The Bad Guys in Dawn of the Underlord

The Bad Guys #11

by Aaron Blabey

"I wish I'd had these books as a kid. Hilarious!" -- Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants and Dog Man
They may look like Bad Guys, but these wannabe heroes are doing good deeds... whether you like it or not! This New York Times bestselling illustrated series is perfect for fans of Dog Man and Captain Underpants

The Bad Guys - sorry, Shadow Squad-G - have finally saved the world from butt-handed evil. And now it's time to celebrate! But when one member of the team makes a shocking discovery, the party might be over sooner than everyone thinks...

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Animals, Juvenile

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2020

About the author

Aaron is an Australian author of children's books and artist who until the mid-2000s was also an actor. His award winning picture books include Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon and the best-selling Pig the Pug.

In the field of acting, he is probably best known for his lead roles in two television dramedies, 1994's The Damnation of Harvey McHugh, for which he won an Australian Film Institute Award, and 2003's CrashBurn, before retiring from performance in 2005.

Reviews

[Zac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all of the Bad Guys books I found this one entertaining but I’m not sure the series needed to carry on. I’ll keep reading the series as Aaron Blabey writes them but they’ll never be as good as the first 3 books in the series.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laugh out loud every single time. And this one was no exception.

Absolutely love how they referenced the first 10 “episodes“ in the story!

[Victor The Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Marmalade now gone back into space in disgrace, the Shadow Squad G (our two hero teams now one) have all gone on to become loved heroes and have new successful lives, but Snake has been closing himself away from the group and has recently been listening to a mysterious voice in his mind. His crew comes to check on him and they’re all get a taste of the voice’s powerful force and find a strange door. It turns out it’s one of Marmalade’s powers he left with them. A (100%/Outstanding)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daughter enjoyed reading this with her grandparents as our weekly long distance book read.

This story focuses more on building up for the next book and the plot relies on a Bad Guys version of MTV’s Cribs to get the ball rolling. Nothing really happens here except the promise of impending chaos in a following title.

[Lesley Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Son read aloud

[crίѕтίŋα•●Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ●• · Rating 5 out of 5]

🐺🦈🐍🐠🕷🐙🐺🐱🐷🐧

“There just aren’t as many wrongs to right these days. The world seem pretty chill, so I have decided to chill out for a bit, too.
For a change.”
- Agent Fox

[Jude.Strum]

best one of the series

[Amir]

How do you read the book?!?!?!?!!?

[Raphael · Rating 5 out of 5]

it cool

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bad Guys feel kind of weird right now, like they're building up to something HUGE I have no idea what's going to happen, but I'm here for it.
This reeaally feels like it's the third arc in this series and things are going downhill for our boys and girls.
I love our growing gang, everyone involved is so nice. We were in such a good place keeping everyone happy and nice and then this book happens to poor Mr. Snake. I'm excited to see who's he's been talking to, and who owns the other mysterious voices.
I hope Nathan joins the gang. Him and Milton would be my favourite

[Ishaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE GOOD… I mean.. THE SHADOW SQUAD-G
have saved the world from DANGER
and now its time to PARTY!
But Mr. Snake doesn't feel like partying. Ohhh, no.
He’s WAY too powerful for that. Mr. Snake Would rather
mess with things that could rip open a deorway
into a whole new world of horror, mayhem, and…
BLOOD-CURDLING BADNESS
BETTER PUT YOUR
PARTY PANTS ON ICE.
the BAD GUYS
ARE BACK, BABY!

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow! So The Shadow Squad G has defeated evil and is now partying in the pool! Except Snake, he hasn’t left his home in over a year. Something is up…can the gang help him?

This book was so great! Action packed but filled with friendship and loyalty!

[The Voracious Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much. Every new entry delivers loads of laugh out loud moments.

[Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to love these quick reads about a band of unlikely hero’s. I can’t wait for the next one to come out!

[Rachelle Renee Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! My 5 year old loves this series.

[Jessica Calaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

No fart jokes and an existential crisis.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg this book was so good!

[Dermo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some laugh out loud moments, but not near the peak of the early books

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since the Bad Guys triumphed over the aliens in the last book Snake has been spending WAY too much time alone. The others are worried about him. And they should be, because the alien parents have just revealed some disturbing information to their wayward son. Something about the powers that were never supposed to be unleashed or the universe would be doomed.

