall they turn red, orange or yellow (Wikipedia, Toxicodendron radicans).
• Did Native Americans get poison ivy? The reaction depends on the person, not on ancestry in any source we found. Wikipedia says around 15 to 25 percent of people have no allergic reaction to urushiol, the oil that causes the rash, and that most people react more with repeated exposure. Indigenous peoples knew the plant well: caquistle is its Nahuatl name (Wikipedia).

If you think you have touched the plant or have a rash, ask a pharmacist or doctor. Get medical help quickly if the rash is on your face, eyes or genitals, covers a large area, or if you have trouble breathing.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them. See spot a fake or restored comic.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. Batman ran for hundreds of issues; keep the #181 in the cover corner sharp in the photo. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo and shows a reference price range that moves with the grade you pick; there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market.