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Who
Is Donna Tro -- Oh, Never Mind...
a
response to Graduation Day #3 (spoilers)
Editor's
Note: This piece originally appeared in a slightly different
form in the Fanboy Planet forums. After reading the DC book
in question, in which Donna Troy follows her mother into the
land of characters whose continuity is too confusing to be
allowed to live, I thought it was worth publishing on the
main site, and asked the author's permission to do so.
Which
means hey, gang, we've got a new contributor. So please welcome
Troy Benson.
A Superman
robot? I'll be the first one to admit that Wonder Girl's continuity
has always been screwed up...but a Superman robot?
To some
it may have seemed that her existence created more problems
than she was worth. For her first thirty or so appearances,
it was even unclear as to whether she was Wonder Woman as
a teenager or a separate character. This confusion was not
cleared up until Teen Titans (original series #22)
when it was revealed that baby Donna had been rescued as an
infant by Wonder Woman. Later,
her origin was expanded in the classic story "Who is
Donna Troy" in New Teen Titans #38.
Her very
existence again came into question in post-Crisis continuity.
Suddenly Wonder Woman was younger than Wonder Girl and had
come to "man's world" many years after Donna had
started her career in the Teen Titans.
Once again
Marv Wolfman did some hard thinking and came up with a new
origin for Donna Troy that involved the original Titans of
Greek mythology. Wonder Girl then became Troia.
Years
passed and John Byrne decided to reestablish a connection
between Donna Troy and Wonder Woman. This also helped explain
why Donna originally picked a costume that mimicked Hippolyta's
WWII Wonder Woman costume. (Hey, another character arbitrarily
killed in a cross-over...)
Now Donna
was some sort of Diana avatar, a magical clone cursed to live
many lifetimes of sorrow by a villainess who didn't understand
that she hadn't actually cursed Diana herself. I still don't
understand the whole thing, but at least John Byrne was attempting
to make sense of the character.
Then a
Superman robot comes along.
A Superman
robot? I can see how the elimination of Donna Troy might be
easier than explaining her origin.
But a
rogue Superman robot? What an unglorious death.
Kara Zor-El's
death had meaning. Barry Allen's death had meaning. Karate
Kid's death (pre-Crisis Legion of Superheroes) was
dramatic. Jean Grey's death ( before she came back to life)
was very emotional. Ditto for Elektra.
But a
Superman robot is just stupid. I can handle Troia/Wonder Girl's
apparent death (I fully expect her to return in the future).
My big complaint is that with all the work that other individuals
had put into the character to explain her very existence her
death seemed....lame.
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