Those who were paying attention to the foreshadowing in the last book saw this coming. This book is basically a build up to the next book in which I suspect there will be some resolution. Snake is having quite the moral and personal dilemma in this one, and it has dire consequences. But Snake isn't the only one. If you pay close attention, several of the heroes seem to have been letting success and the taste of power get to their heads. Perhaps they all need a lesson. There are also some rather interesting abilities hiding in Ms Fox and Piranha hinted at. This will have readers begging for the next book in the series to come out NOW.

Notes on content: 1 darn and 1 heck that some parents will want to know about. No sexual content. There's intense psychological moral battles going on, but no real physical violence. Know the kid you hand this to and whether they can handle the moral conflict. The font style is kind of creepy looking and that may influence how some readers take this.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

AKA The Star Wars edition

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Snake's return in the previous book, and this one is an absolute ride. The book begins by showing what everyone is doing now that they have defeated the villain from the previous ten books, but Snake's new, overwhelming powers come with great temptation from a voice out in the universe. His internal struggle is both realistic and wonderfully campy, and this takes the series in a fascinating new direction.

Readers who got tired of The Bad Guys and were waiting for the central conflict to resolve will want to move on after Book 10, because this story introduces a variety of new problems and directions for the story to take. However, this is perfect for the kids and childish adults who want all the Bad Guys content they can get.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my Quest to Finish Series I Left Off Without Reason, I’m going back to the Bad Guys.

Now, I don’t remember much about books 1-10 but kind of pieced together some things: filler still happens. Lots of filler. So. Much. Filler.

The Bad Guys and their female counterparts are now a team living the high life. Snake has powers. And then stuff happens. And they introduce the premise for the next book in a way like we the reader are supposed to know about, because why not?

As pointless as most of the book is, I’m already committed because I like Mr. Wolf and Fox, and Snake and the emo bird whose name escapes me. It’s too late to turn back on the Bad Guys.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolf has finally achieved his dream of becoming a hero, but worries about snake, and soon discovers that his job is not yet finished.

Snake wrestles with using his powers for good or for evil, and succumbs to the evil. A good message for us all to choose what to do with what we are given.

To be continued...

I kind of wonder if the series should have ended at ten. This one does seem to take a dark turn. I do think piranha's lifestyle of the rich and famous is rather entertaining. It is nice to see everyone have a break.

[Gretchen Craven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review from a 5-year old

“Hi. So... do you want to toot or read this?

This story was good. I liked it because it’s almost the weekend, and I wanted to say that my favorite part was when everybody was partying.

And I really liked when they showed me Mr. Wolf. He is nice because he was the one who planned the Good Guys Club.

Superbad. Bad, bad. Really bad. Sad bad. Nervous bad. Toots bad. Hahahahaha I like all of those bad words.

Okay... the last thing I want to say is: ‘bye bye!’”

[Cassandra Doon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sense of anticipation builds, thick and palpable. They seem to be on the verge of something monumental, and I can't help but wonder what it could be. This is truly the third act in the series, and the stakes have never been higher for our group. Each member has grown and developed in their own way, but my heart belongs to Mr. Snake - his cunning wit and sharp tongue always keep me on edge. However, it seems that he may soon face some daunting obstacles. My curiosity piqued, I wonder who he's been secretly communicating with and whose voices echo in his head.

[Travis Berketa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this eleventh book, The Bad Guys: Dawn of the Underlord , Aaron Blabey continues where the characters left off; however they are much more relaxed and into party mode. The story pretty much is a prologue to what will be happening in the next few books of the series. It's a good start, but I can't say it was the best I've read out of Blabey's books.

That said, I am looking forward to what the Underlord brings us as the books continue.

[AMY · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one has definitely taken a dark turn. Snake is getting summoned from afar. A dark force wants him to go through a cosmic door and embrace his dark, evil side. Snake is conflicted and does not want to hurt or control his friends, but the power is very enticing. The illustrations range from funny to super dark/Darth Vaderish...but fans will enjoy seeing the struggle. Recommended for Grades 4-5.

[Rebecca Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a relaxing book, the story is nice, quick and easy. But I don't really like to read these books too much because you don't have to think much about the story, and the story and characters doesn't seems appealing to me. In conclusion, I would recommend this book to you if you don't like to think when you're reading and like nice quick books, but don't read it if you're like me and prefers long interesting books.

[McKenna]

SNAKE HAS POWER OH MY GOODNESS. He’s on his Elsa arc but make it villainfied with the way he’s hearing voices. On an unrelated to the actual story arc, I really like the way that the words looked with the evil voice talking like I really like the stylistic choices there.

If snake wasn’t a new comfort character I would definitely like the story less but because it’s revolving around mr snake I adore it lmao