History ComicBook / DavPilkeyDogMan

[[quoteright:338:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51zy7pcisul_sx336_bo1204203200.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:338:Dog Man is go!]]

''Dog Man'' is a series of "[[InsistentTerminology Graphic Novellas]]" created by Creator/DavPilkey, creator of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' (and in-universe, by George and Harold, who are now in sixth grade as of ''A Fetch-22''). The backstory goes like this: There are 2 cops. There is Officer Knight and [[HeroicDog Greg the dog]]. However, one day, Petey the Cat plants a bomb, [[WireDilemma and the heroes have to defuse it]]. However, they cut the wrong wire and the bomb explodes. As Greg's body and Knight's head respectively are dying, doctors [[WeCanRebuildHim sew Greg's head onto Knight's body]]. And thus, a new crime-fighting hero is born!

'''The books to date are:'''
# ''[[Recap/DogMan1 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)

The book series has been adapted into a musical in 2019 based on the first 3 Dog Man Books (mostly from A Tale of Two Kitties). Li'l Petey also gets his own spinoff book series, ''Cat Kid Comic Club'', released in December 2020.

!!Tropes are go![[note]]\\
'''Alice:''' "Tropes are go"?\\
'''Bob:''' That don't make no sense!\\
'''Alice and Bob:''' BUT WE LIKE IT![[/note]]
* AbusiveParents: Petey's father, who left his son when he was a child, is a prime example. He's the perfect example of CatsAreMean and becomes emotionally abusive towards Petey and his son. The end of ''For Whom the Balls Rolls'' makes sure he doesn't [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]] when he's [[LaserGuidedKarma arrested for trying to sell his son's possessions]] and again in ''Fetch-22'' where he attempts to betray Li'l Petey and joins the Fair Fairy to TakeOverTheWorld and gets crushed by Commander Cupcake.
* AnAesop: In ''Book Em, Dog Man'', the moral is that reading makes you smart.
* {{Animesque}}: The Dog Man books are definitely Anime-inspired, especially noticeable when Dog's face is seen in profile, sometimes his mouth isn't visible.
* ArtisticLicenceBiology: Downplayed. The creation of Dog Man ostensibly depends on the myth that dogs are colorblind. They're not, but it wouldn't have made a difference if this got acknowledged, as to a dog, anything not blue is greenish-yellow, and the wires are red and green.
* ArtEvolution: An InUniverse example, no less. While George and Harold's spelling and artwork start about on par with what we've seen them do back in ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'', there's a slight bump in quality starting in ''A Tale of Two Kitties''; George's handwriting has become a bit better and has fewer (if any) mistakes while Harold's artwork has begun to noticeably improve. By ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', their skills have taken a ''significant'' hike in quality, with cleaner lettering and artwork that's beginning to look on par with Pilkey's regular artwork.
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Philly the Cheese Steak mascot, once he's brought to life with the Living Spray. His mechanical double in ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'' also counts.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Early into ''A Tale of Two Kitties'', Flippy, through a combination of being rebuilt with cybernetic enhancements and a good hose-down of Living Spray, is resurrected after previously freezing to death and failing to possess The Chief in ''Dog Man Unleashed''.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: The Mayor, as revealed in the second chapter of ''Dog Man''.]]
* BrainsAndBrawn: Before they were combined to become Dog Man, Greg the dog was the Brains, and Officer Knight the Brawn.
* BuddyCopShow: Probably one of the only instances where the buddy cops are combined into one cop.
* TheButlerDidIt: In ''Dog Man Unleashed'', [[spoiler: Flippy]] is revealed to be behind [[ItMakesSenseInContext robbing a pet store of all its treasure chests]].
* CallForward: In ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', Dog Man creates a superhero identity for himself called the Bark Knight. In ''[[Literature/CaptainUnderpants Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-a-Lot]]'', a future Dog Man comic that George and Harold read featured Dog Man as the Bark Knight.
* CaninesPrimaryFelinesSecondary: Lil' Petey, a.k.a. Cat Kid becomes the sidekick to Dog Man.
