October 2041
Edition nº1

Black Orchid:
The Human/Plant Hybrid

Susan Linden: The Original Black Orchid

Susan Linden, also known as Susan Linden-Thorne, was the first and original Black Orchid, one of the many DC superheroes. She was born as a human, but then she died and got resurrected as a Human/Plant Hybrid. Aside from her “race”, Susan is also a master of disguise.

How Black Orchid was “Born”

Susan’s interest in botany was started because of her love towards Philip Sylvain, her boyfriend from school. Unfortunately, living with her father was unbearable for Susan. She decided to run away, which meant she had to end her relationship with Philip as well. During this runaway era, she did a lot of oddjobs wherever she could, and that was when she met Carl Thorne. They got married, but things didn’t turn out well. Susan ran away once more, going back to Philip. She reported Carl to the police, but then the man managed to find her and end her life. Sad with the loss of Susan who just got back to him, Philip decided to resurrect Susan by making a hybrid of Susan’s body with a plant. Later on, this human/plant hybrid is named Black Orchid, and she proceeded to fight crimes under this alias.

Susan’s Black Orchid’s Powers and Abilities

Being a human/plant hybrid, she had interesting powers for sure! Here is the list of her powers and abilities.

Black Orchid’s Unique Physiology

Being “combined” with a plant made Susan obtain these powers: flight, force field, invulnerability, superhuman agility, superhuman reflexes, superhuman speed, superhuman stamina, and superhuman strength. It’s surely interesting to study why combining a human with a plant can result in such a superhuman, but at least Susan used it for good, not evil!

Susan’s Disguise and Investigation Abilities

Aside from the powers that she obtained from her physical human/plant body, Susan was also a master in disguise and investigation. Of course, being a crime fighter, it required Susan to “solve cases” with good detective skills. She was also very good at hiding in plain sight; disguising herself as a lot of female “characters” that people were not suspicious about.

Black Orchid’s Weakness

Unfortunately, due to her body being half-plant, she was vulnerable to herbicide and all types of weedkillers. Exposure to them would damage her unique physiology.

Flora Black: Black Orchid with Extra Seduction

Black Orchid’s Only Known Husband

Flora and another clone, Suzy, were the only two clones that survived the fire in Philip’s greenhouse. Philip was killed by Carl who seemed to still be bitter about Susan’s report to the police. Unfortunately, Flora and Suzy didn’t have much of Susan’s memories, so they weren’t aware that Susan’s life was in danger due to Carl. Fortunately, Flora managed to kill Carl. Later on, she married a millionaire, Elliot Weems, and claimed his fortune.

Flora’s Black Orchid’s Powers and Abilities

Black Orchid’s Unique Physiology and Flora’s Seduction

Of course, being a clone of Susan, Flora also had flight, force field, invulnerability, superhuman agility, superhuman reflexes, superhuman speed, superhuman stamina, and superhuman strength. However, the most important abilities that Flora had were seduction and pheromone control. She was able to use those to get Elliot to marry her so that she could be rich. Honestly, a good idea.

Suzy: The Mysterious Black Orchid

The Black Orchid “Sprout”

Suzy is not exactly a “new” person, but rather, a part of Susan Linden’s consciousness. When Susan was murdered by Lex Luthor, this consciousness awakened another orchid body and possessed a smaller hybrid body. The craziness didn’t stop here. This hybrid body called himself Suzy and later on, worked as Flora’s companion before being Black Orchid herself when she became an adult.

Suzy’s Black Orchid’s Powers and Abilities

Black Orchid’s Unique Physiology

Just like Susan and Flora, Suzy also had flight, force field, invulnerability, superhuman agility, superhuman reflexes, superhuman speed, superhuman stamina, and superhuman strength. Not surprising.

Suzy’s Black Orchid’s Unique Physiology

For some unknown reasons, Suzy had extra abilities from her unique physiology that were more than the former two Black Orchids. She could absorb nutrients from air (self-sustenance), mentally transfer consciousness into other bodies (reincarnation), alter her appearance and voice with ease (shape-shifting), and connect mystically to the Green - a force of nature (Green connection).