| Quote: |
| You super-people live in a world of cliches, lady. You shoulda wised up – these are the eighties! Fighting crime is like fighting city hall; it’s counter-productive! |
Black Orchid is a collection of the three issue mini-series from the late 1980’s. It features the re-imagining of an old DC character by writer Neil Gaiman and long-time collaborator, Dave McKean. This is one of their early collaborations and their first big commission for a major American publisher.
The plot surrounds the death and rebirth of Susan Linden, otherwise known as the crime fighting heroine, Black Orchid, who is investigating a criminal enterprise that would eventually lead to Lex Luthor. When Susan’s ex-husband is released from prison, his dismissal by ex-boss Luthor, sets in motion a chain of events that sees him and Luthor hunting down the Black Orchid and her immature companion.
Although the book is now published by Vertigo, it was originally released by DC and pre-dates the Vertigo imprint by four years. Gaiman delivers an unconventional superhero story that does not feature much in the way of superheroics and creates an origin story for the Black Orchid that links her into DC’s other plant-based heroes and villains – Jason Woodrue, Pamela Isley and Alec Holland. The story is about loss, unrequited love and the search for identity in an unfamiliar world. And while not having the majesty and breadth of his landmark Sandman series, it is still a beautifully told tale that is worth a read nearly 25 years after it was written. The art by McKean is fabulous featuring a photo-realistic style mixed in with some impressionistic renderings of the Green and the Amazonion jungle.
The book features some extra content for this deluxe printing that consists of sketches and handwritten notes from Gaiman as well as early comments from editor Karen Berger which while interesting are probably only of interest to hardcore fans of the character or Gaiman or those interested in the publishing process.