* CannotTellAJoke: Throughout ''Lord of the Fleas'', Li'l Petey repeatedly tries to tell {{Knock Knock Joke}}s, but instead of setting up a pun, he just looks for something random and says it pooped on the reciprocator of the joke. [[spoiler:In the book's epilogue, he writes a book called "Li'l Petey's 1000 Greatest Knock-Knock Jokes about Poop".]]
* CardboardPrison:
** Petey constantly can get out of prison just as often as he gets into prison. This is even {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by the mayor concerning the incompetency of the police by bringing up an article stating Petey has actually gotten out of cat prison ''eight times''.
** In ''Lord of the Fleas'', Dr. Katz (actually Piggy in disguise) notes that Petey has been locked up seven times and escaped six times. Petey responds, "Yeah, well[=---=] it's been a busy week!"
* CatsAreMean: Petey. [[spoiler:Lil' Petey is a complete aversion, as his kindness usually ends up saving the day]].
** Petey later averts this as of Lord of the Fleas.
* CessationOfExistence: [[spoiler:Flippy gets hit with this after Dog Man (unintentionally) prevents him from possessing anybody before his soul's time is up. He gets better.]]
* ChildProdigy: As a clone of Petey, Lil' Petey shares his massive intellect, capable of putting 80-HD back together and installing different parts in him without altering his core functions, among other feats.
* ClonesArePeopleToo: [[spoiler:Petey eventually decides this by letting Lil' Petey stay with Dog Man so he can live his own life at the end of ''A Tale of Two Kitties''. [[AesopAmnesia Not that this stops him from trying to sway him back to his side in the next book...]]]]
* ContinuityNod / MythologyGag: In a flashback in Mothering Heights, we see Petey leaving the evil lair from Super Diaper Baby 2.
* CorruptBureaucrat: [[spoiler: The mayor]], who planned on taking over the city with a robotic police chief.
* CreateYourOwnHero: Petey was directly responsible for Dog Man's creation, on account of the fact that a bomb he set blew up and grievously injured Officer Knight and Greg, forcing their combination into Dog Man, who possesses the best traits of both.
* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Flippy attempts this with The Chief when faced with certain death atop a snow-covered mountain. Unfortunately for him, he suffers a CessationOfExistence thanks to Dog Man [[ItMakesSenseInContext confusing his soul for a ball]].]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** The first book in the series boasts only four chapters, compared to triple that number in later installments. It's also the only book in the series to tell stories in an anthology; later books would tell one long continuous story. The first two books also featured earlier issues of Dog Man that George and Harold created; ''Book 'Em, Dog Man'' is featured as its own self-contained chapter in ''Dog Man'' while the other, ''Dog Man and the Wrath of Petey'' are featured as a bonus chapter in ''Dog Man Unleashed''; this appears to have been abandoned from ''A Tale of Two Kitties'' onward.
** The first two books are the only books without George and Harold talking about being in the fifth grade and boasting about their (non-existent) maturity.
* EmergencyTransformation: Dog Man was created when a police dog named Greg and a policeman named Officer Knight got into an accident that left Greg's body dying and Knight's head dying, leading to the dog's head is attached to the man's body.
* ExactWords: When Sarah the reporter comes by to adopt Zuzu, the pet store employee states the cost to take her is one hundred dollars, plus tacks. Sarah then proceeds to pay in both one hundred dollars...and ''literal'' thumb tacks.
* FunWithAcronyms: Bub, Crunky, and Piggy form the '''F'''uzzy '''L'''ittle '''E'''vil '''A'''nimal '''S'''quad, or '''FLEAS'''.
* FurryReminder: Even though he has a human's body, Dog Man despite being more intelligent than a normal dog, is still, well, a dog. So he acts exactly like a dog.
* HeelFaceTurn: ''Lord of the Fleas'' kicks off Petey's attempts at redemption and leaving his life of villainy behind.
* HeroicCaninesVillainousFelines: Dog Man is the main hero and Petey is the mean cat. Averted with Lil' Petey/Cat Kid (see in CatsAreMean above).
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: The living weenies in ''Dog Man'' and Mecha-Weenies in ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'' are...not very effective at causing chaos, but they sure act like they are.
* InformedSpecies: The Philly cheesesteak resembled a taco.
