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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member LordUltimus's Avatar
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    Default Revamp Vicki Vale

    Gotham's Lois Lane expy is pretty out of focus in recent years. Any ideas to make her more interesting?

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member thwhtGuardian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LordUltimus View Post
    Gotham's Lois Lane expy is pretty out of focus in recent years. Any ideas to make her more interesting?
    You spelled out pretty much why she can't really stick around long term...there's already a Lois Lane.
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  3. #3
    ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ Godlike13's Avatar
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    How about she gets murdered just before she was about to turn in an article revealing who Batman is. All fingers point to Joker, and ultimately Jokers gets put away for it, but in a last minute twist we find out it was Alfred. Dun, dun, dun…

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by thwhtGuardian View Post
    You spelled out pretty much why she can't really stick around long term...there's already a Lois Lane.
    Lois Lane is not Lois Lane anymore.

    Lois is a wife, a mother and an investigative reporter; her husband has no secret identity anymore and her son magically aged a few years (and Jon joined a club 1000 years in future).

    Vicki could be what Lois was...or she could become Lady Arkham.

    Might be better if she becomes a villain; supporting characters don't have much time in stories anymore.

  5. #5
    Extraordinary Member thwhtGuardian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scary harpy View Post
    Lois Lane is not Lois Lane anymore.

    Lois is a wife, a mother and an investigative reporter; her husband has no secret identity anymore and her son magically aged a few years (and Jon joined a club 1000 years in future).

    Vicki could be what Lois was...or she could become Lady Arkham.

    Might be better if she becomes a villain; supporting characters don't have much time in stories anymore.
    She's still a hard hitting journalist in a relationship with a super hero...and we don't really need more than one of those.

    As for your other suggestions, if it's going to be that big of a change why not just create a new character at that point?
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by thwhtGuardian View Post
    She's still a hard hitting journalist in a relationship with a super hero...and we don't really need more than one of those.

    As for your other suggestions, if it's going to be that big of a change why not just create a new character at that point?
    Vicki is not in a relationship with a super hero.

    and as 'that big of a change', Vicki transformed into Lady Arkham in a Batman video game...so, not my idea.

  7. #7
    Extraordinary Member thwhtGuardian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scary harpy View Post
    Vicki is not in a relationship with a super hero.

    and as 'that big of a change', Vicki transformed into Lady Arkham in a Batman video game...so, not my idea.
    She was even if she didn't know it, and it was the same way with Lois when Vale was actually relevant and that Lois and the rest of the world does know Clark is Superman now isn't a big enough difference to make it work.

    The truth is Vale was specifically created to be Bruce's Lois Lane, because editorial saw how popular she was and thought the concept could be copied and pasted onto Batman. It didn't really work then and it definitely doesn't now in a time when readers are smarter and adverse to that kind of editorial calculus.

    And it's that same aversion to marketing gimmicks that would make turning her into a supervillain a poor decision as well, readers would see right through it as just a poor excuse for recycling an old IP just to keep the copyright alive...and who wants that?

    The truth is Vale is just irrelevant these days and the only way to really use her and have feel organic is if you're telling an origin story where having her appear is an acceptable throw back as nostalgia is the name of the game in that kind of a book.
    Last edited by thwhtGuardian; 01-23-2022 at 08:24 AM.
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  8. #8
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thwhtGuardian View Post
    . . . The truth is Vale is just irrelevant these days and the only way to really use her and have feel organic is if you're telling an origin story where having her appear is an acceptable throw back as nostalgia is the name of the game in that kind of a book.
    Disagree.

    She just needs good writing and more of a focus on her skills as a news person.

    And less focus on her love life, or lack there of . . .

  9. #9
    Astonishing Member Oberon's Avatar
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    I agree here too. I don't remember when she came around, probably the '50s at least, so she has been around a long time.

    In the real world there are certainly more than one attractive (by, mostly 'male' standards) pretty or beautiful investigative reporter, so why not?
    I may be old school, but when the question comes up, VV should possibly be the 3rd or 4th most important romance for Bruce.
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  10. #10
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    I mean, they just added another redhead female reporter in 'Tec in Deb Donovan, so it seems like a niche people still feels is needed.

  11. #11
    Extraordinary Member thwhtGuardian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Oberon View Post
    I agree here too. I don't remember when she came around, probably the '50s at least, so she has been around a long time.

    In the real world there are certainly more than one attractive (by, mostly 'male' standards) pretty or beautiful investigative reporter, so why not?
    I may be old school, but when the question comes up, VV should possibly be the 3rd or 4th most important romance for Bruce.
    That's because in the real world it's a profession that anyone can do...but in comics its just a plot device not a job, and if you have one character with the exact same plot device/reason for being two becomes redundant.
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  12. #12
    Extraordinary Member Primal Slayer's Avatar
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    Vicki really deserves her dues and doesn't really need much revamping. But if we want to...she could easily be running her own successful podcast that deals with the ongoings of Gothams elite and transitions over to Batman from time to time. Kind of have her be Gothams Gossip Girl/Wendy Williams type.

  13. #13
    Incredible Member Mark Trail's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thwhtGuardian View Post
    You spelled out pretty much why she can't really stick around long term...there's already a Lois Lane.
    And the "Vickie Vale" that most people think of when they think of the character was actually more or less Silver St Cloud.

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scary harpy View Post
    supporting characters don't have much time in stories anymore.
    ^^^that and the lack of secret identities are two of the worst trends in comics ever.

    On topic,
    Incorporate the Gotham Gazette into the storylines, flesh out the employees. Strike a balance between the Gazette and the GCPD; who knows who and works well/not so well together. Vicky would grow as part of that process.

    It’s what Superman comics did so well for so many years.

  15. #15
    Incredible Member Rufio's Avatar
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    I got it, bring back a book that focuses on Gotham PD. You know who the PD had to deal with? The press. Vale is a hard hitting journalist, so there you go.

    This also stops everyone from having to stand in Batman’s shadow 24/7.

    “Fleeing through the labyrinths with the hordes of the living dead fast upon them;
    Once again they found themselves trapped in front of the abyss.”

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