Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas

“‘I’m sorry, but your body is dying.’ ‘And your head is dying, too, cop!!!’”

Authenticity of the frame narrative, which suggests that the graphic novel is a creation of George and Harold, is created through childlike language, such as “your head is dying.” This is not a phrase one would expect to hear in the hospital room of a critically ill patient; it sets the tone as light-hearted and silly. The frame narrative is further established through the accompanying illustration of a simplistic dog cartoon with its body wrapped in bandages and a sad expression; the childish drawing looks authentic to its alleged creators, George and Harold.

“Recently, Petey tried to clone himself…‘I’ll make a big, evil villain just like me?’...but instead, he got a tiny, cute kitten who was nothing like him.”

Through Petey and Li’l Petey, Pilkey makes the case that nurture, rather than inherent nature, is more powerful in terms of the formation of one’s character. Petey, an evil villain who tends to bully others, clones himself and produces Li’l Petey, who is a kind and gentle character. This suggests that Petey, too, had the potential to be kind and gentle had his formative experience been different; in Dog Man: Mothering Heights, the reader learns that Petey’s mother died and that he was abandoned by Grampa, his father. These experiences sent Petey down a path of resentment, hurt, and, eventually, criminality. Through Li’l Petey, the reader sees who Petey had the potential to be had he found a loving and accepting home, as Li’l Petey has.

“Oh. It’s time for breakfast! Cat food and cream for me…Dog Food and gravy for you…And nuts and bolts and motor oil for 80-HD!”

Dog Man, Li’l Petey, and 80-HD’s mixed family are loving and accepting; this is characterized by their varied breakfast. Accompanying illustrations depict the group laughing and chatting together over the array of food and fuel options. Although each family member differs significantly from the others, they accept and love each other without judgment.

“Look, kid—I’m NOT your Papa! You’re MY CLONE!!!”

Petey refuses to take on the role of a father figure in Li’l Petey’s life, as is illustrated by his resistance to letting Li’l Petey address him as “Papa.” Petey’s initial rudeness to Li’l Petey serves to characterize his character’s evolution; he later accepts his title of “Papa,” illustrating his acceptance of his love for Li’l Petey and Li’l Petey’s love for him.

“‘I won’t interrupt anymore. I’ll be good.’ ‘Alright, because what I’m about to tell you is very’ ‘Hey Papa, is this story gonna be boring?’ ‘NO!’”

Humor is created through Li’l Petey’s inability to stop interrupting Petey. In this scene, Li’l Petey conforms to the trope of an annoying, overly inquisitive child. Petey’s rising frustration is characterized by his increasingly angry expression, as well as in the capitalized, large font “NO!” which denotes his frustration with Li’l Petey. This is juxtaposed with Li’l Petey’s calm, indifferent expression; Li’l Petey is oblivious to the rage he is causing Petey.

“‘Hey! You’re not building a giant robot, are you?’ ‘NO.’ ‘Oh good! That’s a relief!’”

Accompanying illustrations, which reveal Petey obviously building a giant, Petey-shaped robot, make his obvious lie humorous. Furthermore, humor is created by the immediate acceptance of the obvious lie by the cop, who is clearly assigned to Petey’s cell to ensure that he’s not building or planning anything sinister, as is Petey’s tendency in Cat Jail.

“There we were, Piggy and me…at the brink of DEATH…losing the battle between civilization and savagery.”

Intertextuality is once again harnessed to comedic effect; Petey’s recollections of his Critter Scouts experience greatly resemble Lord of the Flies. The reader is reminded again of the frame narrative; George was inspired to write this installment of Dog Man based on their school study of Lord of the Flies.

“Now that we’ve got YOU, we’re gonna destroy someone YOU LOVE! YOUR LITTLE CLONE!”

Pilkey draws on cape hero tropes in his characterization of Piggy, an arch-villain with a complex plan for revenge and retribution. This plot point moves the narrative forward, as Petey takes action to defend Li’l Petey as The Fleas pursue them.

“‘Where is Dog Man? He should be here by now!’ ‘He’s probably off chasing squirrels again!’”

The duality of Dog Man’s personality, which is ruled partly by his human self, based on having the body of Officer Knight, and partly by his dog self, based on having the head of Greg the dog, is illustrated in his being distracted by squirrels on his way to work at the police station. Dog Man’s doglike impulsivity causes him professional and social problems, as is illustrated in this scene. Later in the story, Li’l Petey helps Dog Man harness this tendency for good when he disguises the Robo-Brontosaurus as a squirrel.

“Let’s BOOK these bozos.”

This phrase would usually refer to charging an individual with a specific crime, whereas Chief and Milly (as becomes clear in the illustrations on the subsequent page) mean to physically overcome the villains by injuring them with the books. Through a pun, this phrase is subverted in a satirical, silly, and far less serious version of what the reader originally suspected, which creates humor when the true nature of Milly and Chief’s words is revealed.

“DOG MAN, those guys escaped because of YOU!!! GO HOME!”

As in the case of barking at the squirrels, Dog Man’s doglike impulsivity again results in negative consequences for him in the human world of police work; Chief sends Dog Man home after Dog Man jumps all over him and pushes him to the ground, which allows The Fleas to escape. Pilkey explores the consequences of impulsivity and differing social behaviors, two common traits of neurodivergent individuals. Later, Pilkey will depict Dog Man’s success to suggest that although neurodivergence creates extra challenges, it also creates unique strengths and skills.

