From the reader perspective, the Terry/Donna relationship seemed like a deliberate attempt to "shake things up" by breaking of expectations about the kind of man Donna would be in a relationship with. Most would have thought it would come "in house" (e.g. Dick Grayson, until they were made more of a sibling relationship), as another in their line of work would truly understand their special circumstances in life. Terry had no clue about that kind of life, which is (in superhero fiction) meant to be something nearly inseparable from the private life. 

As for Vic...no excuse for how the Simms issue was treated/handled.

And, as this issue proved, Wolfman and Perez were far more interested writing about everyday people with everyday problems who just happened to also be superheroes. This proved that to the fans and also opened the door for that couple to face struggles and obstacles that wouldn't be resolved with fists and sonic blasts.

And let's not lose the whole feminist angle here. I learned a lot about how a man didn't need to be the big strong provider from Terry's example. He had to come to terms with his own insecurity about his fiance being a superhero powerhouse, and that in itself proved tremendous strength on his part. Terry's example really influenced my own perceptions of feminism and heterosexual romantic relationships.

Probably because its a soap opera trope--the "he/she balances regular life with regular person while I have this other side they cannot understand" trope. That writing gimmick can only go so far, and in the end, someone as incredibly different as a superhero cannot be fully understood by someone who is not in their world to some degree. That's one of the reasons the Peter Parker/Mary Jane marriage never worked as a running plot, since who would believe she would ever truly understand / be able to support him, or he just "turn off" his mind to act as if he can settle into domestic life, never thinking about the world she can never be a part of?

...or victim. After Gwen Stacy's murder, Parker struggled with "moving on," including putting others at risk if his enemies knew his civilian I.D., but they had him pursue the unrealistically managed Mary Jane relationship.

At least with Captain America's early romamce with Sharon Carter, she was a SHIELD agent who faced almost as much danger as he did (and some of the same threats), so their union could not be exploited with the "look what i've brought to this innocent!" plotting. That is not the case with Donna/Terry, and ultimately, no matter the method, we know how it all ended.

Regarding Vic and Simms, I posted Wolfman's explanation about that a few posts ago. Its an unsatisfactory statement, but its his "how and why" of the relationship that never happened.

That relationship was not as normal as it is today. They probably didn’t want to rock the boat.

I suppose there was a perceived need for a superpower-related plot. I would rather have seen Raven either succeed or fail at building a life outside of solitude in Titans Tower. Maybe they just couldn't think of anything for her to do along those lines.


It must have been continuity with The Brave and the Bold at work here. But the notion of Dick taking a theatrical gig (which is what circus acrobatics are) is a poor fit, despite his background. Theater is highly programmed, and his schedule isn't stable enough for it.


When did Donna have time to become a famous photographer? Is this the first hint dropped about this career?



I just took it more that Kory was getting interested in human modes of physical affection in general, not Terry in particular. We don't yet know enough about Terry to decide whether he's a philanderer or just a gentleman. He appears to be engaging in playful banter with Donna about Kory, without Donna feeling threatened.



That was already a problem back in issue #2, when Kory claimed that Tamaran was a tropical world.


I got the impression that the Italian lech was sleeping with Candy, which is why he was insisting on Donna using her as a model even though Candy was obviously terrible at it. I'm sure there are Italian designers like that in NYC.


Garth could afford a Jaguar, BMW, Ferrari, etc. Instead, he's driving a Pontiac Firebird, the car of choice for lower middle class teens of the early 80s. It's a rejection of the billionnaire lifestyle. Good point about him being too young to drive, though. It came with many model roofs; Garth's has a sun roof, while the one below is a T-top.