WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for "What the #!$% is Task Force Z" Part 1 from Detective Comics #1041, on sale now from DC Comics.
There are a lot of strange and horrifying things going on in Gotham right now. From the looming threat of Scarecrow and the Magistrate to the monstrous Hue Vile, it would be easy for something equally as terrifying, and deadly, to escape everyone's attention. Well, a hero from one of Batman's biggest movies just stumbled on one of these deadly secrets, opening up a new story that's about to spread even more terror through Batman's city.
The backup story "What the #!$% is Task Force Z" Part 1 in Detective Comics #1041 by Matthew Rosenberg, Darick Robertson, Diego Rodriguez and Rob Leigh follows investigative journalist Deb Donovan on an unlikely story. This intrepid reporter is tipped off to some strange happenings in Gotham's morgues, where she finds the bodies of recently deceased supervillains like Bane and Man-Bat. The only problem is, not every body that's meant to be in the morgue is there. The body of the Arkham Knight, Astrid Arkham has vanished.
Now that Donovan knows something's up, someone wants her out of the picture. Shortly after leaving the morgue, she's threatened at gunpoint by a mysterious attacker, telling her to drop the story. If it wasn't for Batman stepping in and taking down the gunman, Donovan may very well have been killed. Realizing that this story is bigger than she imagined, she calls in help from one of Gotham's biggest reporters.
Donovan contacts Vicki Vale, famed reporter for the Gotham Gazette and one of the stars of Tim Burton's Batman movie. She tells Vale what went down after visiting the Morgue. At first, she thinks Donovan's tip about the morgue is just another Gotham crackpot, but, when she learns about the gunman, Vale wants in on the scoop too. However, the reporter's opinion does a complete one-eighty upon learning about Batman and what he told Donovan. Hearing that the Dark Knight advised Donovan to drop the case entirely, Vale agrees with him.
Vicki Vale was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and first appeared in Batman #49 in 1948. She started out as a reporter determined to prove that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one and the same, as well as acting as a romantic interest for the billionaire playboy. She disappeared for a number of years when the Silver Age ended, only making a few brief comebacks. When the Burton movie released in 1989 however, the character returned as a romantic interest to Bruce just as she was in the film.
In more modern comics, she's been far more active as a journalist, especially when it comes to the Dark Knight. When Bruce Wayne was believed dead and Dick Grayson took over as Batman, Vicki Vale started a very serious investigation into the goings-on of the Caped Crusader. Not only did she deduce that Bruce and Batman were one and the same, but she also pieced together the identities of every other member of the Bat-Family too. In the end, she decided not to reveal the truth to the world and became an ally to Bruce and the others.
The trust Vale and Batman have is most likely why she's telling Donovan to drop this story. Whilst to Donovan Batman is simply a crazy vigilante, to Vale he's a trusted friend. Regardless, it looks like Donovan isn't even remotely done with this story, or rather it's not done with her. Not when the person who gave her the tip about the morgue, the Red Hood, is waiting for her in her own apartment.