Donna Troy

Note: Donna Troy was recently identified as the new Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman #1 (2006). It is not yet clear whether this is intended as a permanent shift, or whether it is intended to be temporary like Artemis and Hippolyta’s time in the role. Additionally, Donna remembers growing up with Diana as her older sister. It is not clear just how much of her complicated post-Crisis on Infinite Earths origin is still part of her post-Infinite Crisis origin.

In the myriad possibilities of the multiverse, an infant named Donna Troy was orphaned, trapped in a burning building. On Earth-1 she was rescued by Wonder Woman and raised as her sister. There, she grew up as Wonder Girl. On Earth-2 she was saved by a fireman, and grew up an ordinary girl in an orphanage. On Earth-S she died in the fire. And on Earth-7, she was rescued by the Anti-Monitor, who raised him to be his version of Harbinger: Dark Angel.

When the Crisis on Infinite Earths collapsed the multiverse into a single universe, aspects of all Donna Troy’s lives merged together. She was magically created to be the young Wonder Woman’s twin, but kidnapped by Dark Angel, who had abandoned her master and escaped the Crisis. Donna lived hundreds of lives, and Dark Angel would appear at the lowest ebb of each and send her back to live the next.

A Titan Born

Rhea, queen of the Titans of myth, was the one to rescue Donna Troy on this new Earth. The Titans raised her and other children from around the galaxy to eventually save the gods themselves. All the “seeds” were returned to their homeworlds as they reached adolescence, their memories blocked so that they could learn the ways of their own people.

Wonder Girl

Remembering nothing of her experiences, Donna took the costumed identity of Wonder Girl. She became a founding member of the Teen Titans along with Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash. Over the years, the team grew and changed, but Donna, Dick and Wally stayed in nearly every incarnation. Still with the team, Donna graduated from college, became a professional photographer, and met college professor Terry Long, with whom she fell in love and married. Eventually, she was contacted by the Titans of Myth, who restored her memories. She and several other “seeds” saved the Titans, and she took the name Troia in honor of her newfound heritage.

Things got complicated when she became pregnant. Being essentially a goddess, her child would have the powers of a god. In one possible future, her son took over the world as Lord Chaos. Monarch, in his effort to eliminate competition from other would-be conquerors, sent a team of newer Titans into the past to kill her before her son was born. In a rather messy storyline aptly titled “Total Chaos,” Donna gave up her powers to ensure her son would be normal.

Darkstar

She could have had a period of relative peace, but the future Team Titans moved in with her family. Conflicts over the dangers of super-heroics eventually led to the breakdown of her marriage, and she lost custody of her son. She was, however, contacted by the Darkstars, an intergalactic organization similar to the Green Lanterns, and offered a position as the Darkstar of Earth. Donna accepted, replacing Ferrin Colos, and subsequently rejoined the Titans.

After the breakup of that group of Titans, Donna left the Darkstars, and lived for a time as a normal woman... but still caught up in the superhero world, dating Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and building a friendship with Wonder Woman.

Dark Angel

When Donna’s ex-husband, son and stepdaughter were killed in a car accident, bringing her greatest life to its lowest ebb, Dark Angel came to claim her again, erasing the world’s memory of her. Dark Angel was defeated, but Donna was drained to an empty shell. It turned out that the repeated lives actually strengthened her soul, making it possible for her to exist independently. Wonder Woman, upon being returned to Earth from Olympus, was able to use this to restore Donna, guided by Wally’s memories of her life as Wonder Girl, and patching the holes left in the timestream by Dark Angel’s meddling. Donna made a quick recovery and found herself with powers similar to those the Titans of Myth had given her. She took the name Troia once again and helped found the next group of Titans.

Uncomfortable about the gaps in her life that Wally could not have remembered himself, Donna took to avoiding Wally as she tried to figure out who she really is. Ironically, it was Donna to whom the Dark Flash revealed his identity in order to join the Titans.

Death and the Goddess

Troia’s death at the hands of a Superman android triggered the end of both the Titans and Young Justice. It also enabled the Titans of Myth to learn the truth about her past. Rhea had known that one of the “seeds” was linked to the dead multiverse, but died before she could tell the others who. The Titans called her soul to them, and she was reborn as Troia, goddess of the moon, taking the place of departed Phoebe as wife to Coeus.

Her memories clouded by Mnemosyne, Troia joined her new brothers and sisters in a campaign to conquer world after world, collecting worshippers and power until they laid siege to Minosyss. The last surviving seeds, Athyns and Sparta, led the resistance. Athyns sent a spacecraft to Earth, bringing the Teen Titans and the Outsiders—Troia’s surrogate family—across space in hopes of restoring her mind.

