Dog Man

Dog Man is a comedic graphic novel series by American cartoonist Dav Pilkey (author of the Captain Underpants books) published by Scholastic Corporation that focuses on a part-dog, part-man police officer/superhero.[1] The book series includes nine books, the first released in 2016 and the latest in 2020.[2] The latest book released in September 2020. The upcoming tenth book in the series, named Dog Man: Mothering Heights will come out on March 23, 2021.

Dog Man
AuthorDav Pilkey
IllustratorDav Pilkey
LanguageEnglish
PublisherScholastic Corporation
PublishedAugust 30, 2016 – present
No. of books9 (so far)

On December 9, 2020, it was announced that a feature film adaptation of Dog Man from DreamWorks Animation is currently in the works.[3]

Graphic novels

1. Dog Man

Dog Man is the first book in the series, released on August 30, 2016.

2. Dog Man: Unleashed

Dog Man: Unleashed is the second book in the series, released on December 27, 2016. It revolves around Dog Man and a battle with Flat Petey and Flippy, a psychokinetic butterfly fish.

3. Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties

Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties is the third book in the series, released on August 29, 2017. It revolves around Dog Man dealing with Petey's clone(son), Lil' Petey, and Supa Mecha-Flippy. Flippy got squished by Dog Man, then, at the Supa Awesome Science Center Over There, whose broken bones became replaced by bionics, and Flippy got brought back to live with Living Spray gas. The name and some aspects of the book are a play on A Tale of Two Cities.

4. Dog Man and Cat Kid

Dog Man and Cat Kid is the fourth book in the series, released on December 26, 2017. It revolves around Dog Man and Li'l Petey becoming super-heroes. Dog Man is the Bark Knight (referencing to Batman), and Lil' Petey as Cat Kid.

5. Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas

Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas is the fifth book in the series, released on August 28, 2018. It revolves around Dog Man and his new SUPA BUDDIES superhero team facing Piggy the evil pig, Crunky the dim-witted gorilla, and Bub the silly dwarf crocodile, known as the F.L.E.A.S: the Fuzzy Little Evil Animal Squad. The name and some aspects of the book are a play on Lord of the Flies.

6. Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild

Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild is the sixth book in the series, released on December 24, 2018. It revolves around Dog Man being framed by the Fleas. It was released with positive reviews. In Brawl of the Wild, Dog Man was sent to jail because the F.L.E.A.S. have pretended to be Dog Man and robbed a bank. The name and some aspects of the book are a play on The Call of the Wild.

7. Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls

Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls is the seventh book in the series, released on August 13, 2019. It revolves around Dog Man's former obsession, balls, becoming his greatest fear, Dr. Scum behind this, and Petey reuniting with his father, who's still evil. It releases followed by positive reviews. Title: Spoof on For Whom The Bell Tolls.

8. Dog Man: Fetch-22

Dog Man: Fetch-666 is the eighth book in the series, released on December 10, 2019. It revolves around Dog Man facing the Fair Fairy, their tree, Barky McTreeface, & 22 supa-angry psychokinetic tadpoles (the Fair Fairy's children who controlled Barky with their minds), not to mention Li'l Petey's greedy grampa. Title: Spoof on the phrase "Catch-22"

9. Dog Man: Grime and Punishment

Dog Man: Grime and Punishment is the ninth and most recent book in the series, released on September 1, 2020. It revolves around Dog Man getting fired from Mayor for digging up his roses, ripping his hat, and destroying the city hall and having to go undercover as Cat Man to get his job back. [4] Chief can not hire dogs so Dog Man dresses up as a cat and Grampa builds an invention called The Mighty Motor Brain and it made Grampa look tough. At the ending, Petey forgives Grampa with the latter demanding him to return for a fight. Title: Spoof on Crime and Punishment

10. Dog Man: Mothering Heights

Dog Man: Mothering Heights is the tenth book in the series, which will be released on March 23, 2021. Dog Man is down on his luck, Petey confronts his not so purr-fect past, Grampa is up to no good and Piggy is back to being a villain. The world is out of control as new villains spill into town. Everything seems dark and full of despair. But hope is not lost. Can the incredible power of love save the day? Title: Spoof on Wuthering Heights.

