Super Diaper Baby is the first graphic novel Spin-Off of the Captain Underpants series by George Beard and Harold Hutchins (actually Dav Pilkey) about Billy Hoskins, a baby who accidentally ingests super power juice.
After George and Harold got into trouble with Mr. Krupp, he ordered them to write a 100 page essay about being a good citizen. He also specifically berates them that they better not turn in a 100 page comic book about Captain Underpants. George and Harold are disappointed that they can't write about Captain Underpants... so they decide to make a comic book about a new superhero instead!
The first book, The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (2002), is about Billy's Superhero Origin and the uprising of a villain named Deputy Danger and his Nice Guy dog.
The sequel, Super Diaper Baby 2: Invasion of the Potty Snatchers, was released in 2011. The book was ostensibly made after Mr. Krupp declared George and Harold's first comic book to be garbage. The book catalogs the nefarious acts of Dr. Dinkle and his cat Petey.
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Both books
- Exact Words:
- The in-universe origin of the Super Diaper Baby comic books. One day, Mr. Krupp, realizing how ineffective Writing Lines had been as a punishment, decided to punish George and Harold for making mischief by making them write a 100-page essay on "good citizenship", and specifically told them not to turn it into a 100-page Captain Underpants comic book. He did not say anything about not writing a 100-page comic book about any other superhero, which led to the two creating Super Diaper Baby.
- Likewise, the reason that the sequel exists is that Mr. Krupp told George and Harold they were writing too much about poop, but did not say anything about pee.
- Flying Brick: From drinking Super-Power Juice, Super Diaper Baby and Diaper Dog have the same classic superhero powers as Captain Underpants, like flight and super strength.
- Meaningful Name: Three guesses as to what Super Diaper Baby, Diaper Dog, and Deputy Doo-Doo are.
- Mythology Gag: Piqua Pizza Palace appears in both books in the Super Diaper Baby series, which was first mentioned in Captain Underpants.
- Shout-Out: All three books so far contain a line referencing the song "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods.
- Pilkey has noted on his website that he named the main character of Super Diaper Baby Billy for the sole purpose of referencing the song.
- In Super Diaper Baby 2, Mr. Hoskins attempts to read Mechafrog and Robotoad are Enemies to Billy.
- The elementary school George and Harold attend is named after Jerome Horowitz, more famously known by the Stage Name Curly Howard.
- Talking Animal: Danger Dog/Diaper Dog and Petey the Cat are the respective talking sidekicks of Deputy Dangerous/Deputy Doo-Doo and Dr. Dinkle.
- Toilet Humor: Heavily used in both books, especially with the Big Bad, Deputy Doo-Doo.
- Uranus Is Showing: Both Deputy Doo-Doo and Rip Van Tinkle get deposited on Uranus. 'nuff said."Welcome to Uranus (Please don't make fun of our name)"
The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby
- Epic Fail: When Billy is born, the doctor's attempt to give him the "spank of life" somehow ends with him accidentally throwing the baby out the window.Mr. Hoskins: Look what you did!
Mrs. Hoskins: My baby!
Doctor: Hey, I said I was sorry. Jeez! - Enraged by Idiocy: The hospital nurse gets very angry when Bill and Mary Hoskins keep misunderstanding her questions and think she is asking them about the baby.Nurse: Name?
Mary: Gosh, we haven't picked out a name yet.
Nurse: Not the baby's name! Your name!
Bill: Oh! Bill and Mary Hoskins.
Nurse: Age?
Bill: Gee, I guess he will be zero.
Nurse: Not the baby's age! Your age!
Mary: Oh! 30 and a half.
Nurse: Occupation?
Mary: Well, he won't be old enough for a job just yet.
Nurse: (yelling so loud that Bill and Mary are blown over) OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! - Even Evil Has Standards: Danger Dog is okay with robbing Captain Underpants of his powers so he and Deputy Dangerous can rule the world, but tossing Super Diaper Baby into a nuclear plant is too much for him.
- Excuse Plot: The in-universe reason why George and Harold wrote such a long comic book that wasn't about Captain Underpants is because Mr. Krupp ordered them to write a 100 page essay about being a good citizen, and specifically told them that they couldn't make a 100 page comic book about Captain Underpants. However, after the prologue, this plot point is never brought up again.
- Funny Background Event: When Deputy Dangerous looks in a mirror and realizes he's been turned into poop by his own machine, he yells, "What the...I'm a piece of poo!" but his reflection says, "What the...he's a piece of poo!"
- Heel–Face Turn: In Super Diaper Baby, Danger Dog changes sides after seeing Deputy Doo-Doo try to murder the titular infant.
- Hey, You!: Billy never refers to Diaper Dog by name and instead refers to him as "doggy".
- I'll Kill You!: After Deputy Dangerous gets turned into a talking piece of poop, he yells, "I'LL KEEEEEEEL YOU!" at Diaper Dog for making too many poop jokes, ending with asking the Deputy to read him Winnie the Pooh.
- Meaningful Rename: Danger Dog comes to live with the Hoskins family, but the landlord won't allow it unless he wears a diaper to keep him from pooping on the carpet. So he gets renamed to Diaper Dog.
