| SPOILER ALERT!!! This article or section contains spoilers. Read at your own risk! |
| “ | Could a Cat-Headed Cop replace Dog Man? | ” |
–The book's blurb | ||
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment is the ninth book in the Dog Man series. It was released on September 1, 2020.
Synopsis[]
The Supa Buddies bamboozled the baddies, but all's not right in the world. Dog Man has a new problem to pound, and he's going to need his entire pack to help him. Will he go barking on the wrong tree?
Characters[]
- Dog Man
- Li'l Petey
- Petey
- 80-HD
- Chief
- Sarah Hatoff
- Zuzu
- Petey's Father
- Petey's Mother (mentioned)
- Munchy
- Flippy
- Molly
- Melvin
- The Baby Frogs
- New Mayor
- Big Jim
- Mean Officers
- Milly
- Buster
Summary[]
George and Harold: Celebrities at Large[]
George and Harold are selling comics at the mall, when a mall worker George and Harold nicknamed Sherlock finds them, and calls the cops. When the cops come, instead of arresting George and Harold, they read their comics and love them. They buy the comics, and soon their popularity increases. The mall manager orders "Sherlock" to bring them free food and stuff, and George and Harold are making a new Dog Man comic.
Chapter 1: Chief's Big Day[]
City hall falls down.
It all starts at the city hall where the mayor congratulates Chief one day. He tries to get Dog Man to award him, but he was playing with his roses. After it was cleared up the mayor gets grime on his shirt and one of the lenses of his glasses crack. He tells Chief that if he messes up again, he'll take away his badge. Then Dog Man gets ahold of his hat and the mayor tries to get it back to him. But it crashes on one of the pillars and the whole building crashes down, with all of them safe. But Dog Man still has his hat and they chase him.
Chapter 2: The Saddest Chapter Ever Written[]
The mean officers angrily drive Dog Man out
Chief and Dog Man are at the mayor's house in the middle of the night, and try to comfort him with flowers. Instead the mayor decides to fire Dog Man and takes away his badge, walking away telling his stuffed bear Mr. Snookums how great he is.
Chief helps Dog Man pack, but starts to cry, blaming it on his allergies. Soon, all the cops get ''allergies'' too and start crying, flooding the entire building. However, the Mean Officers drive Dog Man out and scold him for getting fired. Dog Man then walks sadly out and howls at the moon.
Chapter 3: The Chapter That's Totally Not as Sad as The Last One[]
Grampa finishes his invention, called "The Mighty Motor Brain."
Dog Man comes home to Li'l Petey and 80-HD working on a story for Dog Man. Li'l Petey says to 80-HD, "It's our story. We can color it anyway we want!". Dog Man tells what happened that night, and Li'l Petey and 80-HD decide to cheer him up with their bedtime story. After Dog Man falls asleep, they both start to work on a new invention. Meanwhile, at Cat Jail, Petey's Father (aka Grampa) is working on a new invention called the motorbrain, that makes you large and very powerful. Big Jim starts to get annoying, and Grampa shouts at him, hurting his feelings. Big Jim cries and Grampa decides to test the motorbrain on him. Big Jim puts the helmet on, and becomes gigantic. He now calls himself "Snug", and starts to cuddle with Grampa. Grampa manages to escape, and falls through the "Hang in There!" poster. Grampa soon discovers that it's an escape tunnel, and smiles evilly.
Chapter 4: The Dog in the Hat[]
Dog Man (Cat Man), Li'l Petey, and 80-HD starts patting and slurping on Petey.
Li'l Petey and 80-HD have done the finishing touches to their new invention: a helmet for Dog Man to be disguised as "Cat Man". Soon after Dog Man tries on the helmet, Petey arrives to take Li'l Petey to get some gelato. He notices that Dog Man is wearing a cat disguise, and Li'l Petey explains why. Petey gives some advice just to not stick his tongue out, and don't roll in any dead fish. Dog Man heads to the police force, while Petey and Li'l Petey go get some gelato.
Chapter 5: A Buncha Stuff that Happened Next[]
"Cat Man" arrives at the police force.
Dog Man arrives at Cops, and the whole building has been flooded by tears. He finds Chief crying with a picture of him, and starts to grab it, then rips it. The helmet pops off, and Chief worries that the mayor will see him. Suddenly, the mayor comes, and Chief quickly puts the helmet back on. The mayor asks if he's found a replacement for Dog Man. Chief is about to answer, but the mayor notices Dog Man disguised as a cat and decides to hire him. The mayor quickly runs off to tell Mr Snookums, and Chief exclaims "Oh boy, this is gonna be great!" Meanwhile, Petey tells Li'l Petey that he wants to work on a robot with him, but Li'l Petey says he has a comic club meeting. Petey feels dismayed, and Li'l Petey asks why they can't visit Grampa, and Li'l Petey just asks "Why?", until Petey is fed up. Petey asks Li'l Petey not to spill his gelato on him, but it happens anyway. At Cat Jail, Grampa is happy to have found Big Jim's secret tunnel. He asks Big Jim for the Motorbrain, and he obeys. Grampa puts it on, and gets bigger, bigger, until he is Crud.
