The main theme of the story is about the tragic loss of innocence, as a character who is truly pure enters the evil of the human world. Add into the mix an incredibly interesting character – Carl Thorne, who loves singing Sinatra numbers as he murders and just happens to be the ex-husband of the Woman whose DNA was used to create the Orchids. Lex Luthor is portrayed as an evil, ruthless businessman who eventually gains an interest in acquiring the Black Orchard for his own research purposes. This new Orchid must deal with old memories surfacing and a world rife with crime and corruption. Once she dies, her sister, another hybrid flower lady is ‘born’ and uncertain with who or what she is. She was a hybrid plant lady, cultivated by a scientist (and all round nice guy Phil Sylvian). It’s a clever way to shake the reader up, this isn’t a standard superhero tale. An almost blank canvas to paint on and within this book, he crafted a compelling, complex character, ethereal and faerie like.Īt the very beginning of this story the Black Orchid dies, in quite a horrific way. She must have stood out as a fascinating character to resurrect in Neil Gaiman’s mind. The character of Black Orchid originally appeared in DC in 1973 and was a fairly blank character, she is covered with more suggestion rather than definite identity. This is, at it’s core a Superhero narrative, but wait, before you close this page down in disgust, it’s a Superhero narrative told in a Neil Gaiman way! This is a Vertigo story but also features cameo appearances by Batman, The Joker, Two Face, The Mad Hatter, Posion Ivy, Lex Luthor and Swamp Thing. Gaiman takes the character and integrates her within a mythological, almost holistic DC Universe setting.

Black Orchid is a vertigo book which, like Alan Moore’s superb retelling of Swamp Thing, took an older, established character in a bold new direction. Neil Gaiman is best known for his wonderful Sandman series published by Vertigo, but before that, in the late 1980’s Gaiman had another wonderful book that was published.

Black orchid by neil gaiman