Captain Underpants - A Hero For Our Kids?

2:09 PM  ,  

Singapore
October 2013
 
This is what Merlion Wayfarer spotted in a second-hand bookstore in the heartlands...
 

   
Apparently, according to the retail assistant, this series is very popular with primary school children here coz of the portrayal of comic and funny characters that they can identify with.
 
So... Is Captain Underpants a good hero for our kids?
 
Captain Underpants is a children's novel series by American author and illustrator, Dav Pilkey. The series revolves around two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, and Captain Underpants, an aptly named superhero from one of George & Harold's comic books, that accidentally becomes real when George and Harold hypnotize their megalomaniacal principal, Mr. Krupp. The book series includes 10 books and 3 spin-offs, and won a Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Award in 2007. As of 2013, more than 50 million books had been sold in the United States DreamWorks Animation acquired rights to the series to make an animated feature film adaptation.
 
The Characters...
  
  • Principal Benjamin Krupp - The obese and extremely cruel principal of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School and the main antagonist (at least when no real dangers are present). For unexplained reasons, Mr. Krupp has a very deep hatred of children, and also tries to protect Jerome Horwitz Elementary from George and Harold's antics. Why he is so mean to children in general is unknown. In the first book, he gets hypnotized by George and Harold for being so mean to them and becomes the superhero Captain Underpants, with a flaw in their attempt to return him to normal resulting in him alternating between Captain Underpants and Mr. Krupp whenever someone snaps their fingers (As Mr. Krupp) and pours water on him (Captain Underpants). He does not know of his superhero identity, though in the ninth book it's revealed that he does know of the real Captain Underpants's existence.
        
  • Captain Underpants - The alter ego of Mr. Krupp, when he is hypnotized to think he is "Captain Underpants," a character created by George and Harold. He always wears underpants and a red cape with black polka-dots. Whenever Mr. Krupp hears the sound of fingers snapping, he turns into Captain Underpants, and turns back into Mr. Krupp when he is soaked with water. Originally, he did not have any real superpowers (even though he believed he did), so George and Harold would have to follow Mr. Krupp every time he transformed into Captain Underpants to make sure he did not get hurt. He gained his superpowers in the third book by drinking some "Extra Strength Super Power Juice" found on an alien spaceship. Captain Underpants is considered to be the 'light side' of Mr. Krupp himself, as he is nice and kind to everyone, especially children. In his Captain Underpants form, Mr. Krupp seems to know everything about Captain Underpants from George and Harold's comic books. This may be due to the fact that he actually read all the comic books made by the two boys, which he confiscated by the hundreds over the years. 
Hmmm, walking around as a superhero in underpants... hynopsis... alter ego... dark side... split personality?
 
You make the choice...
   
 
More photos are available on Merlion Wayfarer's Picasa at :
  

Sources