# Dog Man

Dog Man is a children's graphic novel series by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey. A spinoff and story within a story of Pilkey's Captain Underpants series, Dog Man revolves around the adventures of the titular character, a half-man, half-dog hybrid 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 was announced and set to release in Fall 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, 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, entitled Cat Kid Comic Club. The series has been adapted into a 2019 stage musical, a 2024 video game titled Dog Man: Mission Impawsible, and a 2025 animated film.

## Premise

Within the universe of Captain Underpants, 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.

## List of books

* Dog Man (2016) - Dog Man is unleashed to save the world to stop Petey, the world’s most evil cat.
* Dog Man 2: Unleashed (2016) - Dog Man fights a flat version of Petey.
* Dog Man 3: A Tale of Two Kitties (2017) - Dog Man chooses a young version of Petey to assist him.
* Dog Man 4 and Cat Kid (2017) - Dog Man teams up with Lil’ Petey and 80-HD to save the world.
* Dog Man 5: Lord of the Fleas (2018) - Dog Man helps Petey drop his bad attitude so that the FLEAS can arrive.
* Dog Man 6: Brawl of the Wild (2018) - Dog Man is arrested, so, unbeknownst to him, other heroes get a chance to save the world.
* Dog Man 7: For Whom the Ball Rolls (2019) - Dog Man and Lil’ Petey help Petey face challenges with his dad while chasing burgle balls.
* Dog Man 8: Fetch-22 (2019) - Dog Man helps his friends catch evil tadpoles, but one of them is nice: Molly.
* Dog Man 9: Grime and Punishment (2020) - Dog Man gets away so he can save the world from dangers in the sky.
* Dog Man 10: Mothering Heights (2021) - Dog Man helps Petey learn about taking care.
* Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea (2023) - Dog Man plans decisions to stop the FLEAS.
* Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (2024) - Dog Man and Lil’ Petey find themselves stuck with a shedding scarlett shedder.
* Dog Man: Big Jim Begins (2024) - Dog Man helps Big Jim as he has his first time saving the world.
* Dog Man: Big Jim Believes (announced for 2025)
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)

## Reception

Dog Man has received positive reviews from book critics. Darienne Stewart of Common Sense Media 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 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, 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. A 2-D side-scrolling platformer, the game sees Dog Man and the Supa Buddies 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 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 as Petey, Lil Rel Howery as the Chief, Isla Fisher as Sarah Hatoff, Ricky Gervais as Flippy, and Stephen Root as Grampa. The film received generally positive reviews.