Demanded Characters – Donna Troy

Welcome back to another edition of Demanded Characters. With wave three on the far horizon, something is happing in that wave: the start of the Teen Titians. With both Robin and Nightwing, along with the big bad Death Stroke in that wave, we need more Titans, along with Cyborg. So this week we will look at a character who has plenty of costumes but really still does not know where she comes from: Wonder Girl Donna Troy.

Looking at last week’s poll there was no doubt that the first J’onn J’onzz we get has to be a classic inspired design.

Read last week’s article

When Robin was introduced in Detective Comics all those years ago he gave birth to a new wave of heroes in the DCU. Following his creation the other big name heroes also got their own side kicks. The purpose was to bring in more young readers by giving them both a voice and eyes in the comic world. While the majority of younger heroes were male, there was one female of the bunch, Donna Troy. This young protégé of Wonder Woman was not as scantily clad, though she did show off enough skin to draw the attention of her fellow teen heroes.

Donna became an important part of the DCU. She played the role of big sister to the Titans, and was the sole female voice of the team. Every boy on the team had a crush on Donna, and from time to time their male hormones would interfere with their ability to fight the bad guys. But at the end of the day Donna and the boys formed a family, which was very different than their adult counterparts. The Titans’ sense of family grew out of this original team and carries through to today’s incarnation.

Donna has a very convoluted history in the comics. She is what most would call the quintessential hero. She has died, come back to life, had her history rewritten multiple times, and been on the sides of both good and evil. It is hard to pin down what her actual history is because it all depends on who is in charge of DC comics at that time.

Currently she has been brought back to life after she was killed at the hands of a Superman android. Her death was at the center of the reunion of the Titans years ago and her rebirth comes at the time of new Titans today.
Donna’s costumes show her inner struggle with her mentor. While characters like Speedy, Kid Flash and Aqualad have grown to embrace their mentors’ sense of style; she recently decided to go her own way like fellow Titan Nightwing. I think her current costume has elements of her mentor’s costume while still having the feel of independence.