Review: Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean

Author: Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean
Series: None
Publisher: Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics
Publication Date: 1990
Pages: 160
Format/Source: Hardback Graphic Novel/Library
After being viciously murdered, Susan Linden is reborn fully grown as the Black Orchid, a hybrid of plant and human, destined to avenge her own death. Now, as this demigoddess attempts to reconcile human memory and botanical origins, she must untangle the webs of deception and secrets that led to her death. Beginning in the cold streets of a heartless metropolis and ending in the Amazon rainforest, this book takes the reader on a journey through secrets, suffering and self-rediscovery. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)
When I was a kid, I read some comic books. Not many, just Superman, X-Men, Archie, and Betty and Veronica, and maybe a couple others. And now I’m trying to get back into comics and graphic novels, and because I’m still a noob, I often don’t know much about the whole world of comics and graphic novels.
A few things I didn’t know until recently:
- Comic books are called graphic novels once several issues are bound together to make a larger volume.
- DC Comics have what is called the DC Universe (and Marvel might have this, too, but I’m not sure), where a lot of the characters interact in the same world. So, for instance, in Black Orchid, we see characters from Batman as well as Superman. I knew that there were individual comics that brought these characters together (like the Superman/Batman comics), but I didn’t realize that Batman might just pop up in another DC comic book. I’m a NOOOOOOB. I also think this is pretty cool.

Leave a Reply