In the books, George and Harold are the inadvertent creators of Captain Underpants. They turn their crabby principal, Mr. Krupp, into the briefs-wearing superhero when they hypnotize Krupp with a magic 3-D Hypno-Ring. (Don't ask.)

The advertent creator of all these characters is Dav Pilkey, a 34-year-old writer and children's book illustrator who lives in Seattle with a little dog named Little Dog.

Pilkey says all similarities between George and Harold and himself are no coincidence.

In the books, George and Harold are described as "behaviorally challenged," and suspected of having attention deficit disorder. In real life, Pilkey was diagnosed with A.D.D., and suffers from it to such an extent that he avoids face-to-face and telephone interviews. He will answer questions only via e-mail.

"I had A.D.D.," Pilkey recently e-recalled. "I had a lot of trouble, um... what was the question again?"

As a second-grader, Pilkey was so disruptive in class that his exasperated teacher put his desk out in the hallway. (Pilkey says he stayed there pretty much throughout elementary school, moving his desk down the hall outside a new classroom each year). He had time on his hands, and a pencil.

"It was there in the hall that I began drawing Captain Underpants," said Pilkey. "Soon I was making my own comic books about him."

Classmates clamored to read each new hand-drawn Dave Pilkey production. (He was "Dave" back then. He became "Dav" many years later when he was working at a Pizza Hut. When his supervisor tried to make a nametag for him, the label-maker stuck on the "e" and for Pilkey, the resulting name stuck, too.)

One of the series' recurring elements is "Flip-O-Rama," Pilkey's name for a simple flip-page animation. Given the power of technology, the sample seen here is done more smoothly than possible with the books, but the books are more fun

Pilkey remembers his second-grade teacher as less than encouraging of his budding illustrator's talents. "One day she ripped up one of my comics and told me I'd better grow up, because I couldn't spend the rest of my days making silly books," said Pilkey.

Fortunately, said Pilkey, he never was a very good listener.

He was a very good observer, though. Early on, he noted that the mere mention of words like "underpants" and "poop" made kids laugh so hard that milk came out their noses.