* IntellectualAnimal: Petey is a straight example. Greg the dog, before he became half of Dog Man, was also this, despite not being able to talk. [[spoiler:Flippy]] also becomes one thanks to the Supa Brain Dots Chief gets for his birthday, and Lil' Petey, being a clone of Petey, is yet another example of this. The latest ones as of ''Lord of the Fleas'' are Piggy the pig, Bub the crocodile, and Crunky the ape.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The Chief. Despite being very short-tempered and easily annoyed by Dog Man's antics, he still clearly loves him.
** [[spoiler:Petey started to show shades of this in ''A Tale of Two Kitties'' after Lil’ Petey came along. Much like the Chief with Dog Man, Petey was initially annoyed by his little clone, but soon grew to care about him in the following books, cultivating in him becoming a full-fledged PapaWolf in ''Lord of the Fleas''.]]
* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: Unlike earlier books, which tend to end with George and Harold announcing their next book and characters questioning the phrase "Dog Man is go!", ''Brawl of the Wild'' ending with a two-page post-script tying up loose ends, presented as a news article on a tablet. There is an announcement for the next book, ''For Whom the Ball Rolls'' [[TheUnreveal but the actual title is blocked by the tablet users hands]].
* LongList: In ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', Petey describes himself as "a filthy, rotten, low-down, good-for-nothin', deplorable, contemptible, despicable, loathsome, detestable..." One BeatPanel later, he runs off, looks up a thesaurus, and resumes, "...ignominious '''SUPERVILLAIN'''".
* MixAndMatchCritter: Dog Man, who has a dog's head and a human's body. According to his origin story, he was created when a policeman and his dog got in an accident that left the policeman's head and dog's body dying, resulting in the doctors getting the idea to [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum sew the dog's head onto the policeman's body.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Petey says this (minus the "my god" part) after [[spoiler: his initial abandonment of Lil' Petey.]]
* NonIndicativeName:
** ''A Tale of Two Kitties''. Only one of the characters this refers to is a kitten; Petey is a full-grown cat.
** Likewise, the Fuzzy Little Evil Animal Squad from ''Lord of the Fleas'', who are not all fuzzy and/or little.
--->'''Bub:''' We should come up with a better name!\\
'''Crunky:''' Yeah!\\
'''Piggy:''' IT'S TOO LATE! I ALREADY ORDERED COFFEE MUGS AND MOUSE PADS!!!
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: [[spoiler:Claymation Philly]] from ''Brawl of the Wild'' is [[spoiler:[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a version of Philly the Cheese Steak depicted as a photographed clay model]]]].
* NotHisSled: The first book's first chapter, "A Hero Is Unleashed", is a remake of ''The Adventures of Dog Man'', the original Dog Man story from ''Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers''. In the original story, Petey's vacuum robot is defeated by its power cord reaching its limit and getting unplugged. In the remade story, the vacuum now runs on an endless power supply, and it's only defeated when Dog Man tricks it into sucking up the ocean, filling up its expansive bag until Petey accidentally bursts it with his claws.
* PaintingTheMedium: There are fake teachers' notes included in the first book, including [[{{Jerkass}} the teacher]] stating that Harold [[DisproportionateRetribution needs therapy]] for [[FelonyMisdemeanor being creative]].
* PapaWolf: Dog Man when it comes to Lil’ Petey. [[spoiler:Petey also becomes this in ''Lord of the Fleas'']].
* PaperThinDisguise: Petey's initial disguise in ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'' is actually an aversion. For what it's worth, Petey's old lady disguise is actually pretty top-notch, to the point that you'd almost never notice it was actually him. The only people who seem to catch on are Lil' Petey (who almost immediately recognizes him just from a glance), Zuzu (by way of taking one sniff of Petey and knowing something's off), and 80-HD (who helpfully alerts Dog Man to his presence once Lil' Petey repairs him). The only hint the reader gets that something's off with Lil' Petey's babysitter is the name Petey gives this persona: "Ms. Suspicionflame".
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The first book, originally called ''The Adventures Of Dog Man'' was intended to be the fourth in the "Graphic Novels by George and Harold" series (which had previously contained two ''Super Diaper Baby'' graphic novels and one ''Ook and Gulk'' graphic novel), which Dav wanted to be the first thing to come out after the final Captain Underpants book got released (it even ended with a SequelHook for it). However, as time went by Dav intended it to be the first book in a new series rather than a self-contained book with a few comics in it, but however it was [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness obviously still the same book]].
