Flashback Friday: Nora Fries

Each Friday, I take one of the entries from my old Super Posts and expand it into its own featured article.

This week: Nora Fries!

Nora Fries first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Heart of Ice" (1992) as a part of Mr. Freeze's new origin.

Her first comics appearance was Batman: Mr. Freeze (1997), part of a series of prestige format comics that focused on the characters being featured in the Batman & Robin movie - Mr. Freeze, Bane, Batgirl, and Poison Ivy. Despite clearly existing to feed off the movie, they don't have anything to do with the movie. Mr. Freeze's issue takes the opportunity to bring the events of "Heart of Ice" into comics canon.

As part of an agreement, Nyssa al-Ghul allowed Mr. Freeze to put Nora Fries in a Lazarus Pit; however, her body was do damaged from cryogenesis that it turned her into Lazara (first appearance: Batgirl (vol. 2) #70 (January 2006)), a villain that can generate flame and revive the dead.

Nora did survive the New 52, but not unscathed. We get Mr. Freeze's origin in Batman Annual #1 (May 2012), and it's largely the same...until we learn that Nora is actually Nora Fields, a woman who was put into cryostasis in 1943 and Victor only deludedly believes she's his wife. I have no idea what the point of this change is. It adds nothing, and makes Mr. Freeze into simply another crazy Batman villain. But that's the New 52 for you: change for the sake of change, with little thought put into it.

As Mr. Freeze's new origin was so popular, a version of it tends to be used in any adaptation he appears. That means Nora usually appears also. That means she's appeared in a variety of movies, tv shows, and video games, including Batman and Robin (1997), Gotham (2007), the Arkham video game series (2011-2015), and Elseworlds (the 2018 CW crossover). She's also mentioned in The Batman (2004). In all these adaptations, she's presented as her classic self.