Chapter 6: The Incorrigible Crud[]
A typical Sarah Hatoff news report
Petey's Father runs out of the tunnel and starts smashing buildings and terrorizing the city. Meanwhile, Petey is very angry at Li'l Petey for spilling the gelato on him. He rinses himself off and says he forgives Li'l Petey though Grampa doesn't deserve forgiveness. However, Li'l Petey says he forgave him a long time ago, tormenting Petey. Petey blabs about how Grampa doesn't deserve forgiveness, until Li'l Petey changes the subject to catching worms. Grampa has finished robbing a bank, and Sarah Hatoff interviews him, asking how it feels. Grampa says he likes it, but feels lonely and wants a sidekick. Chief and Dog Man see the report through the television at the cops station and decide that Dog Man should go undercover as Grampa's evil cat buddy.
Chapter 7: Cat Man[]
Dog Man as Cat Man. This is also a reference to the cover of the first book in the series.
Meanwhile, Li'l Petey is still asking ''why'' over and over, and Petey answers that sometimes you couldn't forgive someone, and all you had left was hate. Li'l Petey asks about love, and Petey tells him that love was for happy people like Li'l Petey. He tells Li'l Petey had he lived an easy life, but he didn't. saying that Grandpa was extremely abusive to him, and even more to his mom. Li'l Petey then asks why he hasn't got to see his grandma, and Petey responds in silence.
Meanwhile, Sarah is still interviewing Grampa. Grandpa is telling her that the only reason he was so evil was that he didn't have a friend, and Sarah suggests that he finds one. Dog Man arrives, disguised as Cat Man. Grampa is filled with joy, grabs Dog Man, then stops at a bookstore to smash. But Dog Man then ties Grampa's tail to a fire hydrant and cuffs him. The mayor is watching the news report and tells Mr. Snookums how he hired "Cat Man", and how he's the greatest. Grandpa gets angry that he's been captured, and throws Dog Man onto the ground, causing his helmet to fall off, revealing his identity to the Mayor. Sarah wants to help him, while the mayor runs out of his house, wanting to destroy him.
Chapter 8: Big Fight[]
Mayor arrests the good guys.
Back at the Lab, Li'l Petey is still asking why he's never met his Gramma. Petey tells him that Grampa abandoned him and his mom when she was sick. Li'l Petey asks if she got better, but he does not answer. Petey explains to Li'l Petey: ''Look, kid... Sometimes bad things happen... And you just can't forgive... And you can't forget! Sometimes all you have left is hate!''. Li'l Petey answers " I don't know, Papa. Hate has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it hasn't solved one yet".
Meanwhile, Grampa, thinking that he hates his new buddy, is about to destroy Dog Man, but Sarah and Zuzu jumps in to stop him they both start attacking Grampa. Chief tries to join in, but is stopped by the mayor. The mayor tells him that Dog Man impersonated as a cop, and if he helped him, Chief would get arrested, alongside Dog Man. Despite hearing this, Chief happily agrees to help Dog Man and runs to join the fight. The mayor becomes outraged that they are helping Dog Man and orders the cops to arrest them or they'll be fired. The cops cuff all of them, but they let Grampa get away, and the mayor says it's their fault because they helped Dog Man. They are loaded into a cop truck, are driven away, but the cops left the mayor behind. Grampa runs to find a gift shop selling living spray, with a giant lunch bag on display. This gives Grampa an idea...
Chapter 9: The Lunch Bag of Motorbrain[]
Flippy teaching the frogs and Molly. Note that the baby frogs are in different colors before the change in the next book, Cat Kid Comic Club.
Grampa decides to spray living spray on the lunch bag, making it come to life as "Munchy". Munchy starts smashing buildings, but gets thirsty. He starts to drink nuclear juice, but Grampa warns him to stop, or it could give him a stomachache. Munchy starts to run to the pond, where Flippy is teaching the 21 frogs and the one tadpole (Molly) about adverbs. One of the frogs named Melvin (a know-it-all) keeps on answering the questions, until all the frogs start to run away. Flippy is grabbed by Munchy, while the frogs and one tadpole hide in the grass.
Chapter 10: 80-HD Power[]
80-HD's show made from Claymation.
80-HD is watching TV at home and discover that Munchy is on the loose, and the good guys are heading to jail. 80-HD flies to Petey and Son, and crashes through the wall. He puts on a stop motion show for Petey and Li'l Petey about the situation, and they crash out through the wall. Petey gets angry that 80-HD didn't use the door, so 80-HD crashes through the wall again, and goes out the door. They arrive at the pond meeting Molly, and Li'l Petey decides to get out the Superhero costumes. Petey says that Li'l Petey uses love when everything's well, but when there's danger you can only fight hate with hate. Li'l Petey doesn't know if he's right or wrong, but he decides to find out.
Chapter 11: Love vs. Hate: Who Will Win?[]
The frogs drawing on Munchy.
