Dog Man: Grime and Punishment

The Kiddo borrowed this one from a friend at school.

Title: Dog Man: Grime and Punishment
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: September, 2020
Writer: Dav Pilkey
Artist: Dav Pilkey
Colorist: Jose Garibaldi

This is the most serious of the Dog Man books so far, with a surprisingly deep examination of loss and forgiveness as the story explores the relationship between Petey and his father.

Of course there's also a giant animated lunchbag destroying the city, a subplot about Dog Man being fired and returning to work in a cat disguise, and all of the usual silliness, but it's the quiet beauty of the ending pages that will stick with me.

The promotional pages at the end suggest that the author is moving on to a Cat Kid comic series. If so, then this was a lovely and satisfying conclusion to a series that really delivered far beyond its roots as a side joke in Captain Underpants.

Rating: 9/10