Ace, the Bat-Hound, is well known to comic book aficionados, but for everyone else, it should be known that Ace wasn’t a hound but a German Shepherd Dog.  Ace made his debut in July 1955 in the American comic book published by DC Comics (issue #92), and appeared mostly in the 50’s and 60’s. He was created by writer Bill Finger, and artist Sheldon Moldoff, both of whom said that their canine character was inspired by Rin Tin Tin.

Ace the Bat-Hound’s first appearance in Batman #92 (July 1955). Art by Win Mortimer and Ira Schnapp. Via Wikipedia Fair Use license

His story began when his owner, an engraver named John Wilker, was kidnapped by a gang of counterfeiting bad guys. Ace tried to defend his master, but was beaten into unconsciousness (who does that to a dog???) Upon awakening, a determined Ace resumed his efforts to save his master, but the disoriented dog plunged into a river instead, and that’s where Batboy and Batman spotted the struggling dog and plucked him from a watery grave. Ace recovered, and Batman – aka Bruce Wayne – put an ad in the newspaper thinking that someone would recognize the description of a missing German Shepherd with a distinctive diamond patch on his forehead.

Ace recovered and inserted himself in the Dynamic Duo’s efforts to find his owner, but having the dog along posed a problem. Batman (Bruce Wayne) had put an ad in the newspaper describing Ace and his unique patch, but Wayne couldn’t risk having anyone make the connection between his public persona and Batman. Holy Pianola, but it was Batboy who solved the problem of Ace’s distinctive mark by improvising a hood-like mask for the dog. “I cut him this mask from our black cloth tool bag and made a bat-symbol for his collar,” Batboy said.

John Wilke would be rescued, and Ace returned to his home, but in subsequent issues, Ace would make appearances to help solve crime. Sometimes he was “on loan,” but when Wilker took a new job that kept him on the road, he would leave Ace with Bruce Wayne, totally unaware that Bruce Wayne was Batman, and that his pet was actually Bat-Hound.

Ace was the perfect vehicle on which to try out new gadgets: A two-way radio on his collar enabled Batman to eavesdrop on the bandits and issue commands to Ace, and a tiny receiver within the collar emitted a high-pitched signal whenever Bat-Hound was needed. Batman also fashioned a device that would enable Ace to pull his own mask on over his head as needed.

In 1964, Ace was retired from the comic (along with Batwoman, Batgirl and Bat-Mite) when a new look for Batman was instituted by editor, Julius Schwartz.  The character would return in different iterations over the years, however. His outfits would change, even his gender, and in the TV show Batman Beyond, Ace was a Great Dane owned by Bruce in his old age.

Let it not be forgotten, however, that in the beginning, Ace was a German Shepherd Dog.

Image: Ace the Bat-Hound created by luismhernandez and as of 2013 was available to purchase as a print. Contact the artist for this, and graphic design and illustration work here.