After eight entries over three years, the "Dog Man" series is no young pup anymore. In fact, the world that the average book inhabits continues to grow both in the scope of absurdity and deeply rooted emotional catharsis. Dav Pilkey has kept his gift for making stories presented through the lens of childlike wonder, presenting worlds that both satirize the more serious trends of modern culture (in this case police procedurals and superhero comics) and find the humanity within them. In recent entries, Pilkey has had the gift of making every story ends with a crescendo of heartwarming sadness that is surprisingly effective in use. While "Fetch-22" is largely the series' silliest book in some time, it continues the trend of finding adventure on every page, filling the reader's imagination with a world of nonsense that all seem to matter by the end. This may be one of the more overwhelming entries, but it still delivers when it needs to.
The world of "Dog Man" grows faster than a balloon these days, where to miss one book is to miss the introduction of a half-dozen new characters. Former bad guy Petey met his grandfather in the previous book and he factors heavily into this story. Similarly, there's bionic fish and a rogues gallery of villains and heroes that populate the edges of the frame. This is far from a story just about Dog Man anymore. If anything, he feels sidelined in favor of Petey's personal dilemmas. As a cat trying to do good in the world to please his clone, L'il Petey, it's become a chance to explore something much more complicated than distinguishing this cast. It's about understanding the moral core and the potential of an individual to change.
That is what makes this book work in the end. There is a clarity in the desire to do right in the world, even as figures as the comically useless Commander Cupcake takes credit for solving crimes by eating (you guessed it) cupcakes. It's a world that's abstract in its logic and benefits a lot from this. This is a story where a former TV ventriloquist ends up leading an arm of pond-dwelling creatures to do her bidding and, in a move not unlike Batman foe The Ventriloquist, has a puppet that agitates her into doing evil things. Her career has had better days after suffering a public meltdown on TV. Now she's stuck with a puppet who calls her "dude," which she hates. At some point a tree comes to life as a satirized version of "Frosty the Snowman" is printed on the page, detailing said tree's destruction on the community.
In truth, the bigger that this world gets the more that things become a challenge to appreciate. While the conflict with Petey remains a substantial part of the story, the supporting cast has grown exponentially over the past three books that the average space needs to cater to the growing world. It's not a bad thing because Pilkey is an expert at writing these gag-centric characters. However, it does take away a bit from the Dog Man arc, making him more an observer than an interesting supporting player. In fact, there's a possibility that the few dozen pond creatures introduced here will return in the next book, only creating a more crowded page. While it may help to counterbalance Petey's personal dilemma as a father figure (for what it's worth, his conflict with his father was a nice parallel). However, it's all a bit much and may overwhelm any attempt at emotional catharsis in later books.
Still, anyone doubting that Pilkey has grown as an artist clearly didn't read until the end. For as much as this world feels chaotic and scatterbrained at times, it does manage to land its theme. In this case, it's the question of whether it's worth trying to help one life when so many others suffer. The moment is small and a nice callback to earlier in the story. Still, it reflects how even in a picture that doesn't seem like it has a purpose that something bigger could lie underneath. As a result, the story gets that extra boost of meaning and thus saves it from merely being a wacky adventure. Again, being silly and fun is not an issue. In fact, that's what "Dog Man" should be at its core. However, it does feel like maybe things are growing distracted and that any meaning will feel tacked on in the future.
"Fetch-22" continues the trend of Pilkey making a world full of wonder and hilarity, where any weird idea is allowed to wander around. Every page pops with humor and visual creativity that has a sense of challenging its young readers. With the choice to also splice in quotes from literary works, there's a sense that this is secretly enhancing the readers' interest in culture. So much fo the series feels subversive in that manner, and it all pops with life. While this may be one of the weaker books, it's not from a lack of trying or tonal inconsistency. It's just that the series has a bump here or there, where things have to simply be good. For a series that inspires us to be heroes in our own journey, it's not a bad thing to say.
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