Big plans in store for Dav Pilkey’s ‘Dog Man’ series

NEW YORK – Dav Pilkey and his publisher have high hopes for the next installments of his bestselling “Dog Man” series.

On Tuesday, Scholastic announced a first printing of 5 million copies for “Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild,” which comes out Dec. 24. By comparison, Michelle Obama’s million-selling “Becoming” had an announced first printing of 1.8 million, since raised to more than 3 million.

Next August, Scholastic will release “Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls,” the seventh of Pilkey’s graphic novels about the crime-fighting superhero. Pilkey, also known for his “Captain Underpants” books, said in a statement that the “Dog Man” books were inspired by his years of feeling like a “misfit” in school. In second grade, Pilkey was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.