The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future

The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future

Book cover
Author	Dav Pilkey ("credited" as George Beard)
Illustrator	Dav Pilkey ("credited" as Harold Hutchins)
Language	English
Series	Captain Underpants series
Genre	Children's novel
Publisher	Blue Sky (US), Scholastic (US)
Publication date	August 10, 2010
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	176
ISBN	978-0-545-17530-2

The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future is a graphic novel written by Dav Pilkey, ^[1] the second spin-off of the Captain Underpants series. The book is credited to Captain Underpants characters "George Beard" as the author and "Harold Hutchins" as the illustrator.

The plot of the book involves George and Harold, the lead characters from Pilkey's Captain Underpants series, complaining that scientists do not know everything, so they make a comic book about science facts.

In March 2021, Pilkey and the publisher announced that the book would be removed from the market in response to a petition claiming it perpetuated racist stereotypes.

Plot

In Cave-land Ohio, 500,001 BC, the tribal leader of Cave-land, Big Chief Goppernopper, forces Gak, the older sister of Ook, to marry him to keep Ook and Gluk from bothering him. After saving her from a sandpit, the two Cave-kids befriend one of the dinosaur species Mog-Mog, and her baby, and stop the wedding. Angered, Goppernopper walks away until he meets his descendant, J.P., who is the CEO from 2222 A.D. The Goppernoppers steals natural resources from caveman days through a time portal, since natural resources will be used up by that year. Ex-Chief goes back to the past and forces every cave-person in Cave-land to belong to the Goppernopper Enterprises. The Cave-kids and the baby Mog-Mog are shoveling until the Goppernoppers take them to 2222 to torture them, but the baby helps them escape and the three hide in Master Wong's School of Kung-Fu.

Ook and Gluk grow up, training under Master Wong for 7 years, but the cave-kids have to give the right answer: "Who is the greatest man?" When it's time to save their people, they finally answer: nobody. Wong finally awards them black belts. They and their dinosaur friend Lily travel back to caveman days (in 500,008 BC) and free the slaves. Goppernopper returns and orders his Mecha-saurs to attack the cave kids and dinosaur, but they spray-paint on the Enterprises building, then an explosive tank, which also destroys the Mecha-saurs themselves. Goppernopper sends them a letter, that Wong and Lan will be executed if the kids won't surrender. Back to 2229, Ook and Gluk plead with the Goppernoppers that they will do anything to satisfy them, and they handcuff the three but vow to execute them all. Wong tells them to remember their training, then, when J.P. prepares his ray, the Cave-kids ask: "Who is the greatest man?" J.P. and Chief answer themselves, and their argument eventually makes J.P. shoot and kill Chief, which accidentally erases himself and his damage on the world from history. The Cave-kids and Lily run back to the disappearing portal, but Ook soon returns for Lan, who agrees to be his cave wife, and they warp back together, while 2229 receives a brighter and peaceful future. Lily finally reunites with her mother, while the Cave-kids, Lan, and the dinosaurs return happily to Caveland.

Characters

• Ook Schadowski – a Caveman who is best friends with Gluk. He loses the same tooth twice throughout the story. Ook later marries Lan.
• Gluk Jones – a Caveman who is the best friend of Ook, he later on married Ook's sister Gak, he has had an afro ever since birth.
• Gak Schadowski – Ook's sister who later becomes Gluk's wife.
• Master Derrick Wong – Ook and Gluk's kung-fu teacher from the 23rd century, who taught the two heroes kung-fu for many years. He is the father of Lan. It is unknown about his wife, so it is assumed he is either a widower or is divorced.
• Lan Wong – Master Wong's daughter, who later becomes Ook's wife and moves to Caveland to have her marriage, leaving her father.
• Mog-Mog – a tyrannosaurus rex who hated Ook and Gluk when they were kids, but became friends after Ook and Gluk saved her life.
• Lily Mog – Mog-Mog's dinosaur daughter. Lan named her Lily after her favorite flower; she always vomited when spinning in circles. After she was separated from Mog-Mog after Chief Goppernopper's destruction, Ook and Gluk had to look after Lily.
• Big Chief Goppernopper – The dictator of Caveland and one of the two main antagonists.
• Big Chief Goppernopper's Guards
• J.P. Goppernopper – The chief executive officer of Goppernopper Enterprises and the descendant of Chief Goppernopper. He is one of the two main antagonists. A play on John D. Rockefeller, the famous oil tycoon.
• J.P. Goppernopper's Workers
• The Mechasaurs – They are a robotic T-Rex, Triceratops and Pterodactyl. They are Big Chief Goppernopper's robot dinosaurs who attempt to attack Ook and Gluk.
• Gluk Jones Jr. – The son of Gluk and Gak Jones.
• Ook Schadowski Jr. – The son of Ook and Lan Schadowski.
• George Beard – Author of Captain Underpants. (Only appeared in the About the Author and Illustrator page).
• Harold Hutchins – Illustrator of Captain Underpants, Super Diaper Baby, The Amazing Cow Lady and Hairy Potty. (Only appeared in the About the Author and Illustrator page).
• Professor Gaylord Sneedly - The scientist and father of Melvin Sneedly, George and Harold's nemesis.

