Gaiman's inability to schedule the planned sequel, Black Orchard, with McKean also kept his intended narrative from continuing, which was another blow to how the book was remembered. Likewise, it was only a miniseries, whereas Moore had an entire run on Swamp Thing. Though the similar branching roots to Moore's Saga of the Swamp Thing should have theoretically made it a bigger hit, it may have made the book a bit too much of a Johnny-come-lately.
The Black Orchid miniseries is largely forgotten nowadays, despite being written by Neil Gaiman. Despite the all-star creative team and the similar trajectory to Moore's successful revamp of Swamp Thing, however, it wasn't enough to make Black Orchid more mainstream. The events of this miniseries from Gaiman and McKean (the artist of Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth) featured other DC characters, including Batman himself and even Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor.
This was very similar to the new origin that Alan Moore gave the botanical Swamp Thing in his iconic run on Saga of the Swamp Thing. Killed by her abusive husband, her corpse was used to create plant/human hybrids, of which there were many. The woman behind the Black Orchid identity was revealed to be Susan Linden-Thorne, who had connections to both Pamela Isley ( the future anti-villain Poison Ivy) and Alec Holland/Swamp Thing.
In 1988, however, she would finally get her chance to make it big in a miniseries that explored her origins. Black Orchid lacked her own book, simply appearing in the titles of other heroes such as the now equally obscure Blue Devil. The character's main trait was being a master of disguise, which only further muddled the question of who she was. Her powers were similarly questionable, seemingly waxing and waning whenever the plot required it. Before the legendary Neil Gaiman got a hold of her, Black Orchid was a rather amorphous, undefined heroine.
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