Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: Dav Pilkey, dog man, scholastic

Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder by Dav Pilkey Sells Over 880,000 Copies

Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder by Dav Pilkey has sold over 880,000 copies since it was published back in March.

Publisher's Weekly reports that sales of graphic novels in bookstores "continued to recede from record highs in 2022, falling 16.1% in this year's first six months." But that is from a massive boom in the sector and remains well above pre-pandemic levels. And maybe it's a suggestion that graphic novel publishers need to slowly shift emphasis from Middle-Grade titles to Young Adult books as 2023 saw YA sales as a whole increase 6.2%, while sales in the juvenile category remain lackluster, withasles down 2.9% in fiction and off 3.4% in nonfiction.

But nevertheless, the Dog Man comic book The Scarlet Shedder by Dav Pilkey published by Scholastic Graphix sold a reported 882,866 copies to readers in the first six months of 2024, and is the second best selling book in America, just beaten by  The Women by Kristin Hannah. And that is on top of the 50,000 copies that Dav Pilkey just gave away.

Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants novels began the chapter book category in kids' fiction in 1997. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins. Creating comic books together, they create the character Captain Underpants, who becomes real after the kids hypnotise their principal Mr Krupp, to become him. The series concluded with the twelfth novel but span off into a series of graphic novels, Dog-Man from 2015, which have become the best-selling superhero comics in the world and the best-selling books of all in the USA with successive volumes. The Dog Man series follows the adventures of the "Supa Buddies": Dog Man, a lovable canine superhero, and his friends Li'l Petey, a curious kitten who embodies love, optimism, and hope, and 80-HD, a robot who expresses himself best through his art, all told in a comic book form by the Captain Underpants "creators" George and Harold.

On the 19th of March, Scholastic published Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder, which saw Dog Man go up against artificial intelligence

Our canine superhero returns in DOG MAN: THE SCARLET SHEDDER, the suspenseful and hilarious twelfth graphic novel in the #1 worldwide bestselling series by award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey!  P.U.! Dog Man got sprayed by a skunk! After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but the scarlet red color remains. Now exiled, this spunky superhero must struggle to save the citizens who shunned him! Will the ends justify the means for Petey, who's reluctantly pulled back into a life of crime in order to help Dog Man? And who will step forward when an all-new, never-before-seen villain unleashes an army of A.I. robots? 224 pages, 210 x 140 mm

And then Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, the thirteenth volume by Dav Pilkey will be published on the 3rd of December, ahead of the animated movie out in January.

Dog Man: Big Jim Begins – a parody of the title of Batman Begins – will explore the origin story of the Dog Man character Big Jim, a prisoner in Cat Jail, who becomes a superhero Commander Cupcake when he escapes every night.

Dog Man: Big Jim Begins: A Graphic Novel 
In DOG MAN: BIG JIM BEGINS, discover the origin of our beloved characters from the Dog Man series as they join forces to stop the Space Cuties from destroying the city. Will the past predict the future for Dog Man and his friends? Will goodness and bravery prevail? Can anything happen if you truly believe?

Dav Pilkey says "With this new book, I wanted to share the origin story of my characters, as readers get to know more about Big Jim—a character who is playful, kind, overly optimistic and often misunderstood, and who sometimes gets into trouble despite having the best intentions. Since the pandemic, I've been writing and illustrating books in the Dog Man and Cat Kid Comic Club series which has been a satisfying yet solitary experience. I'm grateful to all my readers—kids and their families as well as educators–who have sent me letters and messages of encouragement. Their support and enthusiasm have inspired me to keep making books. I am truly humbled and honored."

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