Comics
Feminicide, Violence and Oneiric Orchids
A review of ‘Black Orchid’ by Neil Gaiman
“Hey, you know something? I’ve read the comics… I’m not going to lock you up in the basement before interrogating you… then leave you alone to escape. That stuff is so dumb. But you know what I am going to do? I’m going to kill you. Now.”
This killer denouement speech is said by one of the crime lords who kidnapped our heroine. As soon as we turn the page she is shot in the head and abandoned to die inside a burning building. An unexpected rupture of the predictable genre of the comics awaits us on the very first pages. Sanguinolence and violence are the plot’s fingerprint.
When younger, I remember watching some cartoons and thinking “What if the villain wins?”, “What if Coyote caught Road Runner?” This door of disruption and realism was eventually opened in comic books, and it was both shocking and fascinating. This violent narrative could only have been made possible at that time by Vertigo — an imprint of DC Comics created in 1993 — who had raised the comic’s language and theme to an mature level.
The narrative is fragmented and does not follow an easily explainable plot. I have caught myself reading it again and again and getting as lost as our protagonists.
Dave McKean’s art is hallucinogenic. The use of saturated-coloured panels highlights the palettes of green and purple whenever our woman orchids are present, and dead grey panels when they are not. This results in a hypnotic effect, leading us into a lucid dream and mesmerizing us with vivid green and dreamlike purple.
The change of palettes is abrupt but intentional, especially when we are in Arkham Asylum. This is one of the most beautifully dark atmospheric panels I have ever seen, going down the stairs guided by the Mad Hatter, as if we were entering the enigmas and secrets of our mind.
Flora is a species of hybrid plant who wakes up with amnesia, together with Suzy, a kid orchid. Their creator — Dr. Phil — has been murdered before they had any answer of their origins. Now they need to embark on a journey into secrets…
To explore the important themes here, I will use a different tool: The Tarot. This will permit me to ramble on without spoiling your read. One of the wonders of Tarot is that the cards allow us to wander between the imaginary and all its meanings.
In 2008 Rachell Pollack and Dave McKean designed the Vertigo Tarot. Each arcana was attributed to some iconic characters of this imprint. The eighth arcana, Strength, was given to our protagonist.
At first glance, I was intrigued about the reason she assigned Black Orchid as Strength. I personally thought of her as The Star due to her peaceful and reclusive personality. Rachel Pollack clarifies:
“With Black Orchid, we see the world of flowers itself taming animal violence of humans. […] She cannot really tame human greed and destruction, but only fight a holding battle against them.”
— Rachel Pollack, in “The Vertigo Tarot book”.
Thus I became aware that The Star sounded submissive. Perhaps just from my erroneous masculine point of view, I could understand a parallel with The Star. But Rachel, a woman who writes about and comprehends women, gifted her with Strength.
Feminicide is one of the main topics addressed in the story, making sense of the reason for the chosen card. After being brutally murdered by her ex-husband, Suzy continues to be stalked by him as soon as he discovers her “afterlife”. When Poison Ivy appears in the scene we face one of the scariest dialogues ever:
“the only reason that I haven’t been raped by the guards is that they’re scared of me. Scared of my plants. Scared of my powers.”
— Poison Ivy, ‘Black Orchid’
Gaiman inverted the roles and showed the “heroes” trying to survive such villainous humanity. The themes are deep with many layers, such as women vs men, nature vs civilization. It is not about power to subdue. It is about survival. Fighting fire with fire is no longer a solution, it is more a prorogation. The Strength here is to survive and not be swallowed up. You never know how strong you are until your only alternative is to be strong.
Black Orchid is one of the earliest works of Neil Gaiman with Dave Mckean. Both would work together for The Sandman covers afterwards.
