| SPOILER ALERT!!! This article or section contains spoilers. Read at your own risk! |
| “ | Can one change affect many? | ” |
–The book's blurb | ||
Dog Man: Fetch-22 is the eighth book of the Dog Man series. It was released on December 10, 2019. The title is based on the novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.
The book's cover was revealed on June 1, 2019 during BookCon 2019 at Javits Convention Center, New York City.
Summary[]
Petey the Cat is out of jail, and he has a brand-new lease on life. While Petey's reevaluated what matters most, Li'l Petey is struggling to find the good in the world. Can Petey and Dog Man stop fighting like cats and dogs long enough to put their paws together and work as a team? They need each other now more than ever -- Li'l Petey (and the world) is counting on them!
Plot[]
Chapter 1: The Fair Fairy[]
During the morning at Dog Man's house, Li'l Petey sprints upstairs and tells Dog Man and 80-HD that the show, "The Fair Fairy" is about to start, so they all start running for the TV and sit down to watch it. When the show starts, the Fair Fairy apologizes to the audience for the ''bungle'' that happened on last week's episode. Downward Dog then starts to ramble on about how the Fair Fairy went ''bonkers'' and tells Gary, one of the backstage workers to replay the episode, despite the Fair Fairy telling him not to. The previous week's episode starts to play.
The Fair Fairy greets the audience and introduces them to the guests, Tina and Ramone. Tina was upset because Ramone got two cookies, while she only got one. The Fair Fairy takes one of the cookies out of Ramone's hand, breaks it in two and gives it to Tina. but Ramone starts to say that it wasn't fair, since Tina got ice cream the previous day, yet he didn't get any. The Fair Fairy calls for Gary to give Ramone some ice cream, so he does. Tina starts to complain about how it wasn't fair for her, since Ramone got mint chocolate chip flavored ice cream, yet she got vanilla. The Fair Fairy yells for Gary to get more ice cream. Ramone then complains how it STILL wasn't fair, since Tina got three scoops, yet he got two. Annoyed, the Fair Fairy yells for Gary again. The two start to complain again, but the Fair Fairy snaps. Furious, she smashes the bowls the two kids had, exclaiming that the kids now have nothing. The Fair Fairy then screams ''NOW IT'S FAIR!!!'' while laughing maniacally, leaving the kids and Downward Dog terrified.
After the episode plays, the Fair Fairy states that she was calmer now and starts the show. She introduces the guests, Tim and Brenda. Tim was upset that Brenda got two toys, yet he only got one. Then, nine minutes later, the Fair Fairy is actually the exact same way as last week's episode. She breaks the toys, exclaiming that both of the kids got nothing. She then exclaims ''NOW IT'S FAIR!!!!'' while laughing again. Dog Man to turn off the television. Li'l Petey asks Dog Man, "Was that show inappropriate?"
[]
Hours Later, Dog Man, Li'l Petey and 80-HD play a game of cards when Li'l Petey tells them that it is almost 5:00 in the afternoon, which is what time Petey comes to pick up Li'l Petey every Sunday. Soon, Petey arrives, and asks is Li'l Petey is ready, but Li'l Petey says he needs to get his backpack. Soon, Li'l Petey comes out of the door, trying to pull a gigantic bag outside. Petey helps, and they soon go flying a few feet away from Dog Man's house. Petey demands to know what's inside and opens the bag, revealing that Dog Man and 80-HD are inside, and Petey yells at them to get out of the bag. Petey then turns to Li'l Petey and reminds him that they had a deal: he was supposed to live with Petey on the weekdays and Dog Man and 80-HD on the weekends. Then they both leave Dog Man and 80-HD behind, as they sadly wave goodbye. Lil' Petey asks Petey why Dog Man and 80-HD can't stay. Petey tells him that he doesn't want them living in his house. Li'l Petey starts to whine about how unfair it was. Petey then stops walking and tells Li'l Petey about how it wasn't fair, since there were many other kittens who didn't have the things that he had. Lil' Petey apologizes, saying that he would try to be more grateful. Petey then rejoices in the fact that he was right about something.
