All dogs are basically super heroes, but one fictional one actually does that job. His name is ‘Dog Man,’ and he exists between the pages of a Dav Pilkey graphic novel series. Maybe you’ve already read some or all of the books, given how popular they are. All 9 books in the series became number 1 best-sellers, and over 40 million copies have been printed (huge for a graphic novel series.)
If you’re not familiar though, here’s a little rundown: The series, by Pilkey who also created the ‘Captain Underpants’ books, features a dog/person hybrid Dog Man fighting the good fight. A logline from the official Dav Pilkey website reads:
“When Greg the police dog and his cop companion are injured on the job, a life-saving surgery changes the course of history, and Dog Man is born. With the head of a dog and the body of a human, this heroic hound has a real nose for justice. But can he resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?”
Canine superhero Dog Man works alongside his pals Li’l Petey, a kind kitten, and 80-HD, an artistic robot. The crew goes by the “Supa Buddies.”
The Dog Man stories exist as part of the same universe as ‘Captain Underpants.’ You can watch this trailer for the books to get a clearer sense of Dog Man’s world and style:
Dog Man Movie Dav Pilkey Release Date
It’s official: a movie about Dog Man is in development. Peter Hastings, who formerly worked on Animaniacs and Pinky And The Brain, will direct the film version of ‘Dog Man.’ He seems like a great fit for the job, and has worked with author Pilkey before. Hastings said:
“This is my second project based on Dav Pilkey’s books and I’m very excited to take his funny, clever, emotional and ultimately inspirational Dog Man and make it move! Not just by telling the story, but by absorbing and building on his great sensibility, bringing it to the screen with deep respect to his gazillion fans — ’cause I’m one of them.”
Dreamworks is the studio bringing this adaptation to us, and Scholastic is the series’ publisher. Kids really love the books (and Dog Man,) but adults can enjoy the silly humor and heart just as much.
There’s no announced release date for the movie quite yet. So, until then, a 10th book will come out on March 23rd to tide fans over. I look forward to seeing more from Dog Man and his “tongue of justice.”
H/T: Hollywood Reporter
Featured Image: @dogmanbooks/Facebook
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