by L.A. Mood Comics and Games

By Dan Brown

I have a theory.

It goes like this: All the things we got punished for as kids, are the same things that make us successful as adults.

Dav Pilkey is certainly proof of that.  (It’s pronounced “Dave.”)

Who’s he? He’s the guy who failed at childhood but is an astonishing success as a grownup.

And the things that got him in trouble when he was younger are the same attributes behind his outrageous triumphs now that he’s older.

Pilkey is in the news this week because a movie he inspired, Dog Man, is the top-earning film in theatres right now.

Pilkey drew and wrote the comic series upon which the animated Dog Man motion picture is based. It features a dog-headed police officer and was popular enough to seize the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office.

Pilkey has also created many other comics series, including the Captain Underpants books, which you may have heard of.

But the adults in his life weren’t always encouraging.

In fact, his fantastic creativity is the reason why as a young learner, Pilkey’s desk was placed outside the classroom – in the school corridor away from other students.

“When Dav Pilkey was a kid, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia,” the author’s note in one of his books explains, “Dav was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit out in the hallway every day.”

However, he was not deterred: “Luckily, Dav loved to draw and make up stories. He spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books – the very first adventures of Dog Man and Captain Underpants.”

At least one of his teachers tried to put a stop to this.

“In the second grade, Dav’s teacher ripped up his comics and told him he couldn’t spend the rest of his life making silly books. Fortunately, Dav was not a very good listener.”
And thus a comic empire was born.

Pilkey’s other characters include Big Dog and Little Dog, Dragon, Cat Kid and Super Diaper Baby.

I don’t know about you, but the unnamed Grade 2 teacher from Pilkey’s past calls to my mind these Pink Floyd lyrics:

“When we grew up and went to school
There were certain teachers who
Would hurt the children in any way they could
By pouring their derision upon anything we did
Exposing every weakness, however carefully hidden by the kid”

I know there are many supportive adults out there, but the ones at Pilkey’s school aimed to crush his spirit; all they actually accomplished was to guarantee he would become one of pop culture’s best-known and most successful creators. Almost every other author working today would love to have his track record.

Nor does my theory apply just to the creator of Dog Man.

Not to make this about myself, but I feel like I was treated the same way by a few of my teachers – even if my desk never got permanently moved out to the hall.

When report card time came around, mine were filled with comments from teachers that went something like this:
“Daniel spends his time in class socializing and talking too much with the other children.”
“Daniel would rather read his comic books than the class-assigned readings.”
“Daniel doesn’t care enough about his school work and prefers to draw superheroes.”

You can probably guess where I’m going with this.

Eventually, I graduated from elementary and high school. Then, years later, my job path took me into journalism, a career in which I’m required to strike up conversations with the people around me all the time.

For decades, I’ve made my living talking to strangers. Turns out all that socializing was good practice.

As a kid, I read Marvel comics like Fantastic Four and the Uncanny X-Men. Now I write about the entertainment industry and report on the latest superhero blockbusters because those throwaway comics of my school years have moved to the centre of the cultural discourse, a development my teachers didn’t see coming.

And as I look back on all the sketching I did in elementary school, I realize that was when I started developing the observational skills that would serve me so well as a reporter.

So, parents, take note.

If your child has their nose stuck in a book all the time, that habit will likely pay off down the road. It will open doors you can’t even see from this point in their life. They may very well wind up a writer like me.

Or, if your son’s or daughter’s favourite thing to do is play hockey, you may have a future athlete or coach on your hands.

If your progeny seem to have an unhealthy interest in bugs and animals, they may one day turn out to be a scientist or veterinarian.

You get the idea.

Look, I don’t know what your kids like to do.

But I do know there’s a more-than-fair chance that what seems like a silly pursuit could one day turn out to be more than just a childish fixation; it just might become their life’s work.

Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.