If you know the usual companions of the Dark Knight like Robin, Nightwing or Batgirl, perhaps Ace had escaped you if you are not a fan of comics? It’s time for a little catch-up session!
intro
He has never appeared in any live-action film, but there is Ace the Bat-Dog in the comics. A sleuth accompanying the greatest detective in the world in his investigations. He first appeared in Batman n°92 (1955), when Bruce and Dick save a dog from drowning and adopt him, because no one claims him. He quickly becomes one of their allies (and yes, he wears a mask):
DC Comics
This German shepherd will be present during many episodes until Batman n°162 (1964), where Robin uses his services for the last time to follow a scent trail, nine years after his first appearance. It will be missing but will not return until 1991, where it is reintroduced in a surprising way.
DC Comics
In Batman n°462 and following, Batman meets again a dog, a guide mastiff for the blind this time, who comes to help the Black Knight to settle the worries of an Indian tribe then adopts him on the death of his initial owner. He will disappear during the year 1999.
Its last significant incarnation will be in a special issue of Batman released in 2017 in which the animal has a different origin story: watchdog in the service of the Joker, he was abandoned in a pit with his congeners and without food. Last survivor, he was picked up by the city of Gotham and then adopted by Alfred. Carrying a game card with an ace (“ace” in English), he is baptized Ace. For the occasion, he finds his mask.
DC Comics
He will also be accompanied by another dog, Titus, who will also settle in Wayne Manor.
In the animated universe of the Dark Knight, the dog has appeared many times, whether in Batman, the next generation, Batman: The Alliance of Heroes but also in film, for example in Batman: Silence and the recent Krypto and Super Animals.