Donna Troy and Terry Long: A Love Story

[xdoop.insanejournal.com]

In this post I will be showing the classic romance of Donna Troy and Terry Long, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

We first meet Terry in The New Teen Titans #8.




Later...




Then in #9...


This scene from #12 takes place after the "Titans of Myth" storyline, where Hyperion entranced Donna and made her fall in love with him.


#13 has Donna taking her anger out on some criminals.




#20 is narrated by Wally West, who's writing a letter to his parents.






In #28...








#29...


#30...




#31...




#34...




#38 is the "Who is Donna Troy?" issue.







Dick helps Donna find out the truth about her past; her mother Dorothy Hinckley gave her up for adoption because she had terminal cancer and was dying. She was adopted by Carl and Fay Stacey. When Carl died in a job-related accident, Fay had little money left and was forced to give Donna up for re-adoption, where she was put into a child-selling operation. The bodies in the fire Donna remembered were of the people who were planning on selling her. Donna is reunited with Elmira Cassiday, the woman who ran the orphanage Dorothy went to, and Fay, who had gotten remarried.

Tales of the Teen Titans #42 takes place during the "Judas Contract" storyline.




In #45, Terry has his bachelor party.










#48...




#49...














In the double-sized #50, Donna and Terry finally get married.




























Later, Diana tells Donna and Terry that they need to come with her.

Comments

[bluejaybirdie.insanejournal.com]

*shudder*

Good God, he's such a creeper...the age difference squicks me too.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

BUT HE'S ONLY 29, LOL!

That actually wouldn't weird me out that much - she's pretty old for her age, and nineteen is old enough to take that kind of commitment seriously - if the text weren't so fond of making an issue of it. W&P kind of go out of their way to remind us that Donna's a rebound off Terry's first marriage and her whole social circle is too young for his whole social circle at every possible opportunity. If it really didn't matter, it wouldn't usually come up, y'know?

[bluejaybirdie.insanejournal.com]

I don't know, that would be the equivalent of me marrying a twenty-six year old. He would have graduated high school when I was in second grade...it just creeps me out. It wouldn't be as bad with out the pictures...Terry looks older than twenty-nine. Donna looks like she should be one of his students, not his girlfriend.

The rebound thing gets me too--aren't you supposed to be careful with stuff like that? I've heard a ton of bad stories about dating off the rebound, and it just seems like a bad deal all around.

Is nineteen really old enough to make a commitment like that, do you think? I'm not that far off, and I still feel so young (and hopeless at relationships). I know Donna comes off as older, but she's still a teenager. I just think that nineteen year olds don't have the judgement yet, and maybe shouldn't be tied down so young. But that's just my opinion...

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

I don't know, that would be the equivalent of me marrying a twenty-six year old.

Not really. Ten years at sixteen is a lot longer than ten years at nineteen, which is a lot longer than ten years at twenty-five, which is a lot longer than ten years at forty. Human maturation is sort of logarithmic. Also, remember that you're a product of modern Western civilization, and Donna's an Amazon - the culture she's from existed before anyone invented teenagers. Sixteen was adult, plenty old enough to take a throne and go around conquering the known world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great). Donna getting married at nineteen is actually behind the curve.

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Though I think you have to admit that the Amazonian approach to marriage was probably NOT the norm, even in Ancient Greece.

[bluefall.insanejournal.com]

According to Perez, Johns and just about everyone inbetween, Amazons don't have an approach to marriage, it's a concept that has no meaning to them. But I don't feel up to that rant just at the moment and will instead simply say that, yes, I imagine it's not Amazon standard to marry off 14-year-old girls to middle-aged men, but that doesn't really make "responsible adult at 16" any less likely, particularly considering Donna's privilege to hare off to Man's World and join the Titans (and the subsequent post-Crisis reinforcement by Byrne and PAD in re: Cassie).

[parsimonia.insanejournal.com]

Donna getting married at nineteen is actually behind the curve.

And really, this story was written in... what, the 70s? My understanding is that it wasn't as weird for people to get married in their early twenties, 19 would be that unusual.

[sistermagpie.insanejournal.com]

I think it was 80s. But there are people today who get married at 19 as well. And Donna's life does make her a bit older than 19 emotionally I think. It's still a young age to get married in any time, but I don't think that doomed them to the marriage not working.