“‘Hey Papa! Knock-knock!’ ‘WOULD YOU CUT THAT OUT?!!?’ ‘You’re s’posed to say ‘who’s there?’ ‘Who’s there?’ ‘A sidewalk.’ ‘A sidewalk who?’ ‘A sidewalk pooped on your head!’”

Li’l Petey’s illogical, toilet humor-inspired knock-knock jokes continue to aggravate Petey, whose frustration is characterized by his fed-up expression as well as his bolded, capitalized speech, which characterizes his yelling at Li’l Petey. Humor is created as Petey gets increasingly incensed, and as Li’l Petey remains ignorant of this and continues to tell essentially the same joke over and over.

“This is Sarah Hatoff with a breaking news update! A big robot brontosaurus is attacking…and the good guys are in hot pursuit! Now it’s time for my exclusive interview with the crooks.”

Absurdist humor is created in the characters’ acceptance of the bizarre and impossible situation. Sarah stands nonchalantly on the running machine, holding a microphone. Pilkey continues to create a satirized version of cape comics, which often involve “breaking news” media coverage of villains’ disruptive crimes.

“Ya gotta avoid repetition…shun redundancy…eschew reiteration…resist recapitulation…and also, stop telling the same joke over and over!”

In advising Li’l Petey to vary the presentation and content of his jokes, Petey ironically embodies the very thing he is advising against, as he repeats this same idea in different vocabulary. This wordplay creates humor.

“‘FIRE!!!’ ‘ZAP’ ‘KA-ZABBO.’”

An action-packed scene ensues where Piggy fires at Petey and Li’l Petey with the Robo-Brontosaurus’ death-ray gun. Pilkey continues to employ the stylistic conventions of comic books with his use of onomatopoeia as the laser is fired and hits robot Petey.

“‘Hi, bad guys!!!’ ‘Hi!’ ‘Hi!’ ‘DON’T WAVE AT HIM! HE’S OUR ENEMY!’”

Like Li’l Petey, Crunky and Bub are characterized as inherently kind individuals; they are not as suited to their villainous roles as Piggy would like, as is illustrated when Piggy angrily remonstrates them for happily greeting Li’l Petey, who is supposed to be their target. Cape comic tropes are invoked and satirized in the cheerful greeting between the “good guys” and the “bad guys.”

“Giant Baseball Glove.”

Dog Man presses a button in his Dogmobile that says, “Giant Baseball Glove,” causing a massive glove to spring from his vehicle to catch Chief, Milly, Sarah, and Zuzu, who are falling. Through the giant baseball glove springing from the dog-shaped car, which is funny because it’s ridiculous, Pilkey creates a satirized version of the gadgets of superheroes, like Batman, which are neatly summoned by a button or switch.

“I always knew he had a good heart in there somewhere!”

Through the Chief’s observation, Pilkey continues to suggest that Petey is inherently good. With Li’l Petey’s love and belief in him, Petey can start to reform and become a better person, as is illustrated when he risks his life fighting Piggy in order to save Dog Man, 80-HD, Sarah, Milly, Chief, and Li’l Petey.

“‘Let’s ditch that obnoxious kid and go do some crimes!’ ‘DON’T TALK ABOUT MY SON THAT WAY!’”

Petey illustrates his loyalty and love for Li’l Petey when he calls him his son and defends him in front of Piggy. This is an important turning point, which illustrates Petey accepting his role as a father figure in Li’l Petey’s life.

“‘LET’S GO!!!’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because we’ve got work to do!’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because we’re the BAD GUYS!’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because we’ve got issues!’”

Once again, Li’l Petey is unknowingly extremely annoying, conforming to the character trope of the incessantly curious child. His irritating badgering reveals some truths about Piggy; Pilkey continues to suggest that people who behave badly, symbolized in characters like Piggy, are not necessarily inherently bad, but rather that circumstances have created their behavior, which is alluded to when Piggy admits that bad guys are bad because they have “issues.” Through Petey’s character arc (compared to Piggy’s), Pilkey suggests that love is redemptive and that there is always the potential for growth and change.

“SQUIRREL!”

By yelling squirrel, Li’l Petey harnesses the prey drive of Dog Man, who is now giant, thanks to crashing into the Cannery Grow building. This moment allows Dog Man’s impulsivity, which was embarrassing and disruptive in early chapters, to be harnessed for good. Through this plot point, Pilkey suggests that neurodiverse individuals have specific skills and strengths and that they just need to find situations where they can shine.

“Papa’s here.”

Petey accepts his role as Li’l Petey’s father by finally accepting his title of “Papa.” This affirmation illustrates his acceptance of Li’l Petey’s love and his own admission of his adoration for Li’l Petey.

“‘I wonder where they went???’ ‘It sure is a mystery!’ ‘scratch scratch scratch’

Dramatic irony is used in the novel’s conclusion, as The Fleas are obviously in Dog Man’s fur, making him itch. A pun is present in that the villains are called The Fleas, but they are shrunk to act as fleas on a dog, making Dog Man itchy.