The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby
 | |
| Author | Dav Pilkey (credited as George Beard) |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Dav Pilkey (credited as Harold Hutchins) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Captain Underpants series |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher |
Blue Sky (US), Scholastic (US) |
Publication date | February 5, 2002 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | 9780545385794 |
| Followed by | Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers |
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby is an American children's novel by Dav Pilkey, credited as "George Beard and Harold Hutchins", categorized as part of the author's Captain Underpants series of books as a spin-off to the series.[1]
Plot
Introduction
George and Harold skate over ketchup packs in the gym, until Mr. Krupp makes them clean up the mess and meet at his office. Writing a sentence over and over wouldn't teach them anything, so he assigns them to write a 100-page essay on good citizenship, with that they can't turn it into a Captain Underpants story. The boys make such a story with a new superhero, which causes Krupp to make them write sentences.
Main plot
Expectant "Bill" and Mary Hoskins rush to the hospital, while Deputy Dangerous and his talking Danger Dog drain Captain Underpants of his superpowers with Deputy's fitted ray, which then converts it to a liquid the two would consume, but Danger only drinks half of it when the police arrives, whom the both evade. Back at the hospital, Mary gives birth to a boy named Billy, whom the attending doctor accidentally throws into the power container. Billy drinks the juice, gaining the super powers and he overpowers both Deputy Dangerous and Danger Dog, both of whom are then apprehended by the police. Billy then flies back to the maternity ward.
Danger Dog and Deputy Dangerous escape to their secret lab, where the latter invents a crib device connected by satellite that they deliver to the Hopkins under euphumistic pseudonyms, "Deputy Un-Dangerous" and "Safety Dog". Billy poops before midnight, and Mary gives him a very nice bath just as the "Heat-Seeking Dish" turns on. The device transits the poop, turning Deputy Dangerous into a small piece of turd. The next morning, Deputy Dangerous invents the "Robo-Ant 2000" so he can take over the world, but Danger Dog coins the name "Deputy Doo-Doo", then changes signs around. Billy hears the robot, but is taken by Deputy Doo-Doo to a nuclear power plant. Danger Dog saves Billy, while the Ant falls into the power plant instead. Bill and Mary want to keep "Safety Dog", but the Landlord worries that Danger Dog might stain the carpet, but changes his mind when they put a diaper on him and rename him Diaper Dog.
Meanwhile, back at the power plant, radioactivity causes Deputy Doo-Doo to grow into a giant and he resumes rampaging through the city. Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog fly out to stop him, but since Deputy Doo-Doo's now radioactive, they can't touch him. They instead trick him into attacking himself and wrap him up in a giant toilet roll, sending him to Uranus. On the way back to Earth, at a "Starbutts" on Mars, they decide to take some Super Power Juice back to Earth and go to the laundromat where Captain Underpants is held captive. They restore his powers, and all is right with the world.
Characters
- Billy Hoskins/Super Diaper Baby – the book's protagonist; he is a newborn baby who gains Captain Underpants' powers.
- Danger/Diaper Dog – the Hoskins' pet puggle and Super Diaper Baby's sidekick. He was once allied with Deputy Dangerous, but only because the villain gave him ample "kibbles". He gained superpowers by drinking half of the liquid produced by Deputy Dangerous' power-draining ray.
- Deputy Dangerous/Doo-Doo – the main antagonist of the book. He becomes a piece of poop due to a mishap in one of his attempts to steal Super Diaper Baby's powers and grows huge when he gets dumped in radioactive waste.
- Dr. Dilbert Dinkle/Rip Van Tinkle – the main antagonist of Super Diaper Baby 2. He once was a criminal/inventor, now shunned everywhere due to his stench, as simple water-turned-urine. Dav Pilkey originally planned to name Tinkle "Pee Pee Longstockings".
- Petey – a grumpy tabby cat. Petey dislikes Rip Van Tinkle's attitude and bad breath. He is the controller of the Robo Kitty and Supa - Mecha Kitty 3000. He appeared in this book as well as the six Dog Man novels.
Additional characters
- Bill Hoskins - Billy's father.
- Mary Hoskins - Billy's mother.
- Captain Underpants - George and Harold's superhero. Played by Ed Helms.
- Starbutts Giraffe Employee - a three-eyed giraffe who works at Starbutts. Possible parody of Geoffrey the Giraffe.
Sequel
| Author | Dav Pilkey (credited as George Beard) |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Dav Pilkey (credited as Harold Hutchins) |
| Language | English |
| Series | Captain Underpants series |
| Genre | Children's novel |
Publication date | June 28, 2011 |
| ISBN | 9780545175326 |
| Preceded by | The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby |
On the last page of the book, an advertisement for a sequel titled Super Diaper Baby 2: Invasion of the Potty Snatchers can be found. The book took longer than the anticipated release due to Dav Pilkey taking care of his terminally ill father. On the back page there was a picture of the book with the words The Third Epic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins underneath. The long-awaited book was finally published on June 28, 2011, named The Third Graphic Novel.
