5 Illustrated Facts About Awesome Dog 5000 vs. Mayor Bossypants

Awesome Dog 5000 is back, and this time he’s leveled up and ready to take on a brand new supervillain – Mayor Bossypants!

If you’re not in the know about the Awesome Dog 5000 series, let us catch you up. Marty, Ralph, and Skyler are a kick-butt trio when battling in their favorite video game, but in the real world, they’re just regular kids. That is until they meet Awesome Dog, a robotic dog with awesome power-ups like the ability to run at turbo-speed and a super-sonic bark.

The highly anticipated sequel, Awesome Dog 5000 vs. Mayor Bossypants, is out today, and the stakes are higher than ever! Awesome Dog’s heroics are front-page news, and Mayor Bossypants isn’t happy about it. He’ll do anything to stop Awesome Dog for good, including taking down anyone who gets in his way. It looks like Marty, Ralph, and Skyler are in for their most epic battle yet!

We love the Awesome Dog 5000 series because not only are they super silly, but there’s a real mystery to solve at the end of each book. We love a story that will thrill us, make us laugh, and then let us put on our detective hats and play along, and we think you will too!

That’s why we’re so excited to share that author Justin Dean is on YAYOMG! today dishing out some totally awesome Awesome Dog 5000 facts – complete with exclusive illustrations! Go beyond the panels of this energetic graphic novel series below.

FUN FACTS: Awesome Dog 5000 vs. Mayor Bossypants:

The first book is dedicated to my son because he gave me the idea for the story. When he was younger, he wanted to get a dog so he could train it to do a bunch of tricks: roll over, fetch, speak, make him a sandwich, do his math homework. I asked him what he would name him, and my son said, “Awesome Dog. Because he can do everything.” And the story rocketed off from there.

I’m a self-taught illustrator. I never went to school for art, but I always loved cartoons and comic books (big shout out to Ducktales and Spider-man!). I would practice drawing every day as a kid, copying my favorite characters and making my own comic books.

After years of doing art as a hobby, my wife encouraged me to do it professionally, and it led me to become an author-illustrator (biggest shout out to my wife!).

The character design of Ralph is based a lot on me as a kid. I never combed my hair, had big glasses, and would usually wear the same coat every day. I still spout off random ‘Fun Facts!’ like Ralph does.

Fun Fact! Dog noses are as unique to each other as human fingerprints. So the next time a dog commits a crime, make sure the cops dust for noseprints.

The first version of the book only had two kids in the Zeroes Club, Marty, and Ralph. Skyler was added later as a suggestion from my editor to round out the team with a different perspective. It was a great idea, and now she’s probably the coolest member of the club.

(Fun Fact 4 1/2: Skyler’s got a purple streak in her hair because it’s my favorite color).

Awesome Dog 5000 is inspired by my real life. Well, kind of. I never had a robot dog or battled a mad scientist or anything, but I did move to a new school like Marty. My family traveled around a lot growing up and I went to six different schools from 1^st to 6^th grade. It was very hectic starting at a new school every year, but I got to make a lot of friends.

If you love the action-packed Awesome Dog 5000 series, we think you’ll love the hilarious antics in the Real Pigeons series. Check out this exclusive minicomic where Homey Pigeon dishes out his best crime-fighting tips!