Black Orchid
Encyclopedia
Black Orchid is the name of three fictional superheroines published by DC Comics
. The original version of the character first appeared in Adventure Comics
#428 (July 1973
).
Although she has a number of superpowers (including flight, super-strength, and invulnerability to bullets) her main ability is a mastery of disguise. She often spends an entire investigation impersonating an insignificant background female, such as a maid, a secretary, someone's girlfriend, et cetera, and the other characters only discover her involvement at the end of the story upon finding the bound and gagged woman she impersonated, and an abandoned disguise with her calling card, a black orchid. The creators imagined her in a world without other superheroes, and she combined the superhuman abilities of Superman
with the detective work of Batman
.
After appearing in Adventure Comics #'s 428–430, the character next appeared as a backup feature in The Phantom Stranger
#'s 31, 32, 35, 36, and 38–41 (1974–1976), after which the character appeared only sporadically, such as an occasional cameo in comic book
s as diverse as three panels in the Crisis on Infinite Earths
12-issue limited series and Blue Devil
Annual
#1 (both 1985), as well as Deadshot
vol. 1 #1 and Invasion!
#2. She also appeared in Suicide Squad
as a member of the team in issues #4, 7, 11, 12, 19 (behind the scenes), and 22 (1987–1988). She also had an appearance in the non-continuity Super Friends #31.
Adventure Comics #428 proclaimed on its cover that it was an "origin issue," although almost no background on the character is given, not even her name. Until Neil Gaiman explained her origin, the character was, in fact, most famous for her lack of an origin. Instead, writers teased us with several possible origins, all refuted. In Adventure Comics #429, Barry DeMorte hypothesizes that either yoga
master Lucinda "Cindy" Harper or anti-gravity specialist Daphne Wingate is Black Orchid, and kidnaps them both. When Black Orchid comes to the rescue, he learns otherwise. In The Phantom Stranger #38, writer Michael Fleisher
posited racecar driver Ronnie Kuhn as a possible secret identity for Black Orchid. In the next issue, Kuhn was revealed to be simply an admirer of Black Orchid, who is soon seduced into "The Black Orchid Legion" (molecular chemist Karen Jensen, astrophysicist Stefanie Tower, Olympic gymnast and acrobat Barbie Henderson, criminologist Janet Grant, and psychologist
and martial artist Lisa Patrick), a group of criminals who developed suits that would mimic Black Orchid's powers, because of her father's status as president of the World Bank
, claiming that they are helping her to protect it from Communists. They bind her to the safe door, which they have set with explosives. The real Black Orchid rescues her, and when the cops arrest the Legion, one mistakes Kuhn for the real Black Orchid, claiming to "know how it is with you super-heroes." Although Super Friends was never considered canon, writer E. Nelson Bridwell
made it fit, anyway. His story had Lisa Patrick purchase a large chunk of kryptonite
on the black market, convinced that Black Orchid is a Kryptonian
. Patrick tries to lure her to the meteorite
display at the Gotham City
Museum of Natural History, attracting the Justice League
. Black Orchid places a force field around the kryptonite to protect Superman
, but the force field harms her, instead, further convincing Patrick that she is Kryptonian, not noting the lack of effect on Superman. The latter takes the kryptonite into space, and Black Orchid follows him to take it as a brief hand-off so that the fragments will not kill him. When she survives the explosion, Superman inquires where she is from and how she got her powers; her answer—Earth.
In Blue Devil
Annual #1, the usually reliable Madame Xanadu
and Phantom Stranger
provide competing origins for Black Orchid. Xanadu identifies her as Madeleine Moorcock, and her origin is a parody of Daredevil
, while the Stranger identifies her as Paula Porter, whose origin parodies Spider-Man
.
Her appearances as an auxiliary member of the Suicide Squad are generally limited to brief rescues or bits of spying. Perhaps the most revealing issue is #19, in which she does not actually appear, but a black orchid is found as evidence that she has been tapping into Task Force X's mainframe, which arouses suspicion, as she is there as support rather than as a rehabilitated criminal. Her disappearance was eventually noted by the Squad.
