Laura Dunham
Laura Dunham is a fictional supporting character in the Marvel Comics universe. She was the girlfriend of Richard Rider aka Nova.
Laura Dunham a Connecticut born college student attending Yale first met Richard Rider when she crashed her car into the company van Richard used for deliveries in one of his many odd jobs.[1] They would later go out on a date where they had to split the check because Richard was too broke to pay for the two of them.[2] Nova always felt self conscious dating Laura because Laura's family was wealthy.[3]
While still dating Laura, Nova shared a passionate kiss with his teammate Namorita.[4] Nova would later admit the truth to Laura but they were unable to discuss the situation once the Xandarian Garthan Saal aka Super Nova arrived looking to find Nova. In the ensuing battle Nova was seemingly killed but was resurrected by another Xandarian named Air-Walker.[5]
Richard and Laura would eventually agree to an open ended relationship where both were allowed to still see other people.[6] Laura did not put two and two together that Rich and Nova were the same person until he confronted her as Nova when he thought she was the Tailhook killer who murdered rapists on the Yale Campus. Laura's roommate Marissa was the real killer and had become so because her sister was raped while at the Tailhook convention in 1991. Laura who had been abused by a previous boyfriend felt sympathy for Marissa and forced Nova to chose between saving her or saving Tailhook when Tailhook committed suicide. Marissa had not wanted to be judged by the legal system and jumped off a roof.[7]
Laura was last seen calling the New Warriors to rescue Nova after his powers had been stolen (yet again) by Garthan Saal.[8]