Chapter 3: The Discovery[]
The Fair Fairy is at the television studio with Sam E. Hamilton, who lists all the complaints to the Fair Fairy show. Sam tells her that she was a horrible employee, after the Fair Fairy insults that he's bald, he fires her, much to the Fair Fairy’s anger. Meanwhile, Lil' Petey is researching about Supa Brain Dots, and discovers that they contain a chemical called GR-2, and if someone took too much of it, it would cause ''supa anger''. Lil' Petey says that proves that Flippy, the bionic butterfly fish was innocent, as his previous behavior was a result of an overdose of the dots. Petey objects, saying he doesn't want to get involved with him, but Lil' Petey already sent his research to Sarah Hatoff and that she will make a news story about it. While Petey puts up new letters that read Petey & Son, Lil' Petey wants to see Grampa, Petey's father. But Petey refuses, saying he Grampa had betrayed both of them and only cares about himself, saying "WE ARE NOT VISITING YOUR GRAMPA AND THAT'S FINAL!!!!".
Chapter 4: Visiting Grampa[]
On the news, Sarah Hatoff reports that a drug company has recalled all jars of Supa Brain Dots all over the stores in every city, but Chief tells them that Dog Man, his most trusted officer, is collecting the Supa Brain Dots from every store he can find in the city, saying . Meanwhile, the Fair Fairy is walking through the park, angry that Sam (or Larry, as she likes to call him even though he hates it) fired her. She hatches a plan to make things fair for her which will help her get her revenge. She sits down near a lake and says "Mirror, Mirror, by the Tree....who's the fairest? Is it me?" Suddenly, a voice exclaims ''Yeah!'', and a tadpole pops out of the lake. More tadpoles pop out of the lake, exactly 22 of them, calling her their mother. The Fair Fairy bursts into tears and then yells at Downward Dog to stop calling her "Dude".
Meanwhile, Li'l Petey and Petey are walking to Cat Jail to meet Grampa. Petey can't believe that Li'l Petey talked him into visiting Grampa. He knows that Grampa will just betray them again, but Li'l Petey just tells Petey that maybe they should just give him another chance. Soon, they arrive at Cat Jail, where Grampa is concocting a sleep gas. Soon, the prison guard comes in Grampa's cell and tells him that he has tưo vistors. Before he goes, he fills a red balloon with his sleeping gas. Soon, Petey and Li'l Petey arrive at the door of the visiting room. Li'l Petey is pleased to see Grampa again, but however Petey is so not pleased. Grampa gives Li'l Petey a red Balloon, then gets a pin and a gas mask out. He puts on the mask as he pops the balloon, releasing the sleeping gas. Petey and Li'l Petey collapse to the ground, asleep as Grampa whispers, "Don't worry, it's just a harmless sleep gas. And by the time you wake up, I'LL BE FREE!!"
Chapter 5: A Buncha Stuff That Happened Next[]
Dog Man meets Sarah, Zuzu, Chief, and the cameraman at the top of a hill with the Supa Brain Dots in town. He and Chief shake hands, but the wagon rolls away. Dog Man tries to catch it, but fails. The Supa Brain Dots then land into the tadpoles' pond. Meanwhile, at Cat Jail, the sleep gas dissipated, making Grampa take another step. He switches places with Petey and after it is finished, he calls the prison guard, saying that his "dad" was asleep. He soon is filled with joy since his plan has worked. Back at the pond, the tadpoles felt the power of the brain dots. They soon see the Fair Fairy leaving them since she's not their mom. They fly and tell her not to go, but she does anyway. All of them were worried annd annnoyed until one of them had an idea. She made a tree come to life with the help of her siblings. The tree monster is soon alive and ambushes the Fair Fairy. And later, she is convinced with it. She decides to give a name for him, but Downward Dog pitches in first.
Chapter 6: Barky McTreeface[]
The Fair Fairy thinks Barky McTreeface is the dumbest name she ever heard but the tadpoles love it so much they even made a song which annoyed the Fair Fairy. Then Petey mistaken for Grampa tries to prove the Guard that he is not Grampa but then the guard tricks Petey to walk in to a jail cell, and just when Petey thinks how could things get any worse, Big Jim comes in.