In 1988
, the character was relaunched in a three-part prestige format
mini-series
called Black Orchid which was written by Neil Gaiman
and illustrated by Dave McKean
. The mini-series fleshed out the character considerably, providing an origin story which explained how and why she became known as Black Orchid. It also gave the character a civilian name in her origin sequence, Susan Linden-Thorne. Instead of being a normal super-powered human (or metahuman
in the DC Universe
), her background was changed to be that of a human-plant hybrid with ties to the Green
. In this way she became related with other such human-plant hybrids as the Swamp Thing
, Floronic Man
, and Poison Ivy. The innovative take on superhero storytelling and the fine-art quality of the illustrations paved the way for the creation of DC's Vertigo Comics imprint.
Susan Linden had been killed by an abusive husband named Carl Thorne, whom she met while a croupier
in Monaco
. She had been a botanist alongside Pamela Isley, Alec
and Linda Holland, and Philip Sylvain. When Thorne became abusive, she retreated to Sylvain, who cared for her until Thorne succeeded in killing her. Sylvain used Linden's DNA as the source for plant/human hybrids, and kept an entire greenhouse full of them. While working with the Suicide Squad, Flo Crowley caught Black Orchid, or rather her calling card, after she had been messing with Task Force X's mainframes. She had been attempting to infiltrate Lexcorp
, but her cover was blown. She had been masquerading as a secretary, but her wig and mask were removed to reveal her in her classic costume. She was bound to a chair inside a burning building. Black Orchid undid her bindings but died of smoke inhalation
before she could escape. Her unrecognizable corpse was determined to be plant material by the fire department. Linden's consciousness was again killed by Thorne, this time a plant that merely thought that she was Linden. Thorne destroyed the greenhouse and killed Sylvain, leaving only two surviving hybrids. Thorne was killed pursuing the survivors to Brazil
, where they buried him.
An on-going Black Orchid series, published under the newly created Vertigo imprint, featuring the new Black Orchid, ran for 22 issues from 1993 to 1995. Written by Dick Foreman, it saw the second version of the character use pheromone manipulation as mind control
to become a femme fatale
, breaking and marrying millionaire Elliot Weems to claim his fortune and company business as her own. She then became the series' major villain in the closing story arc, before perishing in the final issue. Her companion, a child version of Black Orchid heretofore nicknamed "Suzy", had matured over the course of the series, taking up the mantle of the Black Orchid as a young adult. Suzy features prominently in The Black Orchid Annual #1, part 2 of Vertigo's Children's Crusade crossover. The Annual was published between issues #4 and #5 of the on-going series.
and related Vertigo titles. She has appeared in four event titles: 1999's Totems one-shot, 2001's Justice Leagues
limited series, 2005's Day of Vengeance
limited series, and 2006's Infinite Crisis
limited series. She is at present an ally of the Shadowpact
and the Birds of Prey.
An unidentified Black Orchid recently appeared in the weekly Trinity
series, as a member of an alternate universe Justice League
.
. She is a member of the original Secret Seven who had been killed years earlier. Black Orchid apparently returns from the dead to contact her former teammate Shade, the Changing Man
, but is ultimately revealed to be a monster who had merely assumed Orchid's form.
, on the cover of the Skill Magazine ¡La Fantoma!. The magazine cover itself is a mirrored and re-colored version of Black Orchid's debut on the cover of Adventure Comics #428.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The original version of the character first appeared in Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
#428 (July 1973
1973 in comics
-Year overall:* Dell Comics, after 44 years in the comics business, ceases publication; a few of the company's former titles moving to Gold Key Comics....
).
Susan Linden-Thorne
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
with the detective work of Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
.
After appearing in Adventure Comics #'s 428–430, the character next appeared as a backup feature in The Phantom Stranger
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.-Publication history:...
