ohmidog!

   Yesterday’s post on a dog named “Batman” reminded me to do a little research on the real Batman’s dog.
   Yes, Batman had a dog — several variations of dog, in fact, over the years.
   But the first one, the original one, also known as the Bat-Hound, was a dog about the size of mine, about the color of mine, and with the same name as mine: Ace.
   That’s him — my dog — in the long horizontal shot near the top of the page.  As you can see, though I might lack Bruce Wayne’s wealth and Batman’s abs and don’t even own a cape, the resemblance between our dogs is uncanny.

   Ace — the one that belonged to Batman — made his first appearance in 1955 (two years after I made mine). My Ace made his appearance in 2005, showing up in someone’s yard, who promptly called animal control, leading to his incarceration at Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, the old city shelter, from which I adopted him.

  Ace — the one that belonged to Batman was adopted, too. Originally, he was owned by an engraver named John Wilker, whose kidnapping by a gang of counterfeiters Batman and Robin were investigating. Batman used Ace to try to locate Wilker.

   Once Wilker was found safe, and his dog returned, he took a new job that made it difficult for him to take care of Ace, so he left the dog to Bruce Wayne. (Thank you, Wikipedia.)

  Amazingly, Wilker was never aware that Ace was the Bat-Hound or that Bruce Wayne was Batman.

  Ace all but disappeared from the Batman comics after 1964, when Julius Schwartz took over as editor, and made only very occasional comic book appearances in the years afterward — including as a Great Dane mix in the 1990’s who had a striking resemblance to Scooby Doo. That Ace belonged to Bruce Wayne and, unlike the original, took on no crimefighting responsibilities.

  My Ace, meanwhile (whose full story can be found here), has also proven an amazing crimefighter. He regularly and routinely inspects handbags and luggage for contraband  (though never taught to do so). There are those who believe he is merely looking for treats, but I know — superhero that he is — he is keeping the world safe from evil. 

(Photo courtesy of Bruce Wayne)