Meanwhile, Li'l Petey wakes up in a recycling bin in front of Ken's Karaoke Club and goes to Petey's House (formerly lab), where he recognizes Grampa. After going back and forth about who Grampa is, Li'l Petey tells Grampa he is hungry asks for something to eat. At first, Grampa didn't want to do it, but Li'l Petey got him to crack when he tells Grampa Papa always cook for him and he did say he was his Papa. Later, Li'l Petey asked for more popcorn, but when Grampa refused to do it, Li'l Petey cracked him up again, so Grampa had no choice but to make more popcorn for Li'l Petey. While doing this, he muttered about how Li'l Petey was driving him crazy.
Chapter 7: Flippy Returns[]
Meanwhile, in Fish Jail, Flippy was reading a story to the other fish, recalling the events from "Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties". After he was done a guard came and tells Flippy the Mayor is on the phone, he tells Flippy due to Li'l Petey's research in proving Flippy innocent, he is now free. As the guard brings Flippy over to fill out the paperwork, breaking news appears on the TV that happens to be in the Fish Jail. In the broadcast, Sarah reports on the Barky McTreeFace Crisis, and the 22 tadpoles controlling it. When asking Chief how it happened, he tries to pin it on Dog Man, but Sarah tells Chief it's his responsibility, too (due to the fact he told Sarah what could possibly go wrong with Dog Man in charge of collecting the Supa Brain Dots earlier in Chapter 4). In response to this, Chief tells Sarah mistakes were made and he puts Dog Man in charge of fetching those 22 tadpoles, and hence, sends Dog Man out. But Chief stuttered when he said what could possibly go wrong with Dog Man in charge, Sarah tells Chief to go help Dog Man. He agrees but asks who will help him. Sarah and Zuzu look at each other, and Sarah tells Zuzu it's up to them and follows Chief and Dog Man. As Chief this is going to be great, the guard and Flippy look at each other in despair.
Chapter 8: The Fetcher in the Sky[]
Meanwhile, in Cat Jail, Big Jim sits with Petey, much to Petey's dismay. He tells Big Jim that he is not Grampa (due to the fact that the real Grampa made Petey look like him), but Big Jim says he believes him, and boops Petey's nose. But then another news broadcast appears on the TV in the cell, with Sarah saying that Dog Man and Chief are going to town to stop Barky McTreeFace. In response to this, Big Jim says this is a job for Commander Cupcake, and he runs to his bed and puts on a costume that was in his pillow. When Petey asks Big Jim what he is doing, he tells Petey that he's not like other cats and that he "fights for frosting, stands for sprinkles, and champion the cause of carbohydrates". As Commander Cupcake says "Amen", Petey yells at him, saying nobody cares. Now Petey is really mad, because he stuck in a cell, with a cupcake eating "superhero", with no way out. But Commander Cupcake says there is a way out, and he knocks on a poster, and it rolls up to reveal a hole in the wall, which Commander Cupcake calls his "Cupcake Corridor". Petey scolds Commander Cupcake for not telling him about the escape route earlier, but Commander Cupcake tells him he didn't ask. Meanwhile, Dog Man, Chief, Sarah, and Zuzu ran to the town, got nets, and prepared for an epic battle. The fight commenced, and Dog Man right away caught a tadpole in his net. But the tadpole used its psychokinetic powers to send Dog Man flying. Chief and Sarah attempted to get the tadpoles, but the tadpoles used their psychokinetic powers to control Sarah and Chief, and Sarah captured Chief and Chief captured Sarah with their own fishing nets. In the midst of that, Zuzu got an idea and zipped past the Fair Fairy. Downward Dog tells the Fair Fairy that Zuzu is getting away, but the Fair Fairy let her go, stating "What could one tiny poodle possibly do?". But the Fair Fairy would be proved wrong.
