Her 15 minutes of fame over Ronnie Kuhn vanished back into obscurity. Sadly so did the Black Orchid as this was the last issue of The Phantom Stranger. She popped up every now and again but wasn't very visible. Which was appropriate as she had always fought crime from the shadows. In the Eighties she showed up in the pages of Suicide Squad. She wasn't a real member, more like an independent contractor who helped out the Squad in exchange for access to their supercomputer and databases. It wasn't until 1988's Black Orchid miniseries that we finally learned the truth about who and what she was (unless you count the two conflicting tongue in cheek origins for her recounted by Madame Xanadu and the Phantom Stranger in the 1985 Blue Devil Annual). She finally stumbled into a deathtrap which she almost escaped. Unfortunately "almost" isn't good enough. This might sound like the end of the miniseries but it's just the beginning of the first issue. The series is another winner by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean and worth reading if you haven't had a look yet. A shortlived Vertigo title followed but under a different creative team and I lost interrest pretty quickly. I have no idea of the character's current status and won't be scanning the images I mentioned as I'd rather not damage the comic by bending the covers. If anyone wants to do it and send them for inclusion on this page then go for it.
Back to the first Black Orchid Page