* RobotBuddy: 80-HD, a robot created by Petey in ''A Tale of Two Kitties'', serves as one of these to Lil' Petey.
* ScaryStitches: Dog Man has obvious stitches connecting his head to his body. However, no one ever calls attention to it.
* ShowWithinAShow: It's a series created by [[Literature/CaptainUnderpants George and Harold]]. Interestingly, the cover (pictured above) credits Dav Pilkey as the writer instead of George and Harold like ''Diaper Baby'' or ''Ook and Gluk''.
* ShoutOut: As George and Harold read classic literature, they incorporate more shout-outs in their work.
** ''[[Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities A Tale of Two Kitties.]]''
** [[Film/TheDarkKnight The Bark Knight.]]
** In ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', Petey posses as a British nanny with the name [[Film/MrsDoubtfire "Suspiciousflame."]] and sings a song that includes the lyric: [[Film/MaryPoppins ♪ "a spoonful of concentrated high fructose corn syrup." ♪]]
* SignsOfDisrepair: In ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', Petey walks up to a "Samuel Hamilton's Gassy Behemoth Studios" sign and rearranges the letters to show his motto to Lil' Petey: "Thoughtless mayhem is best." Afterward, Lil' Petey refuses to drop [=YoLay=] Caprese down from a tall height, leading Petey to repeatedly scream at him, "THOU SHALT!" Then Dog Man (who is having trouble driving the Dog Mobile) crashes through the sign, and what's left forms what becomes Lil' Petey's own personal motto: "Thou mayest."
* StylisticSuck: This ''is'' George and Harold we're talking about here; they practically run on it. That being said, the series gradually begins to lose this as it goes on. See ArtEvolution.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: InUniverse example: When [[spoiler:Flippy]] is fighting Flat Petey, he throws [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin obsolete goods]], including a fax machine, a phone booth, a VCR, and [[TakeThat an Apple Watch]].
* TemptingFate: Twice in ''Fetch-22'', with chapter names:
** In chapter 3:
---> '''Petey (to Li'l Petey):''' '''WE ARE NOT GOING TO VISIT [my dad] AND THAT’S''' '''''FINAL!''''' (Chapter 4 is called “Visiting Grandpa”)
* ToiletDrinkingDogGag: In the story "Tongue of Justice", Petey had brainwashed the police force with tampered air fresheners, and Dog Man was chasing him in his secret lab when he couldn't resist the urge to drink out of a nearby toilet. Petey then gloats that he hid the antidote to the brainwashing in the toilet, so Dog Man [[VomitIndescretionShot vomits up the toilet water]], licks it up, and slobbers the brainwashed policemen with it.
* ToiletHumor: It wouldn't be a Dav Pilkey work without it.
* TooDumbToLive: Everyone becomes this in ''Book Em', Dog Man'' after Petey removes all of the words in every book in the world, [[spoiler:save for the books that Petey kept to himself.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Bones for Dog Man.
* WeCanRebuildHim: How Dog Man was created. [[spoiler:Flippy too, as a cyborg]].
* WeCanRuleTogether: In ''Lord of the Fleas'', [[spoiler:Piggy attempts this with Petey, and Petey actually considers it... that is, until Piggy insults Lil’ Petey, leading to the above mentioned WhamLine]].
* WhamLine: After quite a few books of [[spoiler:Petey repeatedly denying that his clone is his son]], ''Lord of the Fleas'' gives us this;
-->'''[[spoiler:Petey]]:''' [[spoiler:'''[[PapaWolf DON’T TALK ABOUT]] ''[[PapaWolf MY SON]]'' [[PapaWolf THAT WAY!]]''']]
** ''Grime and Punishment'' drops a huge bombshell about Petey’s past, [[spoiler:mainly what happened to his mother.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Petey:''' Look— your Grampa... He ABANDONED me and my mom! He left when I was just a kitten! He left when… He left when my mom was sick.\\
'''Lil’ Petey:''' Your mommy was sick?\\
'''Petey:''' Yeah.\\
'''Lil’ Petey:''' She got better though, right? (''Petey doesn’t respond'') Right, Papa?]]
* WireDilemma: Dog Man's origin story contains one of these, as Officer Knight and Greg have to disarm a bomb set by Petey. Knight asks for input from Greg and interprets Greg's growling as instructions to cut the green wire. Unfortunately, as dogs are colorblind, Greg cannot tell the wires apart, and cutting the green wire detonates the bomb, leading directly to Dog Man being created.
----
"Hooray for Dog Man!"

