The Goodest Boy In Comics!
Our earliest encounters with Ace the Bat-Hound!
Our modern image of the Batman family is full of pets, but that’s largely due to a modern influx of pets and one particular character (fans know who I mean) who loves them.
The first, and for the majority of Bat-history only, Bat pet, was Ace!
Ace the Bat-Hound was a German Shepherd found by the Dynamic Duo in Batman #92 in 1955, while they were out on patrol. He was drowning in a river, and they rescued him, brought him back to the mansion, and got him healthy.
For several days, they tried to find his owner, searching around and looking for identifiers, but when they couldn’t, they decided on an alternative solution. When that solution was giving Ace a domino mask, and taking him on a mission, a legendary heroic pet was born!
Now, how much a domino mask on a dog protects their “secret identity” remains to be seen, but ostensibly the purpose of it is to cover up his star-shaped birthmark, and it works just as well as any other mask in the story.
Later, after the mission he helped them on, someone recognized Ace by his special birthmark in the ad Bruce Wayne had put in the paper (they’d done their best in civilian and hero identities), and put the two heroes on the trail of a possible owner. Turns out, that owner was an engraver who had been abducted by a gang for use of his specific abilities!
Ace assisted the heroes in the rescue of his master, and was originally left with said master at the end of that story, but soon after, in Batman #97, he returns for an adventure where a criminal group are using a trained dog to break into places they intend to rob!
After a couple smaller appearances, in Batman #103, Ace is officially adopted by Bruce and Dick, when his original owner goes to Europe! Their case catches the attention of Hollywood, setting even more precedent of publicity for Batman and his “family” (using that term only because it’s what would later be used for it).
Across many years, across Detective Comics and Batman and World’s Finest, Ace would be making the tour of Bat-comics as a loyal, capable companion only limited by the physical limitations of a particularly athletic dog. Helping solve cases, save the day, and even getting an issue he narrated in Batman #125!
Eventually, as tides changed, different audiences wanted different things in comics. From there, Ace and other major Batman supporting characters got their roles shifted away. However, that story is for another time. Especially since, one day he’d make his way back!
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