While Batman co-creator Bob Kane was at Columbia Pictures for a development meeting concerning the upcoming Batman and Robin (1949) serial he by chance met a young starlet in the studio commissary who inspired the Vicki Vale character, a young Marilyn Monroe who was at the studio at that time filming the movie Ladies of the Chorus (1948).

[2] Vicki Vale is a journalist, usually based in Gotham City, who has worked for a number of publications across various iterations of the character and the surrounding DC universe.

[3] Vicki Vale first appeared in Batman #49 (Oct. 1948), written by Bill Finger with art by Bob Kane and Lew Schwartz.

Schwartz dropped a number of Batman's Silver Age backing characters, including Vicki Vale, Batwoman, Bat-Girl, Bat-Mite, and Ace the Bat-Hound.

Vicki disappeared from the comics soon after Crisis on Infinite Earths, but in Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, she is a gossip reporter who flirts with the judge during a shoplifting trial.

[7] When hospitalized after an attack by the Ventriloquist, Bruce struggles over whether or not to tell her he is Batman, but decides not to, which leads to the end of their relationship.

[8][9] In the "Black Glove" book, she brusquely offers best wishes to Bruce and his new lady Jezebel Jet on the air.

She interviews a corrupt mob lawyer named Weinstein, who is running for Gotham district attorney against Harvey Dent.

In the next issue of Gotham Gazette titled "Batman Alive", Vicki sees that Bruce is not present at the gala.

While there, she observes the tension between Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon, as well as the scarring on Tim Drake, allowing her to discover the double lives they and Bruce have been leading.

At the end of the story she is seen arranging pictures on her wall, connecting various members of the Batman Family to their secret identities, and declaring that she will prove her suspicions.

[16] Vicki is eventually hunted by the League of Assassins,[17] after Ra's al Ghul realizes that she knew Batman's secret.

Vicki realizes that Bruce's mission is bigger than the truth she's seeking, and decides not to expose his secrets, and becomes his ally.

Despite having killed du Valliere after their final battle a long time ago, it is implied that al Ghul's business with Vicki is not complete as he vows to track down anything that related to his enemies.

[19] In the following issue, Batman and Robin rush to her apartment only for Absence to reveal that Vicki is bound and gagged inside of a cabinet.

Vicki further investigates the Crime Syndicate's connection to police corruption with the assistance of Jason Bard, Harvey Bullock and Maggie Sawyer.

[26] Forced to acknowledge how far he has fallen, Bard resigns his police position due to his own connections to organized crime, then voluntarily tells Vicki the details.