The latest Dog Man outsells every other book (comics or not) in North America since debut

The OGN Dog Man: Grime and Punishment was released earlier this month, and since then has become the #1 bestselling book in all of North America - beating out other graphic novels, comic books, and even non-comic books.

(Image credit: Dav Pilkey (Scholastic/Graphix))

With a print run of five million copies, Dav Pilkey's latest graphic novel even outsold mainstream, general interest titles such as Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of my Friendship with the First Lady, Donald Trump v. the United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President, and All the Devils are Here.

While that's a big feat for a comic, it's not the first - the previous volume of Dog Man, Fetch-22, was the #1 bestselling book in the United States for four straight weeks.

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"Since we announced the publication date for Dog Man: Grime & Punishment, we have been hearing from enthusiastic kids, parents, educators, and retailers who have been eagerly waiting for its release," the president of Scholastic's trade division Ellie Berger says in the announcement. "We couldn't be more thrilled to see kids and families around the world so excited, laughing and reading together. We look forward to publishing more Dav Pilkey books in the future."

In Grime and Punishment, Dog Man goes undercover and comes up with the best disguise of them all: Cat Man. Dog Man (dressed up as Cat Man) will use his disguise to infiltrate the underworld and once again put a stop to crime.

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Dog Man: Grime and Punishment preview

"For long time readers of the Captain Underpants and Dog Man series, Dog Man: Grime and Punishment will be a familiar and delightful continuation of Pilkey's long-running universe," Newsarama reviewer C.K. Stewart writes of the new volume. "Even if you're new, though, and looking for a light and breezy read or trying to find something for the younger readers in your life, Dog Man: Grime and Punishment will offer as enthusiastic welcome to you as the titular hero does to all he meets.

A spin-off series titled Cat Kid Comic Club goes on sale December 1, with a tenth volume of Dog Man planned for March 23, 2021.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)