34 pages • 1 hour read
Dav PilkeyDog Man
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Authorial Context: Dav Pilkey on Neurodiversity
One of Pilkey’s core missions in his writing is to set a positive example for neurodiverse children and encourage them to be confident and creative. Pilkey is very open about his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia diagnoses and even includes them in his “About the Author” blurb at the end of Dog Man.
In interviews and in his writing, Pilkey claims his neurodivergence proudly: “ADHD wasn’t a term when I was a kid. ADHD was called ‘Extreme Hyperactivity Disorder.’ But I don’t call it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I call it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Delightfulness. I think of ADHD and dyslexia as my superpowers that help me to write the kinds of books I do” (Butwell, Scot. “Dav Pilkey Said Something Every Neurodiverse Person Should Hear.” Medium, 2021).
Harold and George are autobiographical characters who represent two sides of Pilkey’s personality. While Harold is shy, artistic, and sensitive, George is outgoing, impulsive, and talkative. Pilkey has stated that both characters have ADHD and consider it a “badge of honor.” They both share typical qualities of childhood ADHD, such as creativity, hyperfocus, and behavioral issues.
In later installments of Dog Man, Pilkey introduces a robot named 80-HD “who doesn’t communicate the same way everyone else does. But he’s powerful and creative, and very, very valuable. I hope kids make that connection: that there’s nothing to be ashamed of with [ADHD]. It’s something to be proud of” (Pilkey, Dav, and Amy Farley. “‘Captain Underpants’ Creator Dav Pilkey Turned ADHD Into a Superpower.” Fast Company, 2019). Dog Man’s creativity, difficulty controlling his behavior, atypical communication style, and frequent clashes with authority are also common signs of ADHD in children.
Pilkey considers ADHD his “superpower.” He notes that people with ADHD are often very creative people, and his creativity has made him exceptionally successful. His open celebration of neurodiversity relates to Dog Man’s theme of the value of creativity.
Literary Context: Captain Underpants
Dog Man is an indirect spinoff of Pilkey’s earlier graphic novel series Captain Underpants. Pilkey created both titular characters when he was approximately George and Harold’s age. After several years in children’s publishing, Pilkey wrote and published The Adventures of Captain Underpants (1997), which became the first in a series of 12 novels, three activity books, and four spin-offs: Dog Man; Super Diaper Baby; Ook and Gluk; and Dog Man’s direct spinoff, Cat Kid.
Unlike Dog Man, which is entirely credited to George and Harold, Captain Underpants bounces back and forth between George and Harold’s autobiographical comics and third-person omniscient prose detailing their real-life experiences. In the first Captain Underpants book, George and Harold order a “3-D hypno-ring” and hypnotize their cruel school principal, Mr. Krupp, into believing he is Captain Underpants, the titular hero of their amateur comic books.
As Captain Underpants, Krupp becomes friendly, exuberant, and horribly prone to danger. Splashing him with water causes him to revert to Principal Krupp, and the sound of snapping fingers brings Captain Underpants back. The boys use this to their advantage, but Captain Underpants’s erratic behavior and uncontrollable reappearances also cause them a lot of trouble.
Captain Underpants regards George and Harold as his sidekicks. Over the course of the series, George, Harold, and Captain Underpants face threats that include evil scientists, zombies, space invaders, and giant robots. These villains are usually humorously named and themed; they include Bionic Booger Boy, Professor Poopypants, and the Turbo Toilet 2000. These adventures are confusing and exhausting for the boys. The beginning of Dog Man depicts George and Harold returning from a dangerous adventure with Captain Underpants, searching for clues to resolve “unanswered questions,” and getting distracted by their old Dog Man comics.
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By Dav Pilkey
