Do you like a challenge?
Try to get through this double-sized blockbuster without shedding a tear, or at least welling up. Because this isn’t an action-packed blockbuster, it’s an emotional one as Donna Troy takes us on a journey. It’s the history of the Titans as seen through Donna’s eyes, but it’s also a spotlight on where Donna is today. Sure, we see her monthly when there’s a Titans book on the stands but most writers these days don’t bother with the kind of deep character moments Donna enjoyed in her New Titans heyday.
Case in point, this annual spins off a plot point that was originated by writer Steve Orlando in Tales of the Titans #3 almost exactly two years ago. Out of the blue, a letter arrived from a man claiming to be Donna’s biological father… and that was that.
Thank the Lord, then, for the world’s biggest Donna fan, artist-writer Phil Jimenez, who has stepped in to give us a glorious story giving Donna the best spotlight she’s had in years. Longtime readers will find lots here that’s familiar – the origin of the Teen Titans, Donna’s traumatic childhood, her turbulent marriage – but with extra levels of detail and nuance. Jimenez has a delicate understanding of DC’s teen icons and here he filters it through Donna’s upbringing in, for all intents and purposes, Classical Greece. For instance, we’ve seen a fair few Titans picnics, but here we see the female Titans – and Donna’s onetime flatmate Sharon – in a new light.
A look at one of the Teen Titans’s first gatherings brings us a hilarious panel centred on the cliched tragedy of the sidekick’s life.
The kids are hanging out in the Batcave (Speedy claims he’s never seen anything like it >cough< Arrowcave >cough<) and while Alfred has OK-ed it, Batman is furious and kicks everyone out, leaving a distraught Robin. Donna isn’t having it.
Donna’s empathy, emotional intelligence and sheer pluck really shines through, but what does have her nervous in the present day is the prospect of meeting her biological father, Lou Casas.
But she knocks on his door, and she gets a lot of answers, and that door opens up a whole new set of story possibilities.
I’ll say one thing for Donna, for an orphan she certainly has a lot of family, as we learnt in the classic ‘Who is Donna Troy?’ in New Teen Titans #38. That’s referenced here, with Phil even nodding to George Perez’s classic cover in one panel. And I was heartened to learn that since Donna was reunited with her first foster mother, Fay, and met husband Hank and their kids Cindy and Jerry, she’s been a family member in good standing.
Talking of family, did you notice Bumblebee’s ‘ginger’ dig at Donna’s husband Terry Long back there. Never popular with Titans fans, creepy older divorcee Terry seems to be equally unpopular with Jimenez. He’s barely seen or mentioned but when he is directly addressed, it isn’t pretty.
Ouch.
The only thing I don’t like in ‘Limitless’ is a tiny line that seems to be trying to tie the Titans’ sweet Harlequin in with the hideous Duela Dent of the New 52. I say just forget that the Joker’s Daughter who was a hit with readers for about five minutes ever existed and remember the greatness that was the Harlequin.
Let’s enjoy, instead, an enhancement to the story of how mortal Donna got Amazon powers, learn how she really sees Roy Harper, and take in the new information shared with our heroine in the story’s final section.
And it’s all gorgeously laid out by Jimenez on page after page of crystal clear storytelling, with always convincing emotions and equally authentic New York backgrounds. Watch out for some top texture work. I don’t think we’ve had any DC artwork from Jimenez since the Wonder Woman: Historia project, and it’s a total treat to see him back where Wonder Woman meets the Titans. If we’re lucky he’ll be working with Donna and friends again sooner rather than later, because this is the most authentic they’ve felt in quite a while.
The sympathetic colouring comes from Arif Prianto, with the palette varying according to location and time period, and always entirely appropriate. The treatment of black hair is especially great – blue highlights are out, real tones are in. Prianto also brings his talents to the cover by Jimenez, which editor Andrea Shea has left happily unencumbered by blurbs – this is art that can speak for itself.
Titans Annual #1 is a pretty wordy comic, but they’re not wasted words, and Wes Abbott makes them all look terrific.
If I’ve not yet convinced you to buy this comic, how about helping me solve a mystery? There’s a brief exchange in the Batcave with Robin embarrassed by an encounter with some Clayface or other that confused me no end… anyone?
Also, can you guess when I had a wee blub?
As a fan of the Teen Titans since childhood, and Donna especially – the first time I ever saw her she was possessed by a witch, it was love at first sight – this comic filled me with joy. I hope you enjoy it every bit as much.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
The lack of true character development is what has made Titans books since the NTT days hard to read. Wolfman and Perez really gave life to those characters and writers since have just failed to follow through.
This is nice to see, and it also gives us a definitive origin for Donna Troy in this iteration of the DC Universe. I am hopeful that we will see more character work in Titans and that it includes a lot more work on Donna, Vic, and Garfield
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Amen. I think the last Titans run that tried to do anything with the Titans away from their costumed capers was the Devin Grayson series. Mind, that made Jesse Quick look pretty awful…
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Man, the modernizing of Donna’s original Wonder Girl costume to look more like Diana’s battle skirt is just fantastic.
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Agreed. It actually looks better to me than Diana’s current look!
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Omg I started tearing up somewhere near the beginning and continued straight through until the end.
Perfection.
No notes.
I’ll be stirring this issue immediately after New Teen Titans #38 in my long box. In my mind it’s not a sequel or a second chapter, it’s one long story told by two equally wonderful creative teams.
Like you, I loved all the scenes you referenced above. My favourite part of the issue was learning the history of Donna’s father. As someone who has come out late in life, I empathized with so much of Lou’s story.
It was so powerful to read a story where Lou was able to take any regrets he might have had about choices he made when he was younger and channel that energy into building something positive.