#'s 31, 32, 35, 36, and 38–41 (1974–1976), after which the character appeared only sporadically, such as an occasional cameo in comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s as diverse as three panels in the Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
12-issue limited series and Blue Devil
Blue Devil
Blue Devil is a superhero featured in material published by DC Comics. He first appeared in a special insert published in Fury of Firestorm #24 . That story led directly into Blue Devil #1, also cover dated June 1984...
Annual
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
#1 (both 1985), as well as Deadshot
Deadshot
Deadshot is a fictional character, a supervillain/assassin in the DC Universe and an enemy of Batman. He first appears in Batman #59 and was created by Bob Kane, David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz....
vol. 1 #1 and Invasion!
Invasion! (DC Comics)
Invasion! was a three issue comic book limited series and crossover event published in late 1988-early 1989 by DC Comics. It was plotted by Keith Giffen, and ties up a great many plotlines from various Giffen-created DC series, including Omega Men, Justice League International, and Legion of...
#2. She also appeared in Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X , is a name for two fictional organizations in the DC Comics Universe. The first version debuted in The Brave and the Bold #25 , and the second in Legends #3...
as a member of the team in issues #4, 7, 11, 12, 19 (behind the scenes), and 22 (1987–1988). She also had an appearance in the non-continuity Super Friends #31.
Adventure Comics #428 proclaimed on its cover that it was an "origin issue," although almost no background on the character is given, not even her name. Until Neil Gaiman explained her origin, the character was, in fact, most famous for her lack of an origin. Instead, writers teased us with several possible origins, all refuted. In Adventure Comics #429, Barry DeMorte hypothesizes that either yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
master Lucinda "Cindy" Harper or anti-gravity specialist Daphne Wingate is Black Orchid, and kidnaps them both. When Black Orchid comes to the rescue, he learns otherwise. In The Phantom Stranger #38, writer Michael Fleisher
Michael Fleisher
Michael L. "Mike" Fleisher is an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters the Spectre and Jonah Hex.-Early life and career:...
posited racecar driver Ronnie Kuhn as a possible secret identity for Black Orchid. In the next issue, Kuhn was revealed to be simply an admirer of Black Orchid, who is soon seduced into "The Black Orchid Legion" (molecular chemist Karen Jensen, astrophysicist Stefanie Tower, Olympic gymnast and acrobat Barbie Henderson, criminologist Janet Grant, and psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and martial artist Lisa Patrick), a group of criminals who developed suits that would mimic Black Orchid's powers, because of her father's status as president of the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, claiming that they are helping her to protect it from Communists. They bind her to the safe door, which they have set with explosives. The real Black Orchid rescues her, and when the cops arrest the Legion, one mistakes Kuhn for the real Black Orchid, claiming to "know how it is with you super-heroes." Although Super Friends was never considered canon, writer E. Nelson Bridwell
E. Nelson Bridwell
Edward Nelson Bridwell was a writer for Mad magazine and various comic books published by DC Comics. One of the writers for the Batman comic strip and Super Friends, he also wrote The Inferior Five, among other comics...
made it fit, anyway. His story had Lisa Patrick purchase a large chunk of kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
on the black market, convinced that Black Orchid is a Kryptonian
Kryptonian
Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race of the DC Comics universe who hail from the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman...
. Patrick tries to lure her to the meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
display at the Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
Museum of Natural History, attracting the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
. Black Orchid places a force field around the kryptonite to protect Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, but the force field harms her, instead, further convincing Patrick that she is Kryptonian, not noting the lack of effect on Superman. The latter takes the kryptonite into space, and Black Orchid follows him to take it as a brief hand-off so that the fragments will not kill him. When she survives the explosion, Superman inquires where she is from and how she got her powers; her answer—Earth.
In Blue Devil
Blue Devil
Blue Devil is a superhero featured in material published by DC Comics. He first appeared in a special insert published in Fury of Firestorm #24 . That story led directly into Blue Devil #1, also cover dated June 1984...
Annual #1, the usually reliable Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu is a fictional character, a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.-Publication history:...
and Phantom Stranger
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.-Publication history:...
provide competing origins for Black Orchid. Xanadu identifies her as Madeleine Moorcock, and her origin is a parody of Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
, while the Stranger identifies her as Paula Porter, whose origin parodies Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
.
