32 pages • 1 hour read
Dav PilkeyCaptain Underpants
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Comic Book Features and Tropes
Pilkey uses comic book features throughout his series to bring George and Harold’s comic book hero Captain Underpants to life. The illustrations rely on many components usually employed in comic books, rather than illustrated children’s books. These include panels, or frames in multiple-panel sequences to convey action; as well as splash panels, or large panels which take up an entire page; or double-page spreads to draw attention to an important event, moment, or action. Pilkey includes a flip-o-rama section in the story, where one flips pages so that the illustrations seem animated, as onomatopoeia (such as “KA-BOOM”).
Pilkey refers to and satirizes many of the tropes typical of comic book heroes and villains. Captain Underpants’s signature underpants are a humorous reference to the costumes of many well-known comic book heroes, such as Superman or Batman, who wear colored “underpants” usually over tights. Similarly, Doctor Diaper’s maniacal and sinister manner, and his plans for anarchy and destruction, are recognizable in many comic book villains, such as Batman’s Joker or Penguin.
This signature style persists throughout Pilkey’s series and is incorporated in other Captain Underpants spin-offs.
Cultural Context: Captain Underpants as a Controversial Text
The Captain Underpants sequel has become controversial. In particular, the Captain Underpants sequel The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, was criticized for racist allusions and imagery. Pilkey issued an apology, and this edition of the Captain Underpants series has since been pulled from retail and library shelves.
Others have critiqued the series for characterizing disruptive pranks and jokes, such as those performed by George and Harold, as funny rather than problematic. Pilkey suggests that mischief and silliness are an important part of childhood. However, many parents and educators instead feel that disruptive and antisocial behavior should not be represented as desirable and admirable.
Lastly, some groups have critiqued the frequent and excessive violence in the series, as well as inappropriate language. This violence and language, critics suggest, is not age-appropriate for the targeted readership of children.
Pilkey has since released 11 more books in the Adventures of Captain Underpants series. In 2018, Netflix released a television series of the books. In 2017, Captain Underpants, the First Epic Movie, was released.
There is a spin-off series, also by Pilkey, called Dog Man. The Dog Man series comprises 10 books at the time this guide was written in January, 2023.
Related Titles
By Dav Pilkey