Chapter 9: Run, Zuzu, Run!!![]
Zuzu runs to Petey and Son, where Grampa and Li'l Petey are having a fight. Zuzu runs to Li'l Petey and tells him that Dog Man, Chief, and Sarah have all been captured, unspeakable evil, mindless chaos, and unlimited supa powers with no moral compass. Li'l Petey responds to this by saying that this was a job for the Supa Buddies. With that being said, Li'l Petey opens the window and calls on 80-HD to take them to save their friends. Grampa heard what had happened, and with that, he had an evil plan and leaves the house. Meanwhile, Commander Cupcake and Petey heads down to Commander Cupcake's Cupcake Command Center. Commander Cupcake said to Petey he was going to check the Cupcake Computer (which is a drawing of a computer user interface taped to the wall and the word computer is spelled "compyuduh", and the keyboard is made of a pizza box with random letters and numbers written on it), but Petey wasn't interested. He wanted to escape and save Li'l Petey. in response to this, Commander Cupcake says, "To the Cupcake Mobile", which is a cardboard box which Commander Cupcake drew on. He then says he needs to glue on the last tire (paper plate), but accidentally used too much Supa Bonding Glue, and the glue got stuck to his hand. Petey had no time for Commander Cupcake's shenanigans, so he asked to see the Cupcake Exit, but as Commander Cupcake pats Petey on the back, he didn't know he used the hand that still had the glue, so Petey got stuck onto Commander Cupcake's hand. But Commander Cupcake didn't seem to care, so he just got in the Cupcake mobile and drives (runs) to the cupcake exit and leaves Cat Jail.
Chapter 10: My Fair Lady[]
Meanwhile at town, Sarah, Chief, and Dog Man are in the nets they used to battle the tadpoles, and they're up in the sky, thanks to the tadpoles' psychokinetic powers. But Flippy flies in and cuts them free. Then little petey comes and says ITS SUPA BUDDY TIME!!!
Chapter 11: The Cat Kid Conundrum[]
Meanwhile, Cat Kid is right behind the 22 tadpoles, ready to slice them and save his friends. But then he stops and is discovered by a tadpole named Molly. They talked together and they became friends and Molly was no longer angry, which was also what happens to Flippy in A Tale Of Two Kitties. Then The Fair Fairy comes and throws Cat Kid with the others and then she tells Molly she has a problem obeying orders.
Chapter 12: Good Golly Miss Molly[]
Molly moves through the other tadpoles and uses her powers to set Cat kid and Zuzu free. Then they run back to dog man’s house and ask the supa computer to make an antidote for the supa brain dots. Then cat kid thinks up a plan and tells it to Zuzu and Molly.
Chapter 13: The Final Betrayal[]
Cat Kid, Molly, and Zuzu head to the spot where the Fair Fairy, Grampa, Barky McTreeface, and her 21 other tadpoles were destroying the city. They are about to pop a balloon which supposedly has the antidote gas in it (when the real antidote was in the vial). Grampa steals the balloon when Lil' Petey was "distracted", telling the Fair Fairy, prompting her to tell all the tadpoles to dive into the pond, which was contaminated by supa brain dots. When the last tadpole went underwater, Zuzu pours the vial of antidote into the purple water, turning it blue and causing the tadpoles to lose their powers. This causes the Fair Fairy to fall out of the air and crash into Grampa, and Barky McTreeface turned back into a regular tree.
Chapter 14: Do Good, Flippy[]
Trailer description[]
Dav Pilkey's Dog Man is back! Part dog, part man, all hero! This time the Supa Buddies face the foul Fair Fairy, the beastly Barky McTreeFace, and 22 supa angry psychokinetic tadpoles, not to mention Li'l Petey's greedy Grampa! Is the fang outnumbered, outmatched, and out of time? Or will the Supa Buddies foil their foes with the help of their friends?
Trivia[]
- Strangely, Molly is blue on the cover.
- Dog Man: Fetch-22 got its name because in the book, there are 22 tiny tadpoles which have roles as former antagonists in the book. It is also a reference to Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
- George's dialogue in Pages 6 and 7 is based from a well-known bible quote (1 Corinthians 13:11 [KJV and NLT])
- Petey's description of 80-HD on page 35 (race car brain with bicycle brakes) was coined by Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, MD describing ADHD, the inspiration for the character 80-HD.
- Petey's rant to Li'l Petey on Page 36-38 is inspired by this quote:
- “Life is never fair, and perhaps it is a good thing for most of us that it is not.” -Oscar Wilde
- Chapter 14 was inspired by The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley as well as Joel Barker's adaptation.
- Downward Dog calling the Fair Fairy "dude" might be similar to how Marcie from the Peanuts comic strip calls Peppermint Patty "sir", even though she is actually a girl.
- The tadpoles' song about Barky McTreeface is in the same tune as the children's song Frosty the Snowman.
Gallery[]
Covers[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Others[]
| 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) |