I loved the depth of feelings that Donna had. Sadness. Some anger. But also compassion and understanding. That’s powerful storytelling.
Honestly, I’m still teary-eyed.
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No notes, Murray? But Duela was declared mad… so mad I thought she was Jericho, crashing the girls’ party with his acoustic guitar and stupid clown make-up.
Im thrilled to hear Phil’s story resonated with you. The scenes around Lou and Carlos were just wonderful, I really didn’t see Donna’s dad being gay coming, but it made so much sense. As for Donna’s reactions, I didn’t know I could love her more. Just hope her new sister isn’t a terrible person!
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I feel like the next time we see Donna’s sister will be the next time Phil has a Titans story to tell. Or maybe if Donna starts showing up in a Wonder Woman comic with any regularity (after Tom King finishes his run would be my preference).
But since neither of those things seem to be happening anytime soon, I think it’s safe to say that Sharon Tracy may have more appearances than this new sister for Donna.
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One last thought…
After reading the Harlequin scene in this issue, I don’t think her portrayal is a reference to her new 52 appearance.
Instead, I think it’s more similar in tone to the way Duela was portrayed in Tales of the Teen Titans #50. Duela showed up at Donna’s wedding and seemed to be thought of as an oddball weirdo. That was the tone I got from this campfire scene, too.
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It did make me think of that scene, but given we’d already been there… we should check her face isn’t hanging off.
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But that was Duela’s only mention in this issue wasn’t it? The bachelorette cookout which presumably would have taken place just before the wedding issue. i’m more than happy to chalk any mention of Duela being mad as a reference to that particular time of events as opposed to any New 52-isms.
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I’m not sure about the bizarre Clayface story that Robin tells to his peers. But, it does remind me a bit of the plot of the “Growing Pains” episode (1998) of Batman the Animated Series, in which a severed sliver of Clayface becomes a separately-sentient girl named Annie, who befriends Robin for a short while before being re-subsumed into Clayface. Of course, in that episode, Tim was Robin, so this can’t be a direct/exact reference to that.
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Thank you Collin, that sounds close enough to be what’s being nodded to. I’m not a big fan of TV continuity suddenly showing up in the comics, such as Red X in Titans Academy, or, last month, some Green Lantern lady in the GL books, but a one-panel gag is just fine.
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I guess I’m lucky to watch very few movies and little TV. I haven’t stopped reading the GL books (Flash will probably go first and I just dropped Uncanny X-Men) and didn’t catch anything and Red X is so long ago TV-wise and I sampled the series with him and decided midway through the firsts issue of the series he was in to stop reading it s nothing there either.
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There was some tears. The confrontation with Batman got to me. Despite having Alfred, that relationship was colored by the whole employee thing with Bruce’s emotional constipation. Bruce needed to hear from someone who had a healthier relationship to their parental loss due to being adopted. That scene would have fit nicely in Waid’s book. The big surprise was how much I loved the whole book. I think of Jimenez’s art as Perez Lite and his stories way too talky but the lack of non-plot driven character moments in Titans for years and not reading his stuff for longer than that, I could enjoy this emotion fest unlike how I would take an entire series like this.
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Me too, a balance of soap and action is great, all action can be great, but it’s ages since we’ve had a proper soapy superhero series. And Jimenez can certainly bring it.
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I’ve seen nothing but overwhelming love for this comic, so I just scrolled your review to check that you felt the same. I don’t normally buy Titans, but I’ll be picking this one for sure (as long as it’s not sold out) on Wednesday. Can’t wait!
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Roll on with your read, can’t wait to see what you reckon. I tried not to give EVERYTHING away.
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Oh, man. This book was incredible. I can’t begin to guess where you had your wee blub, Mart, since I had about six of them. (Heck, I had one while reading a preview over at The Beat, before I ever bought the thing!)
I think that Jimenez has been in a great position lately to really take his time with his projects — whether it’s Historia, this annual, or the story he told in last year’s DC Pride special — and it’s really rocketed him up to a new level in my estimation. I’ve always been dazzled by his art, but his storytelling feels truer to me somehow. He’s always loved these characters, but he gets to the core of them in a way I don’t think he ever really managed to before. A monthly deadline is important for the business of comics, and the fun of reading them — but freedom from those constraints really lets an artist like Jimenez shine.
More than anything, this book has been so well received, and so packed with gorgeous detail, that I’d love to see it reprinted as a DC Tabloid edition. There are panels with text in the art (a gravestone, a computer screen, etc.) that I had to photograph with my phone and then zoom in to see exactly what they said. C’mon, DC — give us GenX fanboys a break and embiggen this baby!
As for Duela, I’d completely forgotten the Joker’s Daughter character from the New 52, and (having not read those stories) didn’t really associate her with the Duela from the 70s. I’ve no problem with Duela being mad — that feels like it goes with the territory — but there are other ways to go mad than to be a psychopathic murderer, and I sure hope that’s the way she went.
I love that Donna’s become a member of the family revealed way back in “Who Is Donna Troy,” and am excited to see her become a member of her new family as well. Including the Titans and her Amazon sisters, that makes four families for Donna…and that feels about right for the woman I’ve always thought of as DC’s big sister. (Which is strange, since the big sister has a big sister, but I calls ’em like I sees ’em.)
And as for the character she meets at the end of the story… I’m thrilled to meet him, and hope he sticks around for a good long time.
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Where did I have a wee sob? Oh, there was the moment with Starfire, meeting Carlos, the final page with baby Bobby… so much to touch me.
And Phil has put so much work into these pages, I hope he got paid what he’s worth. And a tabloid edition is a great idea!
‘DC’s big sister’ – that’s so Donna. Wish she’d go back to the red costume, though, complete with the stars from that nice old lady on Dog Island.
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