Popverse's top stories

• Magic: The Gathering just realized Edge of Eternities has a broken card, and wants you to change the rules on it yourself
• The hottest character to draw in superhero comics is Absolute Batman - because he’s huge! Just ask Nick Dragotta and Daniel Warren Johnson
• Deadpool was created because Marvel's Spider-Man wasn't funny anymore thanks to Todd McFarlane, says Rob Liefeld

The world of Captain Underpants is growing. Dav Pilkey’s now iconic character has spawned a whole universe of characters, including Dog Man and Cat Kid. Now, Captain Underpants is getting his own manga series for kids, which will follow the storyline of the very first Captain Underpants novel from back in 1997.

The announcement had a handful of details about the new manga. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga is due out on April 7, 2026 and will feature art from Motojiro, a manga artist best known for adapting children’s books in Japan into manga. “It is a huge honor to see Motojiro’s rendering of the Captain Underpants illustrations into manga. His vibrant art inspired me to dig deeper, write new dialogue and flesh out the story even further,” Dav Pilkey said in a press release.

For those unfamiliar with Captain Underpants, the series ran from 1997 through 2015, with 12 books being released in the main series during that period. (There were additional releases, including a number of activity books, collected editions, and the Super Duper Baby books.) Captain Underpants is a superhero created by two kids who accidentally becomes real when they hypnotize their school principal, but no-one should really think too hard about how that actually works; the series sold more than 80 million copies during its initial release, and was translated into more than 20 languages. 

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga will be released in full color and, unlike most manga, will read from left to right like most English graphic novels. It will have an age rating of 7+, making it a great gateway for a new generation of fans to jump on board one of the most popular children’s series of the last 20 years. It marks the first time that the original Captain Underpants novel will be directly adapted into comic form, but one thing that long-time fans can look forward to returning is Pilkey’s trademark Flip-o-Rama animations in the corner of the pages.

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Manga is due out on April 7, 2026, with writing from series writer Dav Pilkey and artwork by manga artist Motojiro.

Want to know what's coming up next in pop culture? Check out Popverse's guides to:

• Upcoming movies
• Upcoming TV shows
• Upcoming comics
• Upcoming games
• Upcoming fiction books
• Upcoming comic conventions