Ace the Bathound

Ace the Bat-Hound
Ace's first appearance in Batman #92, July 1955.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman #92, June 1955
Created by	Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff, Brandon Rhea
In-story information
Species	Canis lupus familiaris (Dog) Breed: German Shepherd Dog
Place of origin	Earth
Supporting character of	Batman Robin Alfred Pennyworth
Notable aliases	Dog (post-Crisis)

Ace the Bat-Hound is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as the canine crime-fighting partner of Batman and Robin.

Ace debuted in Batman #92 (cover-dated July 1955) and was created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff. Ace's creation was inspired by the success of Krypto's debut in Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955), and by German Shepherds from detective films and serials, such as Rin Tin Tin and Ace the Wonder Dog.

Ace was a German Shepherd originally owned by an engraver named John Wilker. He was found by Batman and Robin after his master was kidnapped by a gang of counterfeiters. Batman used Ace to try to locate Wilker. Because he had already placed a large number of "lost dog" announcements for Ace in his civilian identity of Bruce Wayne, he was concerned that anyone recognizing Ace (who had a prominent star-shaped marking on his forehead) might make the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman. To forestall that problem, he hastily improvised a hood-like mask for the dog that incorporated the bat emblem as a dog tag dangling from Ace's collar. Ace was subsequently christened the Bat-Hound by a criminal the dog helped Batman to apprehend.

Wilker later took a new job that made it difficult for him to take care of Ace, so he left the dog to Bruce Wayne. Wilker was never aware that Ace was the Bat-Hound or that Bruce Wayne was Batman.

An early case involved Ace tracking down a mentally ancient weapons expert who was using his own weapons to commit crimes. At one point, Ace acquired super-powers thanks to Bat-Mite but this was short-lived. He did have his own training. For example; his specialized radio collar, when activated told him to don his own mask (via a hands-free device) and track down Batman and Robin. Ace was used less and less over time, and for various reasons. When Bruce was overcome with night terrors, Robin suggested Ace sleep beside him.