Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas

To add authenticity to the frame narrative of Dog Man being a comic book creation of the fifth graders Harold and George, Pilkey uses comic book features throughout his graphic novel series. As is typical of comic books, the text is supported by illustrations laid out in panels or frames in multiple-panel sequences that convey action. Pilkey includes numerous flip-e-rama sections in the story, where one flips pages so that the illustrations seem animated. He also employs onomatopoeia (such as “KA-BOOM”), where a word looks how it sounds; this is also a feature typical of comic book action scenes.

Furthermore, Pilkey’s stylistic choices support the frame narrative context that Dog Man is a comic created by children; stylistic choices imitate elementary-aged artistic styles, such as roughly drawn panel lines, simplistic, cartoonish characters, and simplistic language and slang, such as Piggy’s declaration in Chapter 6: “Don’t celebrate just yet…‘cuz we’re BAAAACK!!!” (150).

Furthermore, Dog Man’s superhero antics conform to the tropes of cape comics (comics that involve superheroes or heroines who often wear capes). Dog Man’s haphazard approach to defeating criminals is a satirical take on comic book superheroes, such as Superman or Batman, who are motivated to defeat the forces of evil and corruption that threaten their respective cities.