Norah Winters
| Norah Winters | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | The Amazing Spider-Man #575 (December 2008) |
| Created by | Joe Kelly, Chris Bachalo |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Norah Winters |
| Team affiliations | Daily Bugle |
| Supporting character of | Spider-Man |
Norah Winters is a fictional supporting character in Spider-Man comic books published by Marvel Comics. She first appeared in the The Amazing Spider-Man #575.
Fictional character biography
Daily Bugle
Norah Winters is a young reporter who just started out at the Daily Bugle. Her first assignment was with Peter Parker.[1] She was often flirtatious with Peter Parker while they worked together.[2]
Norah and Peter had numerous assignments together, one of them was to expose Norman Osborn as the villain he was during his reign of power in the events of Dark Reign. During this assignment she flirted with a male receptionist at Norman Osborn's headquarters so that Peter could sneak inside Norman's building. Norah was set on exposing Osborn, and did everything in her power to do so. She eventually succeeded. After the events of the Siege on Asgard, Norman Osborn was put to jail. Norah wrote about this and even interviewed Norman Osborn.[3]
Although there was definitely a connection between Norah and Peter, nothing came out of it since she began dating Randy Robertson, son of the Daily Bugle's editor Robbie Robertson.[4]
The Punisher
Norah was reporting on a crime scene at a wedding that left 29 people dead. Due to her reporting she eventually met the vigilante known as the Punisher. He was killing the criminals who had killed the 29 wedding guests. Norah even helped the Punisher when he was wounded after a fight. She took the Punisher in her car as he directed her to his secret hide-out. Norah now knew the Punisher's whereabouts and she struggled with this knowledge. She asked fellow reporter Ben Urich whether or not she should write an article on her adventure and inform the audience of the Punisher's hide-out. Ben told her that he himself once dealt with this choice (knowing Daredevil's real identity, but refused to write about it) and told Norah that she should only do this if it was for the benefit of the people, not just for her own well being.[5]
Big Time
During the "Big Time" story arc she is reporting a story on goblin gangs. Phil Urich, the new Hobgoblin, pays her a visit and gives her a bag of goblin gear. When she is about to trash the goblin gang story Phil gives her a video on the new Hobgoblin attacking Horizon Labs.[6] During the time between the attack on Horizon Labs and the attack of the Spider-Slayers[7] Phil and Norah had gone on stakeouts looking for the new Hobgoblin. She didn't know that the new Hobgoblin was actually Phil Urich and that his "leads" were only there to get to know her better.
Spider-Island
During the Spider-Island storyline Norah and Randy were reporting about the spider-powered citizens, when Randy is attacked by the Hobgoblin. Randy fought off the Hobgoblin with the spider-powers he had acquired, but Norah stayed on the sidelines to film the fight, despite having a bag of the Hobgoblin's pumpkin bombs fall within her reach. Randy was angry that Norah put her career before their relationship and broke up with her immediately, even using his new super-strength to destroy her camera. Shortly after this she kissed Phil Urich, who knew what to do because he had plotted the break-up.[8]
Superior Spider-Man
After the destruction of Shadowland, Norah along with the rest of the Daily Bugle staff learn from a television broadcast from Spider-Man (Otto Octavius) that Phil Urich is the new Hobgoblin.[9] After Spider-Man goes to the Daily Bugle and forces him to expose himself to confirm this is true, Phil takes her hostage. Norah is able to break free allowing Spider-Man to subdue him. However, as this incident had stained the Bugle's reputation due to once again unknowingly hiring a criminal into their ranks, Robbie Robertson had no choice but to fire Norah from the Bugle's staff because of her affiliation with Phil.[10]
Personality
Norah's nosy and unusual personality sometimes got her into trouble, but this was also what made her such a good reporter. Eventually Norah was fed up with the life she lived in New York City, feeling that nobody understood or liked her, and was planning to leave New York to return to her home state to once again live with her parents. Luckily, Peter Parker brought her off the idea, and Norah stayed in New York City to work for the Daily Bugle. She, however, still felt she was not seen as a real reporter, but more as a pretty face, making her even more determined to become a really good journalist.