Tales of the Titans Starring Donna Troy #1 cover, via DC Comics.
Tales of the Titans Starring Donna Troy #3 — Steve Orlando, Writer; Kath Lobo, Bob Quinn, Artists; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray — 8.5/10
Ray: Of all the characters in the Titans, Donna Troy is probably the one who needs a revamp the most. Donna’s origins are a complex stew with a different tale in every era, and some seriously bizarre moments in her character history (we don’t talk about Terry Long, no no no no). But this issue wisely isn’t focused on trying to sort that out. There’s a brief prelude that shows her as a baby, surviving a fire and being taken in by the Amazons, but most of the story is clearly grounded in the present day with Donna as a refugee and fugitive following the government outlawing Amazons (only last week, so this book is VERY timed to the moment). While she tries to stay under the radar and focus on her photography career, Vixen clues her in to a massive humanitarian crisis happening in Markovia, as a new Baron Bedlam has taken control of the country and ground it under his boot.
Little girl lost. Via DC Comics.
The evil supervillain dictator is a pretty common trope in comics, with most just being stock villains, but Steve Orlando (who wrote a very underrated WW run a few years back) infuses him with some real-world menace that feels inspired by the way people ignore so many real-life crises happening around the world. Donna’s liberation mission is brilliantly brought to life by Kath Lobo, one of the best fanartists in recent years whose career may now take a similar trajectory to Gabriel Picolo. Her depictions of the characters are so vivid that I can see them heavily influencing how Donna is portrayed. I don’t think this story was quite as tightly focused on Donna’s character growth as the Starfire issue, it was just a compelling, straight-forward adventure that shows us how Donna views the world and how she fights evil. And that is something the character definitely needed after so long.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