The book series has been adapted into a musical in 2019 based on the first 3 Dog Man Books (mostly from A Tale of Two Kitties). Li'l Petey also gets his own spinoff book series, ''Cat Kid Comic Club'', to be released in December 2020.

''Dog Man'' is a series of "[[InsistentTerminology Graphic Novellas]]" created by Creator/DavPilkey, creator of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' (and in-universe, by George and Harold, who are now in sixth grade as of ''A Fetch-22''). The backstory goes like this: There are 2 cops. There is Officer Knight and [[HeroicDog Greg the dog]]. However, one day, [[BigBad Petey the Cat]] plants a bomb, [[WireDilemma and the heroes have to defuse it]]. However, they cut the wrong wire and the bomb explodes. As Greg's body and Knight's head respectively are dying, doctors [[WeCanRebuildHim sew Greg's head onto Knight's body]]. And thus, a new crime-fighting hero is born!

** [[Petey later averts this as of Lord of the Fleas.]]

* AbusiveParents: Petey's father, who left his son when he was a child, is a prime example. He's the perfect example of CatsAreMean, and becomes emotionally abusive towards Petey and his son. The end of ''For Whom the Balls Rolls'' makes sure he doesn't [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]] when he's [[LaserGuidedKarma arrested for trying to sell his son's possessions]] and again in ''Fetch-22'' where he attempts to betray Li'l Petey and joins the Fair Fairy to TakeOverTheWorld and gets crushed by Commander Cupcake.

* ArtEvolution: An InUniverse example, no less. While George and Harold's spelling and artwork starts out about on par with what we've seen them do back in ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'', there's a slight bump in quality starting in ''A Tale of Two Kitties''; George's handwriting has become a bit better and has fewer (if any) mistakes while Harold's artwork has begun to noticeably improve. By ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', their skills have taken a ''significant'' hike in quality, with cleaner lettering and artwork that's beginning to look on par with Pilkey's regular artwork.

** Petey constantly is able to get out of prison just as often as he gets into prison. This is even {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by the mayor concerning the incompetency of the police by bringing up an article stating Petey has actually gotten out of cat prison ''eight times''.

** The first book in the series boasts only four chapters, compared to triple that number in later installments. It's also the only book in the series to tell stories in an anthology; later books would tell one long continuous story. The first two books also featured earlier issues of Dog Man that George and Harold created; ''Book 'Em, Dog Man'' is featured as its own self-contained chapter in ''Dog Man'' while the other, ''Dog Man and the Wrath of Petey'' is featured as a bonus chapter in ''Dog Man Unleashed''; this appears to have been abandoned from ''A Tale of Two Kitties'' onward.

* EmergencyTransformation: Dog Man was created when a police dog named Greg and a policeman named Officer Knight got into an accident that left Greg's body dying and Knight's head dying, leading to the dog's head being attached to the man's body.

** [[spoiler:Petey started to show shades of this in ''A Tale of Two Kitties'', after Lil’ Petey came along. Much like the Chief with Dog Man, Petey was initially annoyed by his little clone, but soon grew to care about him in the following books, cultivating in him becoming a full-fledged PapaWolf in ''Lord of the Fleas''.]]

