Books : Teen Titans: The Death and Return of Donna Troy (Teen Titans (Dc Comics) (Graphic Novels))

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Return of Donna Troy? Whoo-Yeah!
I was never able to get the specials when DC first published the death of Donna Troy and then later her return so I was overjoyed to see the collection here. I did have a problem with how easily they killed her off and the limited amount of grief Superman had considering his robot killed not only Donna but Omen. I've loved the Donna Troy character pretty much since I first read about her (and I won't date myself by mentioning what year I first started reading about her and the Teen Titans).
The artistry was pretty good but I didn't get what the whole *pouting lips* thing was through the first section. It pretty much looked like everyone was acting like they just ate something sour or getting ready to go on a major temper tantrum.
Still over all I enjoyed the collection, I do wish the PTB's hadn't re-made Donna's history and left it as it was with Diana finding Donna in a burning building and her being adopted by the Amazon's and getting bits of their powers. Ah well ...

Rating:

- so-so
Eh... they killed her off so they could bring her back later. By collecting the stories back to back they only make it look like a stunt. It really goes to show how circular the story telling in these comic book universes can be sometimes. Some nice Phil Jimenez art in the second half at least.

Rating:

- found it hard to care
I get Donna Troy is an important person in DCU, but I don't find her interesting, and I found myself not caring about her death or her resurrection--though I'm still a little unclear on how that happened. It's just not that great of a story.

Rating:

- For Better or Worse
I'm going to admit right away that I'm a big fan of Donna Troy. She's one of my favorite comic book characters, and I was extremely glad to have her back. Even so, I don't love everything that this TPB contains.

The first half of this TPB is the Titans/Young Justice "Graduation Day" crossover, where Donna dies. This is not subtle storytelling. Despite the fact that it is a team crossover, the entire story centers on Donna and is used as a just a storytelling device rather than a story itself. That does not mean that it is devoid of good parts. The scenes between Troia and Nightwing were well-written, and the funeral scene was extremely emotional. Although the art left something to be desired, particularly compared to the second half of the TPB, the overall package gets the job done and creates a nice set up for the upcoming Teen Titans and Outsiders.

The "Return" part, while not as tight in storytelling, is a fantastic tribute to the character. It is obvious that Jimenez cares for Donna, as he treats her character lovingly. Such superior treatment has not been seen since the early days of Wolfman/Perez. The first issue does nothing but set up mostly unnecessary exposition. Honestly, if you went to the second issue, the only thing you'd be missing out on is the gorgeous artwork by Garcia-Lopez and George Perez, the man himself.

The second issue, however, starts a fantastic build up of why Donna Troy is important. It concentrates on what she means to some of the important members of both the Titans and the Outsiders, from Wonder Girl to Arsenal. It even manages to remark on how his best friend's death affected Nightwing in the ongoing Outsiders without getting too far into depth and angst. And it isn't only Donna Troy who Jimenez respects with the writing--all of the characters are well-done, and it ties in well enough to the ongoing series that it would have worked just as well if it had been a crossover extra between them. The man has done his homework and he knows the Titans better than many writers have in the past.

It is not the best story to have been written, but as a character piece that highlights what makes Donna Troy "wonderful" and pays homage to the rest of the Titans, this is a true triumph.

Rating:

- Graphic SF Reader
This is made from more than one comic title, so the first part, Titans/Young Justice, has some obvious manga stylings. The later part is more straightforward, and involves battles on other planets, laying waste to a world, ancient gods, and a Sun-Eater, to top it all off.

At the core though, is emotion - mostly centred around dead and not so dead girls, and women. With a funeral cameo by Superman and Batman, just because they can.

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