Molly, 80-HD and Li'l Petey all think of what they love. They all agree they love to draw. Molly shows them how to draw a squid on Munchy's butt, and soon Li'l Petey and 80-HD join in. Munchy finds out and feels embarrassed that he has drawings on his butt, dropping Flippy, who calls out the frogs. All the frogs join in drawing the things that they love on Munchy. Soon Munchy is covered with drawings and runs away in embarrassment. Petey decides that "Love got lucky". Suddenly Grandpa comes with the cop truck, and Li'l Petey tells Petey that it's his battle to fight.
Chapter 12: The Ultimate Showdown[]
Petey faces Grampa.
Petey is hesitant that he can do it. Li'l Petey answers "It's your story, Papa. You can color it any way you want." Grandpa throws the truck, and Flippy and Molly fly to catch it, while Big Jim searches for Grandpa. Petey exclaims he couldn't just love his father, but Li'l Petey says that he didn't have to, he just had to let go of the hate and pain Grandpa caused. Petey goes up to Grandpa and confronts him. He says that he was done hating him, but didn't love him, and instead, he forgave him. Petey starts to walk away, while Grandpa takes the helmet off and shouts at Petey to come back, slowly turning back into his original form, Petey walks Li'l Petey back home while Dog Man and the cops are saved by Flippy and Molly.
Chapter 13: Three Endings[]
The First Ending: Grampa's Story[]
Grandpa is angry that Petey didn't fight, and kicks the motorbrain away. The motorbrain lands near Big Jim, and he puts back on, and becomes Snug again. Big Jim starts to chase Grampa so he can cuddle with him, much to Grampa's horror.
The Second Ending: Dog Man's Story[]
Chief, Sarah, and Dog Man jump off the cops truck, but are confronted by the mayor. The mayor starts shouting but is soon interrupted by a cop who tells him his house is on fire. The mayor runs into the burning house to get Mr. Snookums, but Dog Man jumps in and saves the mayor from certain death. The mayor gets mad at Dog Man for leaving Mr. Snookums, but Dog Man barfs Mr. Snookums out. The mayor is so happy, that he re-hires Dog Man.
The Third Ending: Li'l Petey's Story[]
Petey and Li'l Petey visiting the grave, while the wind blows in.
Petey and Li'l Petey arrive home, but Petey only walks in and gets some flowers. They walk until they get to a gravestone. Petey says he hadn't been there since he was a kid. Li'l Petey asks if his Gramma is in the gravestone. Petey says that she's in his heart, and in Li'l Petey's heart. A leaf falls into Li'l Petey's hand, and he asks if his Gramma is in there. Petey replies "Well... It's your story, kid. You can color it any way you want."
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Others[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- The title is a spoof of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
- There is also a chapter title in a Captain Underpants book called Crime and Punishment.
- This is the first time Dav Pilkey illustrated the cover digitally while he's on Dog Man's Do Good Book Tour in 2019.[1]
- Chapter 4's title is based on The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.
- Chapter 6's title is a reference to the Marvel superhero character "The Incredible Hulk".
- Chapter 7's picture is similar to the book cover from the first Dog Man book.
- Chapter 9's title is based on The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.by Victor Hugo.
- When George and Harold are selling comics, their stand has the same design to Lucy's psychiatrist booth from Peanuts.
- In the recap, when Grampa says "Petey, I am your father!", this is a reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, thou Petey says "Hey! This didn't happen!"
- Li'l Petey's words on page 130 were taken from the following quote:
| “ | Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but has not solved one yet" | ” |
- Chapter 12 was based on this precept:
| “ | Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. | ” |
- Part 3 of the final chapter was inspired by this poem:
| “ | Do not stand at my grave and weep, |
” |
- Coincidentally, all three poets\actress are deceased.
- In page 128, the pot of flowers that Petey put on his mother's grave, is seen on the cupboard when washing the plates.
- This is the last appearance of George and Harold in the book series.
Errors[]
- On page 33, it still shows Dog Man with his badge.
- Also on page 33, the brim of the officer's hats aren't there.
- When Molly was trying to explain what an adjective is, Melvin's arm is light green instead of orange.
- On page 204, Molly is blue instead of green.
Trailer Transcript[]
Dav Pilkey's Dog Man is back! Part dog, part man, and all hero! This time, Dog Man's digging drives the meanie mayor mad! Luckily, the Supa Buddies gave the purr-fect plan to help the hound! But their plan backfires when Grampa turns into the crazed Crud, a giant lunch bag comes to life, and the mayor sends the good guys to jail! Now, it's Petey's story to tell as he faces his own father to save his frenemies!
Amazon description[]
Dog Man's really done it this time! He hands over his badge and clears out his desk, but while he may be out of a job, he's not yet out of hope. With his friends at his side, can Dog Man dig himself out of this hole and paw his way back onto the force?
References[]
| Dog Man Books |
|---|
| Dog Man (2016) | Dog Man: Unleashed (2016) | Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties (2017) | Dog Man and Cat Kid (2017) | Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas (2018) | Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild (2018) | Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls (2019) | Dog Man: Fetch-22 (2019) | Dog Man: Grime and Punishment (2020) | Dog Man: Mothering Heights (2021) | Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea (2023) | Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder (2024) | Dog Man: Big Jim Begins (2024) | Dog Man: Big Jim Believes (2025) |