Her appearances as an auxiliary member of the Suicide Squad are generally limited to brief rescues or bits of spying. Perhaps the most revealing issue is #19, in which she does not actually appear, but a black orchid is found as evidence that she has been tapping into Task Force X's mainframe, which arouses suspicion, as she is there as support rather than as a rehabilitated criminal. Her disappearance was eventually noted by the Squad.
In 1988
1988 in comics
-Events and publications:* Jack Binder, creator of the original Daredevil, dies at c. age 86.* Tarpé Mills, creator Miss Fury, dies at c. age 73....
, the character was relaunched in a three-part prestige format
Prestige format
Prestige format is a term coined by DC Comics and later came into wider use to refer to a square-bound comic book with cardstock covers. A prestige format comic book is usually longer than a normal, stapled 32-page comic...
mini-series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
called Black Orchid which was written by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and illustrated by Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
. The mini-series fleshed out the character considerably, providing an origin story which explained how and why she became known as Black Orchid. It also gave the character a civilian name in her origin sequence, Susan Linden-Thorne. Instead of being a normal super-powered human (or metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
in the DC Universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
), her background was changed to be that of a human-plant hybrid with ties to the Green
Parliament of Trees
The Parliament of Trees is a fictional group of Plant Elementals in the form of trees, first appearing in Swamp Thing Vol. 2, #47. It is owned by DC Comics/Vertigo.-Fictional character biography:...
. In this way she became related with other such human-plant hybrids as the Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
, Floronic Man
Floronic Man
The Floronic Man , also known as the Plant Master and Floro, is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe...
, and Poison Ivy. The innovative take on superhero storytelling and the fine-art quality of the illustrations paved the way for the creation of DC's Vertigo Comics imprint.
Susan Linden had been killed by an abusive husband named Carl Thorne, whom she met while a croupier
Croupier
A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.-Origin of the word:...
in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
. She had been a botanist alongside Pamela Isley, Alec
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
and Linda Holland, and Philip Sylvain. When Thorne became abusive, she retreated to Sylvain, who cared for her until Thorne succeeded in killing her. Sylvain used Linden's DNA as the source for plant/human hybrids, and kept an entire greenhouse full of them. While working with the Suicide Squad, Flo Crowley caught Black Orchid, or rather her calling card, after she had been messing with Task Force X's mainframes. She had been attempting to infiltrate Lexcorp
LexCorp
LexCorp is the fictional company founded by Lex Luthor in the popular DC Comics Superman series. It made its first proper appearance in John Byrne's The Man of Steel miniseries, which established the post-Crisis Superman setting...
, but her cover was blown. She had been masquerading as a secretary, but her wig and mask were removed to reveal her in her classic costume. She was bound to a chair inside a burning building. Black Orchid undid her bindings but died of smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in victims of indoor fires.Smoke inhalation injury refers to injury due to inhalation or exposure to hot gaseous products of combustion. This can cause serious respiratory complications....
before she could escape. Her unrecognizable corpse was determined to be plant material by the fire department. Linden's consciousness was again killed by Thorne, this time a plant that merely thought that she was Linden. Thorne destroyed the greenhouse and killed Sylvain, leaving only two surviving hybrids. Thorne was killed pursuing the survivors to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, where they buried him.
Flora Black
The surviving Black Orchids, both having the consciousness and limited memories of Linden, become as mother and daughter, one being significantly smaller and younger than the other, and although the younger is initially more aware of Linden's memories, these swiftly degenerate. The elder goes under the alias of Flora Black to meet with Sherilyn Sommers, her closest friend.An on-going Black Orchid series, published under the newly created Vertigo imprint, featuring the new Black Orchid, ran for 22 issues from 1993 to 1995. Written by Dick Foreman, it saw the second version of the character use pheromone manipulation as mind control
Mind control
Mind control refers to a process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator, often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"...
to become a femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
, breaking and marrying millionaire Elliot Weems to claim his fortune and company business as her own. She then became the series' major villain in the closing story arc, before perishing in the final issue. Her companion, a child version of Black Orchid heretofore nicknamed "Suzy", had matured over the course of the series, taking up the mantle of the Black Orchid as a young adult. Suzy features prominently in The Black Orchid Annual #1, part 2 of Vertigo's Children's Crusade crossover. The Annual was published between issues #4 and #5 of the on-going series.
