Dog Man: Grime and Punishment

“Mall is popular again thanks to juveniles’ comics!!!”

This heading from The Daily News announcing George and Harold’s Dog Man comic brings crowds flooding. Pilkey uses the comic to emphasize The Value of Creativity and Silliness, a recurring theme throughout Dog Man: Grime and Punishment, as well as through Pilkey’s other works. Characters who prioritize creative ventures tend to achieve success and happiness.

“Sorry cop Dude—but your head is dying!”

Pilkey intentionally uses colloquial language, the style used by his elementary-school-aged narrators, George and Harold. He creates an outlandish premise—the head of a dog is attached onto the body of a man—to appeal to his target audience of elementary school readers.

“Petey, the world’s most evil cat…was transformed by love…And now he’s a good guy! But even though Petey’s heart has changed…his mind is still haunted by the ghosts of his past.”

Petey is pictured holding his son, Li’l Petey. These introductory lines imply Li’l Petey’s role in inspiring his father to be more loving and forgiving. Petey’s “haunted” mind alludes to his still strained and bitter relationship with his father, Grampa. It is Li’l Petey who will help Petey to relinquish his hatred. This alludes to the book’s key theme, The Corrosive Impact of Hatred and Resentment.

The line “And now he’s a good guy!” and its exclamation mark typify Pilkey’s informal, conversational