''Dog Man'' is a

children's A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

series by American author and illustrator

Dav Pilkey David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. (; born March 4, 1966) is an American comic book writer of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series ''Captain Underpants'' and its spin-off children's graphic ...

. A spinoff and

story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometime ...

of Pilkey's ''

Captain Underpants ''Captain Underpants'' is an American illustrated children's novel series and multimedia franchise by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, living in Pi ...

'' series, ''Dog Man'' revolves around the adventures of the titular character, a half-man, half-dog

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

who works as a police officer. As of 2025, there are 13 books in the series. The latest book, ''Dog Man: Big Jim Begins'', was released on December 3, 2024. A 14th book titled ''Dog Man: Big Jim Believes'' has been announced and is set to release on November 11, 2025. The ''Dog Man'' series has been hugely popular, selling a total of over 3.8 million copies, 13% of all total comic book sales, as charted by

BookScan BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by Circana in the United States and NIQ in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, Italy, Spai ...

, not including digital copies or any copy sold by Scholastic through school book fairs. Starting in 2020, the series received its own spin-off focusing on Dog Man's sidekick Cat Kid (Li'l Petey's

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

form), entitled '' Cat Kid Comic Club''. The series has been adapted into two stage musicals, a 2024 video game titled ''Dog Man: Mission Impawsible'', and a 2025

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

Premise

Within the universe of ''

'', Dog Man was the first comic book character created by George Beard and Harold Hutchins as kindergarteners. In the fourth grade, the two decide to return to the world of their first character, with a (somewhat) more mature perspective on the world. George and Harold continue to create ''Dog Man'' comics throughout the fifth and sixth grades, and often draw inspiration for the stories from their assigned classic literature readings. A police officer named Knight and his dog Greg are targeted by Petey, "the world's most evilest cat", and injured in an explosion. At the hospital, the doctors realize they cannot save both of them, but a nurse suggests sewing Greg's head onto Knight's body. The resulting hybrid, Dog Man, has Knight's crime-fighting skills, but Greg's personality. As such, he exhibits typical canine traits such as licking people and being afraid of vacuum cleaners. In the third book, ''A Tale of Two Kitties'', Petey, hoping to gain a new partner-in-crime, creates a clone of himself, a kitten named Li'l Petey. Unlike his "papa", Li'l Petey is pure-hearted and noble, leading Petey to abandon him. Dog Man adopts Li'l Petey, and together with another creation of Petey's, the robot 80-HD, they form a superhero team called the Supa Buddies. Petey comes to feel remorse for abandoning his clone, and eventually renounces his villainous ways and becomes a true father to Li'l Petey, with Dog Man continuing to have custody of the young kitten on the weekends. Other major recurring characters are introduced throughout the books, and they include the long-suffering Chief of Police, Clarence Bailey ; news reporter Sarah Hatoff and her pet poodle Zuzu; Petey's cellmate Big Jim, who moonlights as a superhero called Commander Cupcake; Petey's neglectful father Grampa; reformed villain Flippy, a telekinetic fish; Molly, an as well telekinetic and super-intelligent baby frog with the appearance of a tadpole; and the F.L.E.A.S, a trio of evil animals who were Petey's childhood friends.

Novels

# ''Dog Man'' (2016) # ''Dog Man: Unleashed'' (2016) # ''Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties'' (2017) # ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'' (2017) # ''Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas'' (2018) # ''Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild'' (2018) # ''Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls'' (2019) # ''Dog Man: Fetch-22'' (2019) # ''Dog Man: Grime and Punishment'' (2020) # ''Dog Man: Mothering Heights'' (2021) # ''Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea'' (2023) # ''Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder'' (2024) # ''Dog Man: Big Jim Begins'' (2024) # ''Dog Man: Big Jim Believes'' (2025; upcoming) The spin-off series '' Cat Kid Comic Club'' has a total of five books, all of which follow Li'l Petey, Flippy, Molly and her 21 frog siblings creating comics and other projects. # ''Cat Kid Comic Club'' (2020) # ''Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives'' (2021) # ''Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose'' (2022) # ''Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations'' (2022) # ''Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers'' (2023) # Untitled sixth ''Cat Kid Comic Club'' book (2026; upcoming) Activity books: # ''Dog Man: Guide to Creating Comics in 3D'' (2019) # ''Dog Man: Scratch Magic'' (2020) # ''Dog Man With Love: The Official Coloring Book'' (2023) # ''Dog Man: Official Sticker Book'' (2025)

Reception

''Dog Man'' has received positive reviews from book critics. Darienne Stewart of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

rated the first two books four stars out of five, saying that the first book ''Dog Man'' was "riotous, silly fun with soft touch by Underpants creator", and the second book, ''Dog Man: Unleashed'' has "half-man, half-dog, all-heart hero delights in silly sequel".

Adaptations

Musicals

A musical based on the series, titled ''Dog Man: The Musical'', was produced

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

by TheatreWorksUSA in 2019, with music by Brad Alexander and a book and lyrics by Kevin Del Aguila. After its debut in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the musical embarked on a North American tour, returning to Off-Broadway in 2023. As of 2025, the musical continues to tour venues throughout the United States. In 2023, ''Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical'' premiered Off-Broadway. Written and produced by the same team, the musical is an adaptation of the ''Cat Kid Comic Club'' series.

Video game

A video game entitled ''Dog Man: Mission Impawsible'' was released by Mindscape on December 6, 2024. Created as a 2-D

side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

platformer A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

, the game follows Dog Man, Li'l Petey, and 80-HD, who work together to track down the key to the city after it is stolen by the F.L.E.A.S.

Film

A feature film based on ''Dog Man'' was released by

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

on January 31, 2025. The film was written and directed by Peter Hastings, who previously worked on '' The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants''. The titular character's vocal effects were provided by Hastings, alongside

Pete Davidson Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...

as Petey,

Lil Rel Howery Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series '' The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017) and Rod Williams in the horror fi ...

as the Chief,

Isla Fisher Isla Lang Fisher (; born 3 February 1976) is an Australian actress. Born in Oman to Scottish parents with whom she moved to Australia during her childhood, she began appearing in television commercials and came to prominence for her portrayal o ...

as Sarah Hatoff,

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

as Flippy, and

Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the NBC sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and voiced Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on the a ...

as Grampa. The film received generally positive reviews. A sequel is in development.

Notes

References

{{Captain Underpants Works by Dav Pilkey Humor comics Superhero novels Comedy novels Novel series Spinoffs Adventure comics Metafictional comics Book series introduced in 2016