Characters
  • Dog Man - The main protagonist of the series, Dog Man was born from the remains of Officer Knight and his dog partner Greg, after an explosion rendering useless Greg's body from the waist down, and Knight's head . He retains his dog senses, but not his body, He has a tendency to jump onto Chief or make a huge mess. Being part-canine, Dog Man cannot speak English. In "Dog Man and Cat Kid," "Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas," "Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild," "Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls," and "Dog Man: Fetch-22," he assumes the superhero moniker "The Bark Knight," which is a play on words of Batman's nickname "The Dark Knight." "The Bark Knight" is absent in "Dog Man: Grime and Punishment". He also has a habit of rolling on dead fish.
    • Officer Knight - A former cop who was seriously injured from a bomb explosion. After he is declared brain dead, his body from the neck down was used to create Dog Man.
    • Greg - The dog buddy of Officer Knight, whose body was rendered useless by the fateful explosion. His head was used to create Dog Man.
  • Petey - The former main antagonist of the series. He was originally an evil cat that tried to take over the world but ended up failing every time. He becomes an anti-hero of sorts after he is released from Cat Jail, and cares for his kitten clone, Li'l Petey, but still hates Dog Man.
    • Flat Petey - The paper version of Petey, who is the main villain of book 2. In the end, he ends up getting chased into the sunset by a sentient pair of scissors, created by a magic witch doctor whom Flat Petey had previously cast a mind-control spell on to use him in his plot.
    • Lil' Petey - The kitten clone of Petey, created when Petey inserted a DNA sample to make a doppelganger of himself for a butler. He was cloned as a kitten, as the cloning machine was unable to automatically age the clones it created. Naive, yet friendly and brave, he is Dog Man's sidekick. He is one of the 7 protagonists.
  • Grampa - The greedy father of Petey, and one of the core antagonists of the series. In For Whom The Ball Rolls, he was first introduced into the series when Lil’ Petey tracks him down after Petey talks about how his father abandoned him. He insults Petey and steals all of Petey's stuff after the group fights Dr. Scum. He was then arrested for stealing. He makes another appearance in Fetch-22 where he puts both Petey and Lil’ Petey to sleep when they visited via sleeping gas. He disguises himself as Petey and takes Lil’ Petey. He then teams with the Fair Fairy in her plots, but gets arrested in the end. He is the main antagonist in Grime and Punishment, where he uses his invention: The Mighty Motor Brain, to transform into an amplified version of himself known as the Incorrigible Crud (an obvious spoof of The Incredible Hulk).
  • Zuzu - A poodle owned by Sarah Hatoff, The World's Greatest News Reporter, who not just serves as the love interest of Dog Man, but also is one of his greatest allies.
  • Sarah Hatoff - An Australian reporter who is Dog Man's biggest fan and helps him save the world on many occasions. She bears a resemblance to Savannah Guthrie. In "Dog Man and Cat Kid" she assumes the superhero moniker "Purse Lady."
  • Chief - The chief of the local police station, who, while on the side of good, has a short temper, and hates it when Dog Man jumps on him playfully. In "Dog Man and Cat Kid" he assumes the superhero moniker "Chief Man." For an unknown reason, Chief's real name happens to actually be "Chief".
  • 80-HD - A robot built by Petey, which is then used by Lil' Petey as a friend. 80-HD shares his name with a character in Star Wars called 80-HD and named after ADHD (the acronym for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) the disorder Dav Pilkey suffered from as a child. 80-HD's full name given by Petey is 80-Hexagon-Droid-formigon.
  • Big Jim - A large, obese cat and former cellmate of Petey's who (after being hypnotized by Crunky and Bub) takes on the guise of a superhero named Commander Cupcake, themed after his love for cupcakes, but he never does any real work; in fact, his equipment, arsenal, and Cupcakemobile are all hastily cobbled together and composed of cheap supplies such as cardboard. In Dog Man #9, he puts on Grampa's Mighty Motor Brain helmet which makes him muscular but still obese. In this form, he calls himself the Insuppresible Snug.
  • Yolay Caprese - A famed actress from Italy; Dog Man is at one point assigned as her bodyguard, and she is always willing to assist the team. She appears in books 4 and 6. She bears a resemblance to Naomi Watts.
  • Fair Fairy - The main antagonist of Dog Man: Fetch-22, she is a short elderly fairy who tries to help children get along in her eponymous TV show until she was fired due to her rude temper, which results in her blowing a fuse on the air - twice. Since then, she became vengeful, evil, and bitter. She wears a dog hand puppet named Downward Dog, who seems to have a mind of his own.
  • Piggy - A villain who shares a past with Petey as a fellow Critter Scout during childhood. After pinning an incident on Petey as a child, Petey is expelled from the scout program; after a strike that successfully closed down the Critter Scouts program, Piggy and his cohorts swore revenge for consequently being technically kicked out of the Critter Scouts as well. He is the leader of the FLEAS, an acronym for the Fuzzy Little Evil Animal Squad. He disappeared in "Dog Man: Fetch-22". Dav Pilkey said that he will return in " Dog Man: Mothering Heights"
  • Crunky - One of Piggy's two henchmen. He is an anthropomorphic gorilla and a childhood friend of Petey's, who was also in the Critter Scouts. He disappeared in "Dog Man Fetch-22".
  • Bub - Another one of Piggy's two henchmen. Another childhood friend of Petey's and another former member of the Critter Scouts. He is an anthropomorphic crocodile. He disappeared in "Dog Man Fetch-22".
