From the writer of "Captain Underpants" comes the latest story in his spin-off Dog Man series. For those unfamiliar, Dav Pilkey likes his humor rich with lowbrow slapstick and play on words. In the first "Dog Man" novel, he explored an origin that had enough off the wall humor to suggest that this character couldn't only rival his biggest hit, but maybe could take on a life of its own. Of course, the first novel was too sloppy to be just that, but "Dog Man Unleashed" may officially show the half-dog/half-man/all hero character as something greater. In an absurd yet focused story, "Dog Man" comes to life with an assurance that is a vast improvement over the original as well as villains that are possibly even greater than before. This is everything that a sequel should be, let alone for something as ridiculous as "Dog Man."
What may have been the flaw of the first "Dog Man" is that it was a mishmash of stories joined together to introduce a character. It had the excellent wraparound device of "Captain Underpants" characters Harold and George discussing their own prank ways, but it inevitably came through in the writing. It was all very silly and rushed in ways that may reflect their young age, but showed the limitation of making these stories with infinite potential, and a few flip-o-rama pages. What "Dog Man Unleashed" does better is tell one story that not only has better characters, but it also has a sense of purpose with several small details being woven in throughout the plot.
In this story, there are super-smart fish, Petey creates a living "Flat Petey" out of paper, and there's even dinosaur bones running amok. Everything of this story feels heightened. Yet what works is how Pilkey establishes the universe both in how the mechanics work as well as the few Dog Man gags that will run throughout the entire story. They may be very juvenile, but they all form a purpose by the end. Even the jokes within the action sequences are more clever and have more purpose to the overall story. It may still be a silly tale that seems to keep getting bigger, but it embodies what's best for child escapist literature.
Dog Man is a character who is adorable, if just because dogs are. Speaking as the book ends with the required sequel announcement, there's no denying that he'll be sticking around for awhile. Thankfully, he will be doing so with the promise of more exciting and original characters. Hopefully Pilkey's imagination will continue to grow and the things that we see have a life of their own. Then again, it's hard to imagine how he'll top super-smart villainous fish and villains made of paper, but that's the beauty of his demented little world. Even if it doesn't make sense, it's very entertaining to witness.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment