Customer Reviews

New Teen Titans: Who is Donna Troy?

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Just got this book from a friend and read it in one sitting. Donna Troy (aka Wonder Girl, Troia, Darkstar) is a DC Comics character with one of the most convoluted history ever. This volume collects her various origin stories in one volume for new readers (like me) who are trying to catch up on her stories - especially with the currently published miniseries "The Return of Donna Troy" that leads into "Infinite Crisis".

The first story is the justly classic "Who Is Donna Troy?" from New Teen Titans #38. This is Marv Wolfman and George Perez at the top of their game in the early 1980s. The highlight of the story is Dick Grayson using his detective skills to investigate the background of Donna Troy. It's essentially a "character-piece" and both Dick and Donna shines here. (The next issue begins "The Judas Contract", probably the beginning of the darkness that overcame the series...)

The second story came immediately after the aforementioned "Judas Contract" in Teen Titans #50, and is a ray of light after the doom and gloom of that particular tale. It's also a reward for longtime fans who'd invested time and money following the "soap-opera" parts of the series. It's the wedding of Donna Troy and Terry Long. Lots of wonderful vignettes from this one as nearly everyone who is anyone turned up for the wedding (including Marv Wolfman and George Perez, see if you can spot them!).

The next arc collected is the five-part story from the second New Titans series that redefined Donna Troy's life after the events of "Crisis On Infinite Earths". This arc introduces us to the Titans of Myth and how Donna was "kidnapped" by them as a baby. Marv Wolfman and George Perez reunites on this tale. Alas, the plotting is no longer as tight as their early 1980s work - and neither was the art. Perez's art, while still pretty impressive, had none of the super-tight, super-detailed, 15-panel-a-page magic of his earlier work on the title. All in all, it's a cool cosmic tale and I like it quite a lot.

The final story in the book is from the Titans/Outsiders Secret Files comic. It's a eulogy for the recently deceased Donna Troy (from the "Graduation Day" storyline). This is rather adequate as the next collection coming soon will most likely be "The Return of Donna Troy" so this two books should make a nice pair.

Interestingly, none of the John Byrne revisions are included in this volume (only mentioned in-passing on one page). Those are the stories that affected Donna the most and link her once more to the post-Crisis Wonder Woman and the Amazons.

All in all, this is a very good collection and I think DC should do more of these "character-spotlight" collections. I personally would like to have one volume books like this one to pass to people who are interested in certain less well known characters (e.g. Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Guy Gardner, Zatanna, etc.)

Recommended for fans of Greek mythology, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Nightwing (he's featured a lot!), Titans, Outsiders, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Phil Jimenez, or just fine comic art in general.

Donna Troy was originally Wonder Woman's adopted younger sister, given similar powers by advanced Amazon science. She's been around in one form or another since the 60s but never really had the spotlight until now.

This volume collects several prominent stories about her from the 80s, 90s and 2000s. The first two are from the classic Marv Wolfman/George Perez run on the Teen Titans. 'Who is Donna Troy' is an excellent detective story where Robin helps track down Wonder Girl's birth parents. The art showcases Perez at the top of his game. In just one or two panels he can make ordinary characters come to life, give them personalities and textures and make them seem real.

There's an old Japanese saying that the easiest thing to draw is demons, since no one knows what they look like, but the hardest is dogs, since everyone knows what they look like. Perez's skill at capturing ordinary life is also on show with the second story covering Donna's wedding, one of the best superhero wedding stories ever and refreshingly free of the usual super villain attacks.

But the rest of the book is a letdown. First we have Perez's return to the character in the 90s, it's a rather mediocre science fiction story designed to create a new history for Donna Troy. Perez's art takes a hit and the story is rather uninspired. Finally there's a eulogy from the 2000s after Donna died in a forgettable crossover event (she got better).

So you get two classic stores and two that are not bad, but are certainly disappointing. I felt it was worth buying since I really wanted the two 80s stories but your mileage may vary.

Over her roughly 40 years as a DC Comics character, Donna Troy has gone through a lot of changes. Originally created (as Wonder Girl) just to keep the original Teen Titans from being an all-boys club, Donna has had her super-identity -- and indeed, the very circumstances of her existence -- revised more than once. The cover of "Who Is Donna Troy" depicts the five different stages of Donna Troy's frequently-changing life. And as I write this, I understand she is due to change again during the "Infinite Crisis" event.

Through it all, this character who started out as little more than an afterthought has become one of DC's most beloved super-beings. "New Teen Titans: Who Is Donna Troy" takes the reader through the major events in Donna's life, and is recommended reading for anyone is reading (or planning to read) the "Infinite Crisis" series. If you already know Donna as Wonder Girl, or Troia, or perhaps Darkstar, this is your chance to learn more about her. If you don't know Donna very well, you're welcome to go along as she seeks the truth of who she really is.

This book on Donna Troy is great for Teen history pondering and origin reasonings - I like the stories in which Donna developed gradually through her soap-opera situations, her growing pains and adult progess around her determination to be a wonder lady like Wonder Woman - wowee! I also like the Renegade book about Dick Grayson versus Deathstroke the Terminator over his daughter, Rose Winslow aka the Ravanger - whew!!

I had enjoyed reading The Teen Titans in the eighties and thought I knew the truth of the character of Donna Troy. She was an original memeber of the group and her background was all laid out. However when The Crisis On Infinite Earths came about, her past was shattered and not reformed until ten years later. She moved about to find her own place in the DC universe to claim her mantle of Wonder Girl after the Amazon Queen was briefly Wonder Woman in the era of the second world war. She was later found to be the mystic twin of Diana who would become the second Wonder Woman but stolen by the character Dark Angel. Rescued by the Titan Rhea, she was educated and trained by the Titans of Myth before joining the Teen Titans. The rest is revealed in the pages of this great graphic novel and if you want the rest of the story, get the Death And Return of Donna Troy! It explains so much more!

Donna Troy was always one of my favorite characters from the original Teen Titans lineup. Really enjoyed catching up with these classic stories from the New Teen Titans. Bravo to Wolfman and Perez.

Donna Troy has been many things, a cute kid putting up with a bunch of boys in the Teen Titans, and the heart of an older bunch. An amazon, a Darkstar, Troia, a wife, and a widow, as well as an anomaly in the multiverse, and a titan of myth. This trade goes some way towards detailing and explaining what is actually going on with this character. Straightforward, she isn't.