In the war for Minosyss, Sparta died, but Troia regained her memories. The Titans of Myth revealed their purpose: deep in the heart of Minosyss lay a nexus to the remains of the multiverse. The Titans hoped to use Troia to escape this universe before the coming crisis, but Troia, her mind clear at last, knew they would not stop conquering, sending them instead to the torturous realm of Tartarus.

Donna Troy inherited the gods’ world, New Cronus, and the orb in which Harbinger recorded the history of the universe after the Crisis. From it, she learned of the new crisis looming, the destruction that the gods had so desperately wanted to escape.

Family and Relationships

Donna has remained close to the original Teen Titans she grew up with, and counts both Nightwing and Starfire among her closest friends. She has had a series of on-again, off-again romances with Roy Harper (Speedy/Arsenal) and two marriages: one to college professor Terry Long, with whom she had a son (both deceased), and one to Coeus, god of the moon. She briefly dated Green Lantern Kyle Rayner while she was a Darkstar.

Of course, since learning of their relationship, Donna Troy has developed a close friendship with her sister Diana (Wonder Woman), and become a mentor to Cassie Sandsmark, her successor as Wonder Girl.

• Primary Sources
• Art Credits
• Origin Tales
• Profiles in Print
• Series Regular In...
• Legacy-Era Appearances
• One Year Later Appearances
• Further Notes
• Related Commentary

Primary Sources

• “Who is Donna Troy?” - New Teen Titans (first series) #38 (January 1984), Marv Wolfman
• “Who is Wonder Girl?” - New Titans #50–54 (December 1988–March 1989), Marv Wolfman
• “Who Is Donna Troy”/“Fragments”/“Rebirth” - Wonder Woman #134–136 (June–August 1998), John Byrne
• DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1–4 (August–October 2005), Phil Jimenez

Art

• Troia Mark III: DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #4 (Late October 2005) - Phil Jimenez and George Perez
• Poster: New Teen Titans (first series) # 38 (January 1984) - George Perez
• Wonder Girl: New Teen Titans (second series) #1 (August 1984) - George Perez
• Darkstar: Darkstars #36 (November 1995) - Mike Collins and Ken Branch
• Donna: Wonder Woman Secret Files #1 (March 1998) - Phil Jimenez and John Stokes
• Troia Mark II: JLA/Titans #1 (November 1998) - Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning

Origin Tales

• New Teen Titans (first series) #38 (January 1984): “Who is Donna Troy?” Marv Wolfman
• New Titans #50–54 (December 1988–March 1989): “Who is Wonder Girl?,” Marv Wolfman
• Wonder Woman #134–136 (June–August 1998): “Who Is Donna Troy,” “Fragments,” “Rebirth,” John Byrne
• DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1–4 (August–October 2005), Phil Jimenez

Profiles

• The Official Teen Titans Index #1 as Wonder Girl (August 1985)
• Who’s Who in the DC Universe #26 as Wonder Girl (April 1987)
• The New Titans Annual 5 as Troia (1989)
• Who’s Who (loose-leaf edition) #4 as Troia (November 1990)
• Wonder Woman Secret Files #1 as Donna Troy (March 1998)
• The Titans Secret Files #1 as Troia (March 1999)
• The DC Comics Encyclopedia as Troia (2004)
• Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2005 (October 2005)
• DC Comics Super-Heroes and Villains Fandex as Wonder Girl (2010)

Series Regular In...

• Teen Titans v.1 (1966–1977)
• The New Teen Titans / Tales of the Teen Titans/ The New Titans (1980–1992, 1994–1996)
• Team Titans (1992–1994)
• Darkstars #22–38 (1994–1996)
• Recurring character in Green Lantern (1994–1997)
• Recurring character in Wonder Woman (1997–2003)
• The Titans (1999–2003)
• DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy (4-issue mini-series, 2005)
• The Titans (second series) (2008—)

Significant Legacy-Era Flash Appearances

• (as Wonder Girl) Flash #1 (June 1987), Mike Baron
• (as Darkstar) Darkstars #36 (November 1995): “Old Friends,” Michael Jan Friedman
• Wonder Woman #134–136 (June–August 1998): Donna Retcon-Fest, John Byrne
• Flash #142 (October 1998): “Get Me To The Church On Time,” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn
• Flash 80-Page Giant #2 (April 1999): “The World’s Oldest Teens,” Tom Peyer
• Flash 80-Page Giant #2 (April 1999): “Last Dance,” Christopher Priest
• Flash #159 (April 2000): “Whirlwind Ceremony,” Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn

Significant One-Year-Later Flash Appearances

• Countdown #43 (July 4, 2007): “The Funeral,” Paul Dini with Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray

Notes

Related Commentary

• Casualties of Retcon
• You knew she was coming back
• Super-Spawn: Titans
• Retcon Restoration
• Gods and Comics

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