- Merging Mistake: Deputy Dangerous tries to suck Billy's superpowers out of his body and give them to himself, but Billy poops in his diaper and his mom removes him from the crib to clean him up. Deputy ends up being fused with the poop left behind in the crib.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: After stealing Captain Underpants' powers and turning them into Super-Power Juice, Deputy Dangerous lets his sidekick Danger Dog drink half of it first. Before he can drink the other half, Billy falls into the glass of Super-Power Juice and drinks what's left.
- Obvious Rule Patch: Mr. Krupp assigns George and Harold to write a 100-page-long essay about good citizenship and specifically forbids them from writing a 100-page-long Captain Underpants comic. George and Harold still end up writing a 100-page-long comic, just one that stars Super Diaper Baby instead of Captain Underpants.
- Older Sidekick: Danger/Diaper Dog is an adult dog who was alive before Billy/Super Diaper Baby was born.
- Police Are Useless: Played with; the police arrest Deputy Dangerous and Danger Dog, but it doesn't do any good since Danger Dog breaks them out of jail with his superpowers. They also forget to rescue a de-powered Captain Underpants from the fake underwear cleaning business.
- Powers as Programs: In Super Diaper Baby, Deputy Dangerous steals Captain Underpants' powers and distills them into a liquid, which gets transferred to Danger Dog and Billy when they drink it. The Captain regains his powers later when Super Diaper Baby buys a carton of Super Power Juice from Mars.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Danger Dog, Deputy Dangerous' sidekick, admits at the beginning that he's not actually evil, but rather just with the Deputy for the kibbles. Later, the Deputy's attempt to kill Super Diaper Baby causes Danger Dog to have a Heel–Face Turn and save the baby.
- Puzzle Boss: Billy and Diaper Dog have to fight a mutated Deputy Doo-Doo, but they can't touch him because he's covered in radiation. They have to trick him into beating himself up instead.
- Siding with the Suffering: Danger Dog is really more of a Punch-Clock Villain, but he sticks by Deputy Dangerous's side to get food. That is, until Deputy Dangerous tosses baby Billy into a nuclear power plant, then Danger Dog flies in to catch Billy. He becomes Billy's best friend and changes his name to Diaper Dog.
- Talking Poo: Deputy Dangerous tries to use an invention called the Danger-Crib 2000™ to transfer Super Diaper Baby's powers to him, but Super Diaper Baby's mom pulls him out of the crib at the last second, leaving only a poop-filled diaper in it when Deputy Dangerous activates the machine, accidentally turning himself into "Deputy Doo-Doo".
- Toilet-Drinking Dog Gag: While Deputy Doo-Doo is destroying the city in his Robo-Ant 2000, Danger Dog notices a sign that says "It's fun to shop, eat, and drink out at the mall. All of the stores have clean toilets and big sales!" and destroys part of it with his eye lasers so that it says, "It's fun to drink out of the toilet." He adds, "Tee hee. It's true, you know!"
- Upgrade Artifact: Deputy Dangerous tries to use a power-sapping crib to steal Super Diaper Baby's powers. He ends up zapping a bowel movement instead, and turns into Deputy Doo-Doo.
- Would Hurt a Child: When Deputy Doo-Doo gets the upper hand in his fight with Billy, he prepares to throw him into a nuclear power plant...
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: ...but Danger Dog objects, flies into the nuclear silo and saves Billy by flying away with him.
Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers
- And Then What?: After Rip Van Tinkle and Petey successfully complete their evil plan to destroy the toilets of everyone in town so they'll wet their pants, Petey asks what the next part of the plan is.Rip Van Tinkle: Um...I don't know. Wanna watch a movie or something?
Petey: That wasn't your whole plan, was it?
Rip Van Tinkle: What?
Petey: Are you saying we went through all that trouble just so people would wet their pants and smell like pee?
Rip Van Tinkle: Umm...kinda...
Petey: AAAAUGH! That's the dumbest evil plan I ever heard of! - Brainy Baby: It's only been a week since Billy was born, but due to the effects of the Super-Power Juice, he is very smart and can already read entire books.
- Comically Missing the Point: The origin of Super Diaper Baby 2. After reading the first Super Diaper Baby comic book, Mr. Krupp yells at George and Harold for writing too many comic books about poop, and gives them a copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (with the last 7 pages ripped out) to give them more ideas. George and Harold agree with him, surprisingly, and decide to write about something else other than poop. They end up writing a comic book about pee.
- From a Single Cell: Petey soaks up Rip Van Tinkle with a giant roll of toilet paper, except for one tiny drop. He sends the tiny drop of Rip Van Tinkle flying off into the distance and it lands in the pool that's filled with pee, since the mayor was letting everyone use it as a giant makeshift toilet. Rip Van Tinkle absorbs all the pee, grows to giant size and starts rampaging across the city.
- Harmless Liquefaction: Petey accidentally turns Dr. Dinkle into a being made out of water after he inadvertently leans on the lever of the Liquidater 2000. Later, Dr. Dinkle turns into sentient urine after Petey drinks him and pees him out.
- Rip Van Tinkle: The Big Bad is named "Rip Van Tinkle".
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Petey the cat started as the sidekick of a villain in this book. He has since shown up as the main villain of the Dog Man series.
- Whole-Plot Reference: A chapter in the sequel is a nigh-verbatim parody of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