* PaintingTheMedium: There are fake teachers notes included in the first book, including [[{{Jerkass}} the teacher]] stating that Harold [[DisproportionateRetribution needs therapy]] for [[FelonyMisdemeanor being creative]].

* PaperThinDisguise: Petey's initial disguise in ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'' is actually an aversion. For what it's worth, Petey's old lady disguise is actually pretty top-notch, to the point that you'd almost never notice it was actually him. The only people who seem to catch on are Lil' Petey (who almost immediately recognizes him just from a glance), Zuzu (by way of taking one sniff of Petey and knowing something's off) and 80-HD (who helpfully alerts Dog Man to his presence once Lil' Petey repairs him). The only hint the reader gets that something's off with Lil' Petey's babysitter is the name Petey gives this persona: "Ms. Suspicionflame".
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The first book, originally called ''The Adventures Of Dog Man'' was intended to be the fourth in the "Graphic Novels by George and Harold" series (which had previously contained of two ''Super Diaper Baby'' graphic novels and one ''Ook and Gulk'' graphic novel), which Dav wanted to be the first thing to come out after the final Captain Underpants book got released (it even ended with a SequelHook for it). However, as time went by Dav intended it to be the first book in a new series rather than a self-contained book with a few comics in it, but however it was [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness obviously still the same book]].

* ShoutOut: As George and Harold read classic literature, they incorporate more shout-outs to them in their work.

** In ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', Petey posses as British nanny with the name [[Film/MrsDoubtfire "Suspiciousflame."]] and sings a song that includes the lyric: [[Film/MaryPoppins ♪ "a spoonful of concentrated high fructose corn syrrup." ♪]]
* SignsOfDisrepair: In ''Dog Man and Cat Kid'', Petey walks up to a "Samuel Hamilton's Gassy Behemoth Studios" sign and rearranges the letters to show his motto to Lil' Petey: "Thoughtless mayhem is best." Afterwards, Lil' Petey refuses to drop [=YoLay=] Caprese down from a tall height, leading Petey to repeatedly scream at him, "THOU SHALT!" Then Dog Man (who is having trouble driving the Dog Mobile) crashes through the sign, and what's left forms what becomes Lil' Petey's own personal motto: "Thou mayest."

* WireDilemma: Dog Man's origin story contains one of these, as Officer Knight and Greg have to disarm a bomb set by Petey. Knight asks for input from Greg, and interprets Greg's growling as instructions to cut the green wire. Unfortunately, as dogs are colorblind, Greg cannot tell the wires apart and cutting the green wire detonates the bomb, leading directly to Dog Man being created.

# ''Dog Man 10'' (2021)

''Dog Man'' is a series of "[[InsistentTerminology Graphic Novellas]]" created by Creator/DavPilkey, creator of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' (and in-universe, by George and Harold, who are now in sixth grade as of ''A Fetch-22''). The backstory goes like this: There are 2 cops. There is Officer Knight and [[HeroicDog Greg the dog]]. However, one day, [[BigBad Petey the Cat]] plants a bomb, [[WireDilemma and the heroes have to defuse it]]. However, they cut the wrong wire and the bomb explodes. As Greg's body and Knight's head are dying, doctors [[WeCanRebuildHim sew Greg's head onto Knight's body]]. And thus, a new crime-fighting hero is born!

''Dog Man'' is a series of "[[InsistentTerminology Graphic Novellas]]" created by Creator/DavPilkey, creator of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' (and in-universe, by George and Harold, who are now in sixth grade as of ''A Fetch-22''). The backstory goes like this: There are 2 cops. There is Officer Knight and [[HeroicDog Greg the dog]]. However, one day, [[BigBad Petey the Cat]] plants a bomb, [[WireDilemma and the heroes have to defuse it]]. However, they cut the wrong wire and the bomb explodes. As Greg's body and Knight's head are dying,doctors [[WeCanRebuildHim sew Greg's head onto Knight's body]]. And thus, a new crime-fighting hero is born!