Plot summary
Introduction
After Mr. Krupp bans Captain Underpants comics, George and Harold decide to create a new comic book called "Super Diaper Baby", which shocks Mr. Krupp into putting the boys to detention, then he rips up and throws it away, and shouts at the boys that they should write about something besides poop. They can't think of anything, so Mr. Krupp gives them How the Grinch Stole Christmas since it was his favorite book as a kid. The book inspires the boys and, agreeing with Krupp as well, they make a sequel comic about pee, which infuriates Mr. Krupp into putting them to detention again and making them do busy work.
Plot
The Hoskins and Diaper Dog set up picnic in the park, where Billy ends up over a tree, but then he and Diaper Dog force a doll back from a bully, get a ball out of a portable toilet and get a toe-broken kid to the hospital in a few seconds. That night, Mr. Hoskins feels depressed, but after a reminder by his wife, he decides to read "Mechafrog and Robotoad are Enemies" to Billy, but he can now read it to him, instead, due to the powers he gained. Meanwhile, two criminals called Dr. Dilbert Dinkle and Petey the Cat sneak into Jim's Bank, but before Dr. Dinkle can measure for his invention, careless Petey accidentally pushes the lever and Dr. Dinkle turns into water, then Petey accidentally destroys the invention, meaning that Dr. Dinkle is made out of water permanently, but Dr. Dinkle thinks that he actually likes being made out of water when he is able to turn into a puddle and sneak into the vault to get the money. Back at his home, Dr. Dinkle finds out he will never pay the water bill, but his supply is cut off after two weeks. Petey complains he needs water for drinking, but Dr. Dinkle goes to sleep and Petey drinks him in revenge. The next morning, Dr. Dinkle yells in surprise to be let out, right when Petey needs to urinate and the cat leaps into his litter box. Dr. Dinkle discovers that he is now made out of urine as Petey coins the name "Rip Van Tinkle" and after Rip Van Tinkle's dismay, the cat points jokes to him, making him go to multiple places, all of which kick him out for reeking.
The following night, Rip Van Tinkle puts Petey in the Robo Kitty 3000, before he evaporates and rains pee on people. One drop tricks Billy that he will repair the toilet, gives him a juice box in bed, then the Kitty destroys the toilet. The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins are in pain, but put on diapers, while the mayor decides to drain the pool. The pee drops unite to create Rip Van Tinkle, while Petey steals diapers to sell to the people who were robbed of toilets, but Rip Van Tinkle takes Petey's money and the cat soaks him up with toilet paper. Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog arrive, only for Petey to evolve the Robo Kitty into the Supa-Mecha Kitty 3000. Diaper Baby flies to buy catnip and pour it inside the control seat. Petey goes crazy after having the slightest sniff of the catnip, bounces around, and detaches the Supa - Mecha Kitty 3000's head. Super Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog grab Petey and carry him off to jail.
A drop of pee gets flicked up and lands in the Mayor's pool, where it grows into an enlarged Rip Van Tinkle, whom the duo finds wreaking havoc at the train tracks. Rip Van Tinkle uses the train as nunchucks and hits both of them. Rip Van Tinkle overpowers the two, and smashes a building right on top of them. However, Super Diaper Baby remembers that a week before, he put his juice box in the freezer and it froze solid, giving Diaper Dog the idea to push down on the Earth. It works, making the Earth go farther and farther from the Sun. Rip Van Tinkle freezes and Diaper Dog and Super Diaper Baby carry Rip Van Tinkle while Super Diaper Baby gets an idea of how to cheer up his father.
Back at the Hoskins' house, Billy tells Mr. Hoskins that there was an ice monster outside (Rip Van Tinkle) and tells his dad he's brave enough to stand up to him. Diaper Dog, hiding behind and making a voice for Rip Van Tinkle, talks to Mr. Hoskins. The "ice monster" is "scared" of Mr. Hoskins' talking and leaves Earth. While someone asks for Mr. Hoskins' autograph, Super Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog take Rip Van Tinkle to Uranus, only for Deputy Doo Doo to say The Baby again.. They come back, and take a picture with Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins with a news reporter and put on a newspaper saying "Diaper Clad Dad Saves The Earth!".
Controversy
Much like Captain Underpants, Super Diaper Baby was also banned in several schools for being inappropriate for children. It also faced criticism, along with the rest of the graphic novels, as some people claimed it would make children bad at spelling.
References
- ↑ Pilkey, Dav (2003). "Dav's Books". pilkey.com. Eyeland Studio. Archived from the original (Web page) on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.