Debra Whitman is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
appearing in
American comic books
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'', ...
published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
. Introduced in ''
The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...
'' #196 (Sept 1979), she served as a brief love interest for
Peter Parker
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August ...
in the ''
Spectacular Spider-Man
''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics.
Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...
'' and ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' comic titles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is also one of the first characters to determine that Peter was Spider-Man, although she was later convinced she was delusional.
The character has appeared in Spider-Man media adaptations, most notably in ''
Spider-Man: The Animated Series''.
Fictional character biography
Debra Whitman was a secretary in the biophysics department of Empire State University. While there, she met Peter and they started dating. However, things kept coming up in his secret life as Spider-Man and he kept giving her excuses to get out of the date. Because of Peter's rejections, she started to date Biff Rifkin for emotional support, but her infatuation with Peter did nothing but grow.
Debra also suffered from a mental instability that led her to idealize people and invert values. With Peter it grew further into her hallucinating that he was Spider-Man. When she told her psychiatrist, Dr. Baily Kuklin, about her hallucinations, he asked Peter to wear the Spider-Man suit to give her a shocking confrontation with reality to get her out of the hallucination. Peter refused, and indicated Biff Rifkin as a more reliable source of information. However, Biff already knew Debra when she was married to Mark Whitman. One day he asked her about her black eye and she gave evasive answers. That night he went to their house and saw Mark beating her. He rescued her and took her to the hospital, but she insisted Mark was a kind and gentle husband, locked in denial.
[''Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man'' #74] Peter then wore the suit and told her he was Spider-Man. The shock made her come to her senses and decided to leave New York to get a divorce.
During the superhero "
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
", Peter reveals his identity as Spider-Man to the world. Thereafter, Debra is seen on the phone speaking to her co-writer about her new book, entitled "TWO FACED: How Spider-Man Ruined My Life". She seems discouraged about the title and tone of the book, but is committed to a book signing later in the day. Enraged, she then hurls items around the room to get out her anger before the signing. At the book signing, Spider-Man and the newly released
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
are both seen planning to crash.
[''Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'' #14-17]
After Spider-Man defeats the Vulture, Debra reveals to
Betty Brant the editors had forced her to exaggerate the mental damage that Peter had "done" to her in order to make for a better book. Debra's mother had been sick and the medical bills were far more than she could pay for, so when the
Daily Bugle
The ''Daily Bugle'' (at one time ''The DB'') is a fictional New York City tabloid newspaper appearing as a plot element in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The ''Daily Bugle'' is a regular fixture in the Marvel Universe, mos ...
dug up all of Peter Parker's past relationships to get dirt on him, she jumped on the chance to write the book. Betty talked Debra into telling the truth to the Daily Globe, confidentially.
In order to save the life of
May Parker
Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appeara ...
(who was near death with no prospect of recovery), Peter and his wife
Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane "MJ" Watson is a Character (arts), fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr., and made her first appearance in ''The Amazing Spider-Man' ...
agree to allow the demon
Mephisto
Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition.
Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film
* Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a German- ...
to alter history. In the new timeline, Peter and Mary Jane were never married, and his identity as Spider-Man was forgotten.
[''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #545] Consequently, Debra's knowledge of Peter's identity (beyond her suspicions while the two were dating) is erased from history as well.
In other media
Television
* Debra Whitman appeared in ''
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
'', voiced by Liz Georges. This version of the character is portrayed as a scientific genius and a love interest for
Flash Thompson
Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 196 ...
, while sharing a friendly rivalry with Peter Parker. She also showed interest in
Michael Morbius prior to Flash. Debra plays a minor supporting role in the series, with one episode seeing her temporarily fall victim to the
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
and another seeing her being rejected by Morbius and developing a crush on Flash. After learning Morbius became a pseudo-
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
, Debra attempted to make a cure for him, but her failure led to her becoming a party girl until Flash stepped in and reminded her of who she really is. She eventually returned to her original lifestyle and maintained her relationship with Flash.
* Debra Whitman appeared in ''
The Spectacular Spider-Man
''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' is a comic book and magazine series starring Spider-Man and published by Marvel Comics.
Following the success of Spider-Man's original series, ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', Marvel felt the character could support ...
'', in a non-speaking role. This version is depicted as
Miles Warren
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
's African-American secretary. She is older than her comic book counterpart and therefore has no romantic interest in Peter. The show's original depiction of
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in those featuring Spider-Man. A college student and the daughter of George Stacy and Helen Stacy, ...
as a nerdy girl with glasses was also inspired by Debra in the comics.
References
External links
A profile of Debra Whitman, the 1970s supporting characterThe Return of Debra Whitman at Marvel.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, Debra
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional secretaries
Comics characters introduced in 1979
Characters created by Al Milgrom
Characters created by Marv Wolfman
Spider-Man characters
Marvel Comics female characters