Over the last century, few heroes have been as successful in capturing the hearts and minds of fans as Superman. However, despite being one of the most iconic and enduring superheroes of all time, recent trends show that there’s a new most popular superhero in town, and his name is Dog Man.
Dav Pikey’s Dog Man follows the story of Dog Man, a superhero created after a tragic accident resulted in a police officer being surgically combined with a police dog. While the fan-favorite series has been around since 2015, it’s only been over the last couple of years that Dog Man‘s popularity has truly caught fire. To be sure, with this month’s release of Dog Man: The Scarlet Shredder, the 12th book in the Dog Man series, Dog Man became the best-selling children’s book series in the world, according to Popverse.
This was corroborated in a Financial Times story that found The Scarlet Shredder to be the best-selling book in the United States and Canada. It’s also experienced significant sales growth in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Moreover, The Scarlet Shredder also induced significant sales in Dog Man‘s “backlist” sales of prior titles. When combined with sales of the previous edition — Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea — Dog Man is hands down the best-selling children’s book series over the last few years.
What all those sales stats indicate is that Dog Man is currently the most popular superhero in the world. At any given moment over the past few months, more people are thinking about Dog Man than they are thinking about Superman. In a culture saturated with superheroes, Dog Man’s ability to separate his dog-self from the rest is especially impressive. But even a cursory read-through of the books in the series will reveal why Dog Man is so popular.
First, Dog Man appeals to readers of all ages. Indeed, while the look, feel, and speech of Dog Man appeal to children, there are more than a few underlying ideas, such as integrity, doing the right thing, having a positive outlook in the face of adversity, and perseveranc,e that teenagers and adults can recognize and understand. Second, there’s its humorous vibe. Children can enjoy Dog Man‘s graphically zany antics, while older readers will be impressed with creator Dav Pikey’s wordplay and joking banter.
There’s also the fact that, despite its light-hearted approach, Dog Man incorporates engaging plots and compelling stories. He’s just a regular dog-man trying to do the best he can in a world where evil is a real problem. It’s easy to relate to his vulnerability, as well as his resilience and ability to come through in the end. Indeed, he might be battered, but he never lets it make him bitter or cold-hearted. This is not to say that Superman doesn’t also have these attributes – it’s just that Dog Man does it better.
Source: Popverse, The Financial Times