Suzy
The grown-up Suzy is identical to her "sister" and carries on the tradition in both the DC UniverseDC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
and related Vertigo titles. She has appeared in four event titles: 1999's Totems one-shot, 2001's Justice Leagues
Justice Leagues
"Justice Leagues" was a storyline which ran through six one-shot comics published in 2001 by DC Comics, which introduced a revamped Justice League of America....
limited series, 2005's Day of Vengeance
Day of Vengeance
Day of Vengeance is a six-issue comic book limited series written by Bill Willingham, with art by Justiniano and Walden Wong, published in 2005 by DC Comics.-Publication history:...
limited series, and 2006's Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
limited series. She is at present an ally of the Shadowpact
Shadowpact
The Shadowpact is a group of magic-based heroes who fought against the Spectre in the 2005 limited series Day of Vengeance, published by DC Comics. They are a sort of Justice League for the supernatural elements of the DC Universe...
and the Birds of Prey.
An unidentified Black Orchid recently appeared in the weekly Trinity
Trinity (comic book)
Trinity is the title of an American weekly comic book limited series published by DC Comics that debuted during the first week of June, 2008. It ran for 52 issues.-Conception and production:...
series, as a member of an alternate universe Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
.
Flashpoint
The original Black Orchid briefly appears in the 2011 limited series Flashpoint: Secret SevenFlashpoint (comics)
Flashpoint is an American comic book crossover story arc published by DC Comics. Consisting of an eponymous core limited series and a number of tie-in titles, the storyline premiered in May 2011...
. She is a member of the original Secret Seven who had been killed years earlier. Black Orchid apparently returns from the dead to contact her former teammate Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man
Shade, the Changing Man is a fictional comic book character created by Steve Ditko for DC Comics in 1977. The character was later adapted by Peter Milligan and became one of the first Vertigo titles....
, but is ultimately revealed to be a monster who had merely assumed Orchid's form.
Powers and abilities
The first Black Orchid had super strength, a degree of invulnerability, flight, and was a master of disguise. The second and third Black Orchids had super strength, flight, and can absorb nutrients from the air. The second version could generate seductive pheromones.Awards
The 1988 limited series was nominated for the Squiddy Award for Favorite Limited Series in 1989, and for the Squiddy Award for Favorite Limited Series of the 1980s. The 1993 ongoing series was nominated for the Squiddy Award for Favorite New Continuing Series in 1993, the Squiddy Award for Most Improved Series in 1993 and 1994. Issue #8 of the series was nominated for the Squiddy Award for Favorite Single Issue Story in a Series in 1993. The trade paperback collection of the mini-series was nominated for the Squiddy Award for Favorite Reprint Volume in 1991.Television
- Black Orchid appears in the Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
episode "The Mask of Matches Malone!". In keeping with her mysterious nature, Black Orchid has no dialogue or credited voice actress. She rescues Batman by assuming the identity of one of Poison Ivy's henchwomen and infiltrating her gang. After helping Batman stop Poison Ivy, she disappears without a trace, prompting Batman to comment "Now I know how Commissioner Gordon feels."
Video Games
Black Orchid makes a non-canon cameo in the game Fallout: New VegasFallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas is a first person action role-playing video game in the Fallout series developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic environment in and around Las Vegas, Nevada...
, on the cover of the Skill Magazine ¡La Fantoma!. The magazine cover itself is a mirrored and re-colored version of Black Orchid's debut on the cover of Adventure Comics #428.
Miscellaneous
- Although not appearing in Super FriendsSuper FriendsSuper Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
, she did appear in some of the related comics with the show.