Pre-Crisis Ace was a
German Shepherd Dog 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 might make the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman. To forestall that problem, he improvised a hood-like mask for the dog that incorporated the bat-emblem as a
dog tag. Ace was subsequently christened the Bat-Hound by a criminal that 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 Bruce Wayne was Batman. An early case involved Ace tracking down a mentally unhinged ancient weapons expert. At one point, Ace acquired superpowers 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 that Ace sleep beside him. Ace disappeared from the
Batman comics after
Julius Schwartz took over as editor in 1964. His last appearance was a cameo in a story where Batman had lost his fighting spirit.
Post-Crisis #462 (June 1991) by
Alan Grant and
Norm Breyfogle. The original Ace appears as a resident of
Limbo in
Animal Man and
Final Crisis. A post-
Crisis version of Ace is reintroduced in
Batman #462 (June 1991) by
Alan Grant and
Norm Breyfogle. This version is an
English Mastiff and was originally a
guide dog belonging to a blind
Native American named Black Wolf, who simply called him "Dog". The dog assists Batman in fighting men from Black Wolf's tribe, who are suspects in the murder of a collector of Native American material culture. Following Black Wolf's death, Batman adopts Dog, renaming him Ace. Ace has at times helped Batman on cases and is depicted to be very affectionate towards his owner and vice versa. After Batman has his back broken by
Bane,
Azrael takes over the identity during his recovery and ejects Ace,
Nightwing,
Robin, and
Harold Allnut from the
Batcave. Harold, a trusted confidante of Batman, takes in Ace; they live in a part of the caverns that Azrael is unfamiliar with.
The New 52 In
Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Born to Kill, as part of
The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Bruce is seen purchasing a black Great Dane from a kennel. He later gives this dog to his son, Damian, who names him Titus. Damian rejects the dog at first, but eventually bonds with him. Writer
Peter Tomasi revealed that he thought about naming Damian's dog Ace, but decided that "it was best not to drop [Ace] in at this point in the New 52".
DC Rebirth In
DC Rebirth, a different Ace was introduced in
Batman vol. 3 Annual #1, in which he is depicted as a former guard dog of the
Joker who fought Batman until Joker left him and the other dogs without food in a ditch to fight amongst themselves. The dogs had card symbols on them, and the brown dog with an ace on it killed the others. He was sent to the Gotham Pound, and
Alfred adopted him two days later. To facilitate this, Alfred actually purchases the Gotham Pound, turning it into the Martha and Thomas Wayne Humane Society. Alfred spends the next couple of months training the dog despite Bruce's objections, as he thinks Ace's wounds from the Joker's actions cannot be healed. Despite this, Alfred manages to properly train him in time for Christmas, and Bruce starts bonding with the dog after getting injured during one of his night shifts. He gets Ace a bat-mask for Christmas and calls him a "Bat Hound". ==Other versions==