  • Philly - A giant fiberglass statue of an anthropomorphic cheesesteak mascot (originally confused for a gyro), sprayed with Living Spray by a troop of sentient, evil hot dogs, to serve their army in the first book. Philly is blown to pieces when the can of Living Spray that spawned him is exposed to fire, causing the can's flammable contents to combust.
    • Supa Mecha-Philly - This version of Philly is used as an animatronic prop for the Dog Man movie but is later turned into a powerful threat in "Dog Man and Cat Kid".
    • Claymation Philly - This third version of Philly is used as a villain for the Dog Man movie when it finally makes it to theatres, but is brought to life when Piggy uses a can of Living Spray on the theatre screen.
  • Sam Hamilton - An easily frustrated movie director who appears in two Dog Man books.
  • Dog Jail Warden - Not much is known about this character, but he is relentlessly evil. He antagonizes Dog Man when he is framed by the FLEAS and imprisoned.
  • Cat Jail Warden - The warden of the local Cat Jail, where Petey and Grampa are frequently held. He is featured in many of the books serving as a side character.
  • Fish Jail Warden - This warden is only featured in one of the books escorting Flippy to sign his prison contracts.
  • Flippy - A former antagonist, Flippy was once a cruel butterfly fish who gains psychokinetic abilities from an overdose of a product known as Brain Dots. After Flippy's demise in the second book, he is reconstructed as a bionic cyborg fish in the third book, only to have a change of heart at the end of the book when Li'l Petey draws a comic book for him. After some time in Fish Jail, he completely reforms and begins caring for Molly the tadpole and her 21 frog siblings.
  • Milly - A red-haired female cop. She appears as an unnamed side character in "Dog Man Unleashed." In "Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas," she is named as Chief's partner. She has been seen since in cameos, but has not been mentioned by name.
  • Barky McTreeface - The evil tree in Dog Man: Fetch 22. Able to walk on his own and possessing brute strength capable of toppling buildings, he was given his name by the Fair Fairy’s hand puppet, Downward Dog, much to the her annoyance, although the 22 telekinetic tadpoles agreed on the name, and make up a song about him; the song's tune is the same as that of Frosty the Snowman.
  • Molly - One of the 22 Tadpoles of Dog Man: Fetch 22. She is the only one who remembered the events of the book and the first one to become good. She is also the only one who has not yet become a frog
  • Melvin the Frog - One of the 22 Tadpoles that has grown into a frog. He is very smart and a bit rude, and is probably based on Melvin Sneedly from the Captain Underpants series.
  • Mayor - The unnamed mayor of the city in which the heroes live. He is normally friendly, but is an antagonist in "Grime and Punishment", as Dog Man tends to exasperate him. After Dog Man digs up his rose garden, the Mayor fires him, leading Dog Man to go undercover using the alias "Cat Man" to get his job back, which he does by rescuing his beloved teddy bear, Mr. Snookums, from a fire.
  • Evil Mayor - One of the villains in the first book. She plots to get Chief fired by sending Petey a can of Invisible Spray to escape Cat Jail and then pin it on Chief's apparent recent softness on crime. She initially succeeds, and Chief's position is filled by Robo-Chief, a robotic chief that she has complete control over, with which she plans to take over the city. Her victory doesn't last long, because moments after Robo-Chief is destroyed and Dog Man arrests Petey, Dog Man plays a recording he took of the mayor discussing her evil plans; as a result, she is arrested, sent to Mayor Jail, and replaced by the current mayor.
  • Dr. Scum - An evil scientist who was first seen in the first book as the creator of Robo Chief, the intended replacement of Chief. He returns in Dog Man: For Whom The Ball Rolls, and much to his frustration, he was constantly mistakenly referred to as a new villain, despite his constant claims that he appeared in the first book.
  • Dumb Employee - An incredibly dimwitted woman dressed in pink, who is seen as an employee for various establishments, including Drippy's Donuts and the Cannery Grow store. She can get offended easily, although it is mainly because her stupidity drives Petey to anger, and never seems to do anything right.
  • George Beard (creator) - One of the core protagonists of the Captain Underpants series, and writer of the Dog Man comics.
  • Harold Hutchins (creator) - One of the core protagonists of the Captain Underpants series, and illustrator of the Dog Man comics.

Spin-Off

1. Cat Kid Comic Club

Released on December 1, 2020, this is a new book series that follows Li'l Petey, along with flying tadpole Molly, and Flippy, a psychokinetic fish. Packed with more interactive activities and includes supporting roles from characters from the first 9 Dog Man novels "Li'l Petey, Flippy, and Molly introduce twenty-one rambunctious, funny, and talented baby frogs to the art of comic making. As the story unwinds with mishaps and hilarity, readers get to see the progress, mistakes, and improvements that come with practice and persistence."


2. Cat Kid Comic Club 2

A second book was announced and teased at the end of book 1.

References
  1. "DOG MAN". pilkey.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  2. "All the Dog Man Books in Order | Toppsta". toppsta.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  3. https://www.animationmagazine.net/features/dreamworks-developing-dav-pilkeys-dog-man-as-animated-feature/
  4. Scholastic. "Scholastic Announces Title Of New Book In The Global Bestselling Dog Man Series By Award-Winning Author And Illustrator Dav Pilkey". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
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