How’s this for an idea:
- To differentiate her more from Lois Lane, who’s usually the respected and famous reporter, Vicki is seen as a disgraced photographer/would-be-reporter and has trouble finding any job that’s not associated with tabloids… but that’s because, reflecting the more corrupt and noir-ish elements of Gotham City, she was set-up and black-balled by Gotham’s mob and political establishment years ago, and what remains of them years later still seeks to compromise her reputation at every turn (so she’s constantly attacked by pundits and such.)
- So, as part of her attempt to make a living and try to rebuild her career, she pays the bills as a social photographer while trying to rebuild her career as a ghost-writer submitting articles for the still reputable but somewhat incapacitated Alexander Knox (he has a pill and drinking problem.) Still her infamy, looks, and affability make her a minor celebrity in her own right who *still* gets invited to almost every major party and provides her with a plethora of sources looking to use her as a rumor mill.
- This actually makes her *the* best source for high society gossip, confirmed intelligence, and their connections to Gotham’s underworld. She can cut through the BS to get to the actual facts. Batman and Oracle both use her for that information, though doing so requires giving her some of information as well.
- And like Pre-Flashpoint, she actually figured out who the Batfamily is, creating a different chemistry between them.
I've written at length about Vicki before but I can't find the relevant posts. The thing is, you don't really need to revamp her. She's been written with depth in several great runs; the problem is, very few have actually read them, so everyone thinks Vicki is a shallow cut-out. Check out Conway and Moench's pre-Crisis runs. That's how you do Vicki Vale. There's something so raw about her and Bruce's relationship to me. Also she's supposed to be more the glamor girl than Lois Lane's hard-nosed reporter. Alan Grant (I think) wrote a Who's Who origin for Vicki where she was a child model and her dog got killed while filming a commercial and the crew replaced it with another one and told everyone it was the same dog. So she vowed the camera would never lie because of her again. That's motivation. Also remember when they tried to turn her into some liberal anti-Batman crusader? Remember when she got a divorce? Remember when she found out Batman's f**king identity??? There is so much you can do with her, so much she's been through, and so much depth - but DC just ignores it like they do everything else. Didn't they try hooking her up with Nightwing within the last few years? Damned idiots.
These are two very strong points that would go a long way to making Vicki an interesting character. It gives her something that Lois would never have...a bad reputation. Lois is HIGHLY respected in the..well, pretty much every aspect of the world of DC. Vicki would be quite brilliant being the glamorous rat amongst the privileged.
The last time I remember seeing her in the books is when Dick was Batman. I was interested in where her storyline would go, but it just disappeared, if I recall correctly.
Kinda like Vesper Fairchild on the CW's Batwoman show then, albeit with a more prominent role.
I'm actually surprised the role of the media in Gotham doesn't get highlighted a lot more. I mean, it's always kinda there in the background but it doesn't get nearly as much focus as you'd think it logically should. I mean, this is a city with massive crime and corruption and the equivalent of a low-level terrorist attack happening practically every week! To say nothing of being a city where a vigilante works alongside the police force. The media should be going crazy in Gotham on controversies and debates about crime, corruption, vigilantism, police brutality etc. to say nothing about who Bruce Wayne is dating now and why he's taken in so many pre-teen boys
Wait what?
Vicky first dated Bruce back when Dick was a teenager...and they had her hooking up with him?!
This is as bad, if not worse, as any notion of Bruce and Barbara (and at least those two are presented as being closer in age in some continuities!)
It's not like Bruce and Barbara at all as Vicki was never in a position of power over Dick and never had any real contact with him in a mentorship role as he was growing up. That's not to say I think it's a good match, but her being older than Dick (who is of age now) isn't anywhere near as problematic as Bruce and Barbara.
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They flirted a little in an Annual. That was all.
Vicky hasn't been relevant in the comics since forever and trying to bring her back around the time of the 80's movie didn't work because the character and basis for Batman had moved on. No revamp since has stuck, either.
Is she interesting now or do people just want her back because she used to be a thing? What does she add outside of name value and the trope of the reporter/girlfriend?
I like the suggestion of bring back Gotham Central* and having her as Police liaison for a news outlet, but still it'd just be Vicky for the sake of using the name.
*mostly because GC is one of the best Batman series ever written.
"Has Sariel summoned you here, Azrael? Have you come to witness the miracle of your brethren arriving on Earth?"
"I WILL MIX THE ASHES OF YOUR BONES WITH SALT AND USE THEM TO ENSURE THE EARTH THE TEMPLARS TILLED NEVER BEARS FRUIT AGAIN!"
"*sigh* I hoped it was for the miracle."
Dan Watters' Azrael was incredible, a constant delight and perhaps too good for this world (but not the Forth). For the love of St. Dumas, DC, give us more!!!
I'd scrap the romantic angle and just make her a reporter in Gotham. Deb Donovan proves a reporter in Gotham can be interesting. Make her more of an optimist to contrast Deb's cynicism.
If Lois gets another solo, play them off each other.
Instead of Wendy Williams, I'd make her David Simon of the Wire fame. Before creating the Wire, he was a veteran newspaper reporter for the Baltimore Sun. The Wire was based of his time being a police reporter.
Or I'd make her a daytime TV show talk host. She would be Sunny Hostin from the View.
Last edited by the illustrious mr. kenway; 01-25-2022 at 09:02 AM.
Hell, any good writer can make a reporter in any comic book city "interesting".
As for making her "more of an optimist", I'm not sure how well that would work for an experienced reporter, especially when dealing with Gotham City.
I think a role like that might work better for someone like Summer Gleeson.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
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