Batman #92 (1955)
by Bill Finger & Lew Sayre Schwartz
cover by Win Mortimer
This was a good year for superhero dogs, because after Krypto debuted three months earlier, Batman got a dog too.
We begin with Batman and Robin rescuing a dog.
You couldn’t do this scene today. Either Bruce Wayne would put something on social media and a million people would show up to claim the dog, or the Bat-God already knows the owner of every single dog in Gotham City.
Yes, there is no possible way to take the dog back into the cave in less time than slowing down enough to take him into the car.
Also, holy crap those must be uncomfortable seats: look how tiny they are when compared to the rest of the Batmobile!
Apparently the dog is SO recognizeable that people would notice the mark on his forehead, even when he’s inside the Batmobile.
The dog doesn’t even leave the car, he can’t be THAT noticeable!
Also, as a dog owner, the fact that the dog doesn’t take off the mask in the next fifteen seconds is less belieaveble than a flying dog from another planet.
It wouldn’t be a Bill Finger without a giant prop in the scene.
The dog is a better crime fighter than Batman.
Good news: Batman learns the dog’s name is Ace.
Bad news: he’s taken.
But the case if far from closer, because it turns out that the reason why Ace was lost is that he was trying to help his kidnapped owner.
Look, Ace is undoubtedly a good dog, but you guys are blowing the secret identity stuff WAY out of proportions. Who’s going to recognize this particular dog? AT NIGHT?
Ace is quite smart: he just saw the Dynamic Duo answer to the Bat-Signal ONCE, and he’s already figured out what to do!
Batman was called because of a robbery at a paper factory, and Commissioner Gordon takes the opportunity to give Ace something to do as well.
Commissioner Gordon’s way to handle ANY crime in Gotham City:
Step 1: call Batman
Step 2: wait for Batman
Step 3: have Batman do everything
Step 4: there is no step 4
What’s that, Lassie Ace? The plot has fallen down a well?
Ace is also a better detective than Batman, solving the crime against his owner.
Ace’s owner was an engraver, so you’d think this would be about counterfeit… when instead it’s counterfeit bonds.
This is historically interesting: a scene like this in the 60s would’ve made me wonder if the intended audiene would even know what bonds are, but 1955 might still be close enough to when advertisements for war bonds were ubiquitous.
Not only the mask was unnecessary, it doesn’t even work!
Guys, I appreciate that you didn’t shoot the dog, but have you considered SHOOTING AT BATMAN when you have him at gunpoint!?!?
Since the criminals didn’t tie up the dog, Ace is the only one who can save the day.
Wait wait wait… the bat-symbol is detachable!?!?
Honestly, the idea that Batman made it this way just in case he had to make a makeshift Bat-Signal is one of the most Batman things ever.
Not that Ace is any less impressive.
With the crime solved, how will Batman manage to keep his secret identity?
Alfred must be jacked if he can be indistinguishable from Batman.
And pull off that gigantic jawline.
You would have expected Batman to adopt Ace at the end, but nope!
Which leads me to believe he was meant to be a one-off character.
Historical significance: 2/10
Ace was never as important to Batman’s mythos as Krypto was to Superman’s.
Because Ace will show up in the Silver Age, this is also considered the first appearance of the Silver Age version of Alfred.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Surprisingly not! Batman being tied up with no attempt whatsoever to kill him is more of a Golden Age thing.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
This was shockingly good for the times! I was expecting some absurd shenanigans, but this is a relatively straightforward story. Make the criminals at least slightly menacing, handle the secret identity stuff a little better, and you can basically tell this story today.
How close is this to the modern character? Whoof / 10
Ace would help Batman again in issue 97 and 103, then in 1959 he’s finally adopted by Caped Crusader in Batman #123.
Ace would enjoy a bit of popularity, showing up in total on 15 issues of Batman and 7 issues of Detective Comics between 1958 and 1963.
His final Silver Age appearance is in 1964, on World’s Finest #143.
After that, much like Krypto, Ace was retired from comics because Julius Schwartz didn’t like the character.
The idea of Batman having a masked dog is so Silver Age that Ace seemed destined to stay in comic book limbo forever.
That’s LITERALLY where he is in 1990, on Animal Man #25.
But he wouldn’t stay there long: in 1991, Batman found himself a new dog.
Also named Ace, but this one never wears a mask and he goes on missions VERY rarely; typically he just chills in the Batcave.
This Ace wasn’t nearly as popular as the Silver Age one, with roughly a dozen appearances.
A new version of Ace, much closer to the original, was introduced in 2017 with a FAR darker origin involving the Joker.
But he still gets adopted by Batman.
As of 2025, he’s made about thirty appearances and doesn’t seem to slow down.
You can thank Alfred for this.
Although you can probably attribute the rise to prominence of Ace to the Batman Beyond animated series, where Ace was the name of Old Bruce Wayne’s dog.
That’s far from Ace’s only animated incarnation, but all the others seem to go for a more comedic approach. Weirdly enough, most adaptations make Ace more Silver Age than he actually was in comics.
It’s kind of weird how Krypto ended up being so linked to Superman’s world while Ace is still struggling.
Once you abandon the idea of giving him a mask, it’s not THAT unthinkable to have a dog who helps a detective!
What else was in Batman #92 ?
Despite being on the cover, Ace was only in the third story.
The first story is about Batman reading the mail.
He gets SO much mail that he needs a secretary!
You would think this would be about people writing to Batman for help, but… no, this is just fan mail.
Can you tell this is a Bill Finger story?
It’s also much, MUCH sillier than the one with the crime-fighting dog.
This was just a scheme to find out Batman’s identity.
You probably expected to find out that Batman signed his name differently from how he signs as Bruce Wayne.
And you’d be right.
But you probably didn’t expect it would be this easy to get Batman’s autograph!
The second story has Batman save Bruce Wayne’s neighbors from being robbed.