* FunWithAcronyms: Bub, Crunky, and Piggy form the '''F'''uzzy '''L'''ittle '''E'''vil '''A'''nimal '''S'''quad, or '''FLEAS'''.

* WeCanRebuildHim: How Dog Man was created. [[spoiler:Flippy too, as a cyborg]].
* WeCanRuleTogether: In ''Lord of the Fleas'', [[spoiler:Piggy attempts this with Petey, and Petey actually considers it... that is, until Piggy insults Lil’ Petey, leading to the above mentioned WhamLine]].

* ClonesArePeopleToo: [[spoiler:Petey eventually decides this by letting Lil' Petey stay with Dog Man so he can live his own life at the end of ''A Tale of Two Kitties''. Not that this stops him from trying to sway him back to his side in the next book...]]

# ''Dog Man'' (2016)

''Dog Man'' is a series of "[[InsistentTerminology Graphic Novellas]]" created by Creator/DavPilkey, creator of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' (and in-universe, by George and Harold, who are now in fifth grade as of ''A Tale of Two Kitties''). The backstory goes like this: There are 2 cops. There is Officer Knight, who is very strong, but [[DumbMuscle not very smart]], and [[HeroicDog Greg the dog]], who is smart, [[BrainsAndBrawn but has a weak body]]. However, one day, [[BigBad Petey the Cat]] plants a bomb, [[WireDilemma and the heroes have to defuse it]]. However, they cut the wrong wire and the bomb explodes. As Greg's body and Knight's head are dying, the doctors [[WeCanRebuildHim sew Greg's head onto Knight's body]]. And thus, a new crime-fighting hero is born!

The book series adapted into a musical in 2019 based on the first 3 Dog Man Books (mostly from A Tale of Two Kitties). Li'l Petey also gets his own spinoff book series, ''Cat Kid Comic Club'' to be released in December 2020.

# ''Dog Man 10 (2021)

* AbusiveParents: Petey's father, who left his son when he was a child, is a prime example. He's the perfect example of CatsAreMean, and becomes emotionally abusive towards Petey and his son. The end of ''For Whom the Balls Rolls'' makes sure he doesn't [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]] when he's [[LaserGuidedKarma arrested for trying to sell his son's possessions]] and again in ''Fetch-22'' where he attempts to betray Li'l Petey and joins the Fair Fairy to TakeOverTheWorld and gets crushed by captain Cupcake.

* AbusiveParents: Petey's father, who left his son when he was a child, is a prime example. He's the perfect example of CatsAreMean, and becomes emotionally abusive towards Petey and his son. The end of ''For Whom the Balls Rolls'' makes sure he doesn't [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]] when he's [[LaserGuidedKarma arrested for trying to sell his son's possessions]].

* CloneKid: Lil' Petey is a perfect example. He's a clone of Petey, he's a kid. What else do you want me to write?

* AbusiveParents: Petey's father is a prime example and left his son after he was born. He's the perfect example of CatsAreMean, and becomes emotionally abusive towards Petey and his son. The end of ''For Whom the Balls Rolls'' makes sure he doesn't [[KarmaHoudini get off scot-free]] when he's [[LaserGuidedKarma arrested for trying to sell his son's possessions]].

# ''Dog Man: Fetch-22'' (2019; upcoming)

''Dog Man'' is a series of "[[InsistentTerminology Graphic Novellas]]" created by Dav Pilkey, creator of ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' (and in-universe, by George and Harold, who are now in fifth grade as of ''A Tale of Two Kitties''). The backstory goes like this: There are 2 cops. There is Officer Knight, who is very strong, but [[DumbMuscle not very smart]], and [[HeroicDog Greg the dog]], who is smart, [[BrainsAndBrawn but has a weak body]]. However, one day, [[BigBad Petey the Cat]] plants a bomb, [[WireDilemma and the heroes have to defuse it]]. However, they cut the wrong wire and the bomb explodes. As Greg's body and Knight's head are dying, the doctors [[WeCanRebuildHim sew Greg's head onto Knight's body]]. And thus, a new crime-fighting hero is born!