Many people’s negative feelings towards Terry Long lead them to wanting him to be removed completely from Donna’s history. I understand why. He was a good decade older than her, and she was freshly an adult when they began dating. He didn’t respect her career as a hero, often complaining about it despite having known beforehand what he was getting into. He took her child from her in their divorce. Etc.
Terry was not a good partner for Donna, but I don’t believe canon should just erase him. For better or for worse, Terry played a major role in Donna’s life, and removing him would change who she has become as a character/person.
The problem with Terry’s portrayal, especially prior to his and Donna’s divorce, was that the source material presented their relationship as healthy and tried to convince the readers of that. Clearly their relationship was not actually healthy.
When the age gap is brought up in the comics, it’s never for negative reasons. Sometimes it’s just a jab at Terry for being old, but often these references are used to show how mature Donna is. Wolfman has even said that he created Terry as Donna’s love interest because she needed somebody more mature like her. For him that meant she needed to date a man ten years her senior.
Only after their separation and divorce does their relationship start to be shown a bit negatively. However, even when it is, it’s not doing anything to show that the relationship was unhealthy when they were together. The negative things brought up and referenced about Terry are just that he was the one who initiated the divorce and left Donna and that he took Robbie away from Donna.
The ideal way, in my opinion, for what writers should do with their relationship is not to look back on it in a positive way, nor do I think they should completely ignore it ever happened. It should be acknowledged as something unhealthy that Donna didn’t seen at the time since she was young and naive. Something that took time/needs to take time for her to fully grasp.
However, this doesn’t mean I want for Donna to suddenly just completely hate him. I know many people enjoy revenge fantasies, and I know there are people that use Terry for those, and if that’s how you cope with things, that’s fine. I just personally don't see that as in character for Donna, nor do I really find it compelling.
Donna’s feelings towards Terry should be complicated. It should be something she struggles with at first that she later comes to terms with. There were some comics during and after the divorce that started to do this, but, again, her negative feelings were about the divorce itself and Terry taking Robbie away and not the relationship prior to these events.
During and after the divorce, despite everything Terry has been putting Donna through since he left her, she continues to believe she still loves him and thinks he must feel the same way about her. It ties a bit in with her issues with perfectionism. What they had was the perfect family she wanted, and she can’t fathom that she’s losing it.
She believes that despite everything he is still a good person. She has occasional moments of anger towards him, but she still feels positively about him a lot of the time. It’s heartbreaking seeing these moments.
New Titans #117
New Titans #128
Even after his death her feelings remain complicated. She grieves for him along with Robbie. After everything he put her through. It would be so easy for her to be angry at him for Robbie’s death regardless of how much at fault he is. But she doesn’t. Instead she continues to feel love for him. He took her son from her in more ways than one, and she still loves him.
Girlfrenzy! Wonder Woman: Donna Troy
This display of complicated feelings, where she continues to love somebody she has every right to be mad at, isn’t just something she does with Terry. She’s done this with the Titans of Myth as well. They messed with her memories and manipulated her, but she still feels love for them.
Return of Donna Troy #4
To me it’s just a lot more compelling for her to struggle with the fact that she still loves these people who she has every right to hate. Even as she comes to terms with how poorly they treated her. She loves Terry. He was an important part of her life. But he hurt her. From the start their relationship was unhealthy.
A story arc for Donna where it finally hits her how bad things were the whole time could be so much fun if handled correctly. And this is why I would prefer this over him being removed or just having Donna suddenly switch to just full on hating him. For her character it makes a lot more sense for things to be a bit more complex than that.
my entry for @womenincomicsminibang 2025!!! And ofc my partner’s accompanying fic:
but the sight of the stars makes me dream (4074 words) by jesamnelovelace
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: New Teen Titans, Teen Titans (Comics)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Tara Markov & Donna Troy
Characters: Tara Markov, Donna Troy, Minor Characters
Additional Tags: Light Angst, Stargazing, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Victim Blaming, Canonical Character Death
Summary:
When the power goes out at Titans Tower on the hottest day of the summer, they decide to have a sleepover on the roof. Rather than bake alive in her room, Tara reluctantly joins in and gradually grows to appreciate the company.
Proud to present my art piece for the @womenincomicsminibang ! I got to work with the phenomenal @jesamnelovelace on her fic “A Child of the Waves”, featuring Donna growing up on Themyscira. Go give it a read!
Characters: Donna Troy, Hippolyta, Diana of Themyscira, Philippus
From the doorway Menalippe once again spoke up as she dipped into a curtsy. “I am honored to be the first to greet you, Princess Donna of Themyscira.”
When a child arrives on the shore of Themyscira and the ceremony to return her back to where she comes from goes wrong, Hippolyta finds herself raising a new daughter.
My fic for @womenincomicsminibang with art by @val-el.
Today I had to argue with somebody that tried to claim Donna isn’t part of the Wonderfam despite appearing in several WW runs, her first hero name literally being Wonder Girl, and despite more often than not being Diana’s sister and Hippolyta’s daughter. Yes. She appears more often in Titans books, but she is both a Titan and an Amazon