Reception

The book was at #2 on the New York Times hardcover graphic novel best-sellers list its first week of release, ^[2] and remained at first place for six consecutive weeks. It served 33 weeks on the list, ^[3] its period on the list overlapping with the paperback edition's presence on the paperback best sellers list. ^[3]

School Library Journal described the book's humor as "completely immature, and for the target audience, completely hilarious". Booklist suggested that the book would "appeal to those who like silly adventures, puke-based humor, and kung-fu fighting." Kate Pavao of Common Sense Media give the rate three stars out of five, stating that "Asian stereotypes mar Captain Underpants spin-off." ^[4]

Removal from market

On March 25, 2021, Dav Pilkey stated on his YouTube channel that he and Scholastic had removed the book from print in response to a Change.org petition of 289 signatures by Korean-American Billy Kim, accusing the book of stereotyping harmful to Asians, specifically singling out the "[Chinese] kung fu master [Master Wong] wearing what's purported to be a traditional-style Tang coat", for using "stereotypical Chinese proverbs", and for having "a storyline that has the kung fu master rescued by the non-Asian [ biracial ] protagonists using their kung fu skills." ^[5]

According to the video, all money that Pilkey and his wife have made from the book would be donated to "charities that provide free books, art supplies, and theater for children in underserved communities; organizations that promote diversity in children's books and publishing; and organizations designed to stop Asian hatred." ^[6]

The decision to pull the novel from publication was criticised by Singaporean Melissa Chen of The New York Post and Reason editor-in-chief Katherine Mangu-Ward. Chen praised "Wong [a]s a prime example of a positive portrayal of an Asian character in literature, [coming] across as endearing and full of wisdom", and refuted Kim's derision of the novel's Chinese proverbs as stereotypical. Mangu-Ward called attention to previous campaigns to remove Pilkey's Captain Underpants books from publication, calling Kung-Fu Cavemen "charming, not racist", and cited "Pilkey's whole gag [as] the censorial impulse [being] ridiculous and kids instinctively know[ing] it should be mocked." ^{[7] [8]} She called for its republication amongst a list of books banned in America in August 2022. ^[9] Following the novel's removal from the market, Bleeding Cool began promoting how physical copies of the novel were now selling for $160 on eBay. ^[10]

References

1. Lee, Felicia R. (18 March 2010). "Good News for Fans of Bathroom Humor". The New York Times . Retrieved June 13, 2011.
2. "Dav Pilkey". The New York Times. 20 August 2010.
3. "Hardcover Graphic Books (September 18, 2011)". The New York Times. September 18, 2011.
4. Pavao, Kate. "The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future". Common Sense Media. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
5. Gariano, Francesca (March 27, 2021). "Scholastic pulls popular children's book from 'Captain Underpants' author". Today. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
6. Pilkey, Dav. Dav Pilkey Apology . Retrieved 2021-03-26– via YouTube.
7. Chen, Melissa (March 31, 2021). "'Kung Fu Cavemen' isn't racist — just the victim of moral panic by a self-righteous few". The New York Post . Retrieved March 31, 2021.
8. Mangu-Ward, Katherine (July 30, 2022). "Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Ook and Gluk Is Charming, Not Racist". Reason . Retrieved July 30, 2022.
9. Mangu-Ward, Katherine (July 3, 2022). "Who Controls What Books You Can Read?". Reason . Retrieved July 3, 2022.
10. Johnston, Rich (April 1, 2021). "Ook and Gluk Sells For $160 On eBay After Dav Pilkey Pulls It". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved April 1, 2021.