Wonder Girl

[ray gower]

There was a phase where it was considered apropo to supply your frontline superhero(ine) with a younger sidekick. The best known is undoubtedly Robin, Batman's teenage sidekick. But there were also others- Superboy for Superman and Wonder Girl for Wonder Woman.

Superboy, mercifully for him, appears to have entered obscurity. Robin obviously entered frontline service. Wonder Girl however lingers painfully on, periodically being dusted off and pressed into service.

If the biggest problem for Superhero's is that they are 're-invented' at regular intervals. This remains the problem for their sidekicks, only more-so, the re-inventions coming thick and fast. In Wonder Girl's case it is her mutually exclusive origins, not only being embroiled in Wonder Womans various origins, but her own as well. Variously having been:
A home video of Diana Prince as a child (also incorporating Super Tot).
A fantasy friend for Diana Prince, bequested by Zeus (who is also recorded as giving Wonder Girl her flying powers), that is subsequently kidnapped by Dark Angel.
An orphan that is raised by: The Titans of Myth (Bringing in the famous Ancient Greek foundation used in at least one spur of Wonder Woman), Queen Hippolyta, Wonder Woman.
Any or all of these may also be mixed with the war that destroyed the Amazon race, or sees the abdication of Hippolyta as Queen.

Whilst there was a serious attempt by John Byrne to drag the various origins into some sort of coherent sense. It was subsequently blown up by the subsequent retreads, linking her with Green Lantern, after the Dark Star medly failed to take off.

The climax of her sixties career came with DC's 'Infinite Earth', which removed Wonder Woman from the equation and leading to the demise of the Justice League.

The newest series I can find that includes Wonder Girl, appears to be Junior Justice and Teen Titans. In the later she teams up again with fellow Junior Justice League cohort, Robin.
The reviews for Teen Titans suggest that Wonder Girl is starting to beat down her dodgy history and establishing a much firmer character for herself. It remains to be seen if this is something within the power of a mere Superhero.

Useful links
http://www.canarynoir.com/pages/young_justice.php
http://www.dereksantos.com/comicpage/silver4.html
http://www.devlintay.com/wonder.html
http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/donna.html
http://www.perpetualcomics.com/Column.asp?ColId=133
http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/niven/142/opinion/opi12.html

 

[Tabitha]

Possibly one of the most complicated backstorys of any DC character. Especially considering that the origin of one character/incarnation of WG has changed so many times.
The current Wonder Girl is Cassie, a friend of Wonder Woman's from Gateway City, who has been granted her powers by Zeus.

The previous Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, is the one with all the complications. I will try to track down a sensible breakdown of her history (it's sooo long). She has been Wonder Woman's amazon sister, a human brought up by amazons, a human brought up by the old Greek gods in a distant part of the galaxy, a 'doppleganger' of Wonder Woman who was tortured by a villaness who thought she had the original article. Very very confusing! But still manages to be one of my favourite characters.

The piccy at the top is Cassie as part of Young Justice - she has since undergone a bit of a revamp costume-wise, and is no longer wearing the gross wig. I'll try and find a newer piccy too!

Current WG:

Info from www.dccomics.com :

Wonder Girl is a precocious and outgoing 15-year-old named Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark. The daughter of noted archaeologist Helena Sandsmark and an unnamed father, Cassie became a super-hero over her mother's objections.
During a battle with a clone of Doomsday, Cassie "borrowed" the Sandals of Hermes and the Gauntlet of Atlas from Wonder Woman (who was not using them at the time), which imbued her with super-powers. Donning a wig and goggles, Cassie became "Wonder Girl" twice this way, helping Wonder Woman defeat the Doomsday clone and other menaces.
Later, having been summoned to Mount Olympus by the gods themselves, Cassie boldly stole a moment of Zeus's time and asked him to give her super-powers of her own. Zeus was so impressed by the girl's courage and brashness that he did just that - granting Cassie her "fondest wish." Returned to Earth with incredible super-strength and the power of flight, Cassie permanently assumed the role of Wonder Girl.
As Wonder Girl, Cassie trained alongside Wonder Woman and Artemis, learning a host of martial skills and how to better handle her powers. Wonder Girl soon joined the group of heroic sidekicks nicknamed Young Justice. A natural leader, the members of Young Justice often defer to Cassie's judgment, and Robin appointed her the team spokesperson.
Cassie continues to live in Gateway City, fighting crime alongside her Young Justice teammates, and has begun a search for her missing father.

Old WG, Donna Troy (my fave!):

Troia is Donna Troy, the long-lost "sister" of Wonder Woman. When Diana was a young girl on Themyscira, she became lonely and wanted a playmate, for there were no other Amazons her age on the island. The sorceress Magala secretly wove a spell and gave a mirror reflection life by imparting to it a fraction of Diana's soul. For six months, Diana had a secret sister, an identical twin, created by her own life energies.
The evil being Dark Angel, in an attempt to take revenge on Queen Hippolyta, kidnapped the doppelganger, mistakenly believing it was Diana, and used magic to cast it into a series of torturous lives, each ending in tragedy. During each resurrection, the soul fragment strengthened and changed, becoming a completely distinct entity of its own. In its final incarnation, the doppelganger was reincarnated as the child of single mother Dorothy Hinckley. Dorothy named her daughter Donna before finally succumbing to cancer. After Donna was given up for adoption, she became part of a black market baby-selling ring, and the building she was being kept in caught fire. The infant Donna was saved from certain death by Rhea, a Titan of Myth, who took Donna with her to the planet New Cronus.
On New Cronus, Donna was raised by these Titans and given the name Troy. At 13, she was returned to Earth with no memories of her training or her past lives as a doppelganger. On Earth, Donna fashioned a costume similar to that of the World War II heroine Wonder Woman and called herself Wonder Girl. As Wonder Girl, Donna helped form the Teen Titans. Later, Donna married history professor Terry Long, and had a son, Robert, with him before they divorced.
Several years later, upon learning of her past and upbringing on New Cronus, Donna changed her super-hero code name to Troia. It was as Troia that Donna first met Wonder Woman, and the two women became fast friends, unaware of their mystic bond. She briefly became a Darkstar and dated Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, a relationship that ended when Donna moved to Gateway City after her divorce and the death of her ex-husband Terry and their son. When Dark Angel appeared, ready to cast Donna into yet another misery-laden timeline, Queen Hippolyta, Diana, and the Flash saved her. Donna was reborn, free of Dark Angel's influence and possessed once again of her Amazon powers. She moved back to New York to rejoin the Titans. She was initiated as an Amazon on Paradise Island in a lavish ceremony and now lives with her sister in a Fifth Avenue penthouse.



How's that for confusing?

 

[ray gower]

I knew there had to be a simple explanation!

I only met Donna Troy/Trois a few times in the sixties as a hanger-on. Each time she had a different history as did the sites I used to try and obtain more (hence the great wodge of links).

The version quoted, looks as it may have been Bryne's attempt to splice it all together again. Though it is still incredibly contrived!

Well done and thanks, Tabi!

 

[Tabitha]

Yep, Byrne was responsible for most of this - I think he gave us the entire Sandsmark family, Dark Angel, and the WW doppelganger explanation for Donna's existence. You would have had a field day with the inconsistencies in that storyline...

Still, Donna Troy is still a great character, I love how she interacts with Nightwing (the original Robin), they have a lovely sibling-like relationship, and play off one another very well.