From origin stories to aliases to joining the Teen Titans to her glorious return, discover the most essential Donna Troy comics to read.

While it's a shame that Donna Troy has rarely been featured in her own dedicated comic series, her appearances in various comics dating back to the 1960s continue to provide rich entertainment for fans of the character. Also known as the original Wonder Girl who later dons the name Troia, Donna Troy is the younger sister of Wonder Woman who often appears in The New Teen Titans comic books.

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Those looking for the most essential Donna Troy comics that explain her evolution and explore her rise to glory would be wise to follow a specific chronology of stories spanning 50 years.

While there's much debate over Donna Troy's first official comic book appearance, the best place to first read about the character is Wonder Woman #123 in 1961. Under the "Impossible Tales" subtitle that focused on "Wonder Family" and a teenage version of Wonder Woman dubbed Wonder Girl, fans of the character are bound to consider this Donna's true introduction.

In the issue, Wonder Woman (Diana) and Queen Hippolyte thumb through old photo albums and relive the adventures of Wonder Girl as she enters an Amazonian photograph. While Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl ultimately become separate entities, for historical purposes, this is the best place to contextualize the character's origin.

Wonder Woman #147 Bird Girl - Fish Girl is a splendid comic that depicts the stellar DC comic book sidekick Donna triumphing in her Amazon training, which is administered by Athena herself. Tasked between choosing to date Mer-boy or Bird-boy, Athena grants Donna a pair of bird wings and fishtail to be with both, but she realizes they go against her nature.

Aside from awesome artwork and a badass fight with a flying sphinx, Wonder Girl is the main focus of the comic, showing how she comes of age and earns her stripes before learning to accept her true nature.

"Wonder Girl's Stolen Face" is the name of Wonder Woman #153, an inspiring comic that gives Donna Troy top billing. The Duke of Deception tries to anger Wonder Girl and kill her family by putting an ugly green facade over her visage. Once learning how much her family loves her, despite failing to fight back, Wonder Girl takes matters into her own hands and waylays an entire Martian fleet.

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Beyond the butt-kicking self-empowerment and physical prowess she demonstrates, Donna's prominent storyline in the comic also reinforces how loyal she is to her family and how capable she is at protecting those who mean the most.

Rebranded as Wonder Woman's official younger sister, Donna Troy made her so-called first appearance in The Brave and the Beautiful #60 (in WW #23, she was considered a younger version of Wonder Woman). Historically speaking, it's a great story to see how the writer's shifted the family dynamic, especially since the comic also introduced Teen Titans.

Joining the likes of Kid Flash, Robin, and Aqualad, Wonder Girl shows her worth by rescuing the team from a bulldozer and later helps save Kid Flash from an animated statue. A must-read for Donna Troy completists.

Jumping 15 years ahead, the rebooted New Teen Titans in 1980 features a handful of excellent Donna Troy stories. The first is imperative as it sets the stakes, establishes the new squad, focuses on the best relationships, introduces the most powerful Teen Titan villains, and most importantly, features the stellar artwork of Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

The historic comic finds Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire joining the New Titans along with Wonder Girl, Robin, and Changeling, all of whom unite to thwart a deadly attack on the UN building. It's a great comic to read to see how Donna interacts with a fellow female superhero in Raven but also seeing how effective she is in helping the team defeat Ravager.

Perhaps the most essential Donna Troy comic of all, The New Teen Titans #38 is almost entirely dedicated to Wonder Girl's origin story. The story also sees Donna overcome her greatest fear of feeling unladylike due to her Amazon power in a hilarious spy mission that requires her to shave her head and pose as a man.

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Aside from being a compelling Donna Troy-centric issue, her heartened interactions with Mal and Robin who also face their own worst fears really underscores the heroic teamwork the Titans showcase.

Another must-read New Teen Titans arc includes issues #54-55, which begs the titular query "Who is Wonder Girl." It's here where Donna Troy takes the newfangled alias Troia, explaining exactly how, why, and what led to her decision in becoming one of the most powerful teen titans.

Fans will absolutely want to brush up on the character's new origin while boasting the old-school artwork of Wolfman and Perez, which began and ended the 1980s, marking the peak of their collaboration. As the final book in a 5-comic arc, the closure will provide great satisfaction.

While The New Teen Titans #54 concluded Troia's origin, #55 began a new arc by boasting the character on the cover with the headline "Presenting Troia." Clearly promoted as a more prominent figure than before, the issue focuses less on Troia's heroic side and more on her domestic quibbles.

Once Lilith joins the team, she assumes Wonder Girl's previously spritely girl-next-door type. This leaves Troia to meet and eventually marry Terry long, and this issue really gets to the heart of their kinship and how Troia relates to his ex-wife Marcia. A great change of pace issue.

Released in 1998, the standalone one-shot from GirlFrenzy entitled Wonder Woman: Donna Troy #1 is a riveting story that sees the titular hero in a more mature state as she takes on Red Panzer along with Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman.

Aside from the deliberate focus on female empowerment, the issue is a lot of fun to read yet has no added pressure of connecting to a larger canon or a continuous arc. It's simply about Donna Troy becoming a woman and teaming with other badass women to bring a male terrorist down with swift justice.

Released nearly a decade later in 2005, The Return of Donna Troy is one of the most famous character comics for fans to find. The DC Special issue finds Donna Troy in the multiverse following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, revealing that she has been reborn after being murdered by android Superman.

Despite being a shell of her former self in the multiverse, the return of the character after nearly 10 years is reason enough to see how the writers managed to shoehorn Donna back into the fold and have her interact with a slew of cool new characters.

NEXT: Titans - 10 Comic Inaccuracies About Donna

A Senior List Writer covering a wide array of topics who has been with Screen Rant since September of 2019, Jake Dee has written movie news and reviews since 2008, working primarily with OMG Horror (IGN), JoBlo.com, and Arrow in the Head as a freelance reporter based in Los Angeles. A hopeless cinephile, social media Luddite, certified Nic Cage doppelganger, and a big Weekend At Bernie's fan, Jake can often be found tucked away in a dark corner watching an old horror movie. Born and raised in California, Jake has a Bachelor's Degree in Film & Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis on theory and criticism, is the author of several "WTF Happened To This Movie" and "WTF Really Happened To This Movie" videos on YouTube, and has covered everything in the entertainment industry from set visits, studio luncheons, and red carpet interviews to wrap parties, movie premieres, private screenings, talent interviews, and more.