Open Wide and Say Arrrgh!

The Bad Guys #15

by Aaron Blabey

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!


They may look like Bad Guys, but these wannabe heroes are doing good deeds... whether you like it or not in this New York Times bestselling illustrated series.


WEIRD?! Nothing weird EVER happens in The Bad Guys. Like, you would NEVER see a chain-saw monster confronting a velociraptor who has eaten an elderly piranha, or the disturbing antics of a deranged dentist running amok with an oversized drill. NOPE. None of that nonsense here. So relax and be entirely unsurprised by the Bad Guys’ next adventure!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Humor, Chapter Books, Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2022

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

[Victor The Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The evil Splaarghön’s evilness is coming from many directions, including the form of a drill-crazy dentist and his nurse. Now some of our “bad” heroes will come together and try not to fall under his sway or his traps. A- (91%/Excellent)

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was way better than the last book, which didn't really go anywhere. In this one all of those lead up moments finally arrived at their destination and served a purpose. We still have the main group and B group operating separate story lines, but they do appear to be drawing closer together. Things are revealed, and the dental hygiene world is sufficiently creepy without being completely nightmare inducing.

[Bridget Neace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up because holy damn, Granny Gumbo is back YAAAAAASSSSSS! ...

Bless the Bad Guys--are they ever going to catch a break and get a Happily Ever After?

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was really funny, and a little creepy/scary. The dentist guy is frightening...

[Jett · Rating 5 out of 5]

GO! TO! TARGET! RIGHT! NOW! AND! BUY! THIS! BOOK!!!!!!!!!

[Ishaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something completely evil in it
Shark and Hogwild are Doomed
The chain saw guy was a spoon
And Buck Thunders is our only hope

[McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/4

A NEW ONE WOO!!!! This was better than #14 I think, but I’m genuinely loving this series so much. I thinks it is funny that it recognizes meta tropes, and it does have some funny moments (but some of the humor does not work for name but that is ok!!). But overall, I really enjoyed this. I want to see more of evil snake as snake is my beloved. I just love his character and would love to see more of him. Anyway, very excited to see where this story goes in the future

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bad Guys v15

The One and her posse are trying to escape from Snake and his Lord. Meanwhile, Team B is searching through space for the Others. Remember what you expect and what you get are not always the same thing.

[Catarina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great job of getting closer to “the end”. Excited to see where they go next!

[Diana S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing, not a favorite 🫤

[Carter Mancill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really loving this series l hope you like it too

[kristi turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son still enjoys reading this series although I think its losts the humour that were in the earlier books.

[Samaire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and easy to read. 📚📚📚

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much because it is a fun read.
You will be eager to know what's happening next.

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the plot in this series is getting really complicated and hard to remember. Especially since the characters are split up between a few different places and not much actually progresses within each book. There definitely needs to be a summary page at the beginning to bring the reader up to speed (there's a wrap up page at the end that is helpful). I did appreciate the jokes about the books getting darker and weirder. At least Blabey knows what he is doing haha. I liked this better than the last one in that I want to continue the series to see what happens. But I do hope it gets resolved soon and then maybe there could be other stories but this whole "THE ONE" thing is getting so convoluted.

[Tommy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was way better than the book before this but compared to the early books (1-9) this is awful compared to them as they were much better with more jokes and funny puns but this book just lost that flare. There is some plot but I just really can't understand it. The plot Is kinda like trying to make a story out of the definition in the dictionary. I feel bad hating this series now since i really like it it is just the newer books (12-15) have just felt like cash grabs. After I knew they were after I red book 13 I knew I would continue to get these books from the library. I hope that this series will get better in the following installment book 16.

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

i am loving this series. have you seen the movie? i am curious what they will do in the next movie?? because so much of different sections of each book was pulled into this movie?? so i am wondering what will happen. this is getting to be a huge cast of characters. you have to recall the last book to know or understand this one. i am pulling on my memory. i think this movie will be one a kid or adult and read or watch that movie. i think they are enjoyable. my hubby really enjoyed the flick ...seeing the unique style and funny moments. really cute. must read. enjoyed it. the movie and the books.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series has mostly gone off the rails. There are way too many characters for such a short book, so everything is surface-level, and the action is pure chaos, with lots of unanswered questions that have remained unanswered for too many volumes. I'll keep reading, but this is nothing like the previous books in the series in terms of their character development, humor, and creativity.

Also, parents need to know that this book is only suitable for children who find a fear of dentists funny and ironic. The dentist villain looks and sounds like he's straight out of a horror movie, so if a child is fearful about going to the dentist, this is probably one to skip.

[Nick Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pains me to give a 3-star, but the overall plot is getting a bit farfetched in this 15th installment. The author still has Herculean stamina when it comes to delivering engaging stories. Given this, and even given the meta-humor acknowledging the ridiculousness of the plot, it still came up short for me. I think it’s that this installment was more plot-focused than character-focused, so everything felt a bit less grounded than the previous books in the series.

Very curious about #16, which should be coming later this year. . .

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, I'm about done with these. In the last 3 or 4 books nothing seems to happen that moves the story forward. IS there some goal we were/are moving toward? I've lost it if there is one. The illustrations don't even seem to entertain me as much as they did. I have the ebook version of the next book. I'm hoping it is the last book in the series; if it isn't, well, I think it is the last book in the series for ME.

I did like the oversharing bat Abe. I'm assuming he plays a big part in the next book. He may be all that makes me finish it.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic Novel
The series is taking darker turn and the author addresses that by having his characters explain they are getting closer to the Dark Overlord and the final confrontation. Readers see the different groups face battles with his minions, They also finally meet the Others. Each group connects with at least one of them as they all head for the final confrontation.
The artwork is terrific and the dialogue offers plenty of humor.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dentist Dr. David Drillaargh-Amateur Dental Surgery Enthusiast- "Hey, who needs a diploma?" is very scary. One we hope never comes off the pages. Parts of the gang are split up and trying to get back together. It's hard to tell who is having a worse time. Let's send all our wishes to them for good luck and be glad we are where we are and not there. Hope to see them soon together in a galaxy a bit safer at least.

[Eugenio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daughter review:

I like when when piranha farts, and then it gets one of them out, and then when it gets another one it kept on going around in a circle and they kept of saying no save him. No save her and they didn’t want to be the one to get saved. Piranha had to save kitty and that was very sad. Also I really really really actually wanna know what that creepy lady is. I’m very scared at what happened at the end but the bat was pretty funny because he keeps getting them in trouble!!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

glad to revisit the characters, but having not read the series in a while (since #14 was out) it was hard to pick back up. the plot has become so convoluted, i've literally lost the plot. it's still fun and silly, but def feels like they're painfully stretching it out to rake in more money. hoping the next few books can tighten things up and finish up the series off strong.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bad Guys are still traversing the multiverse in search of the right door to enter, and defeat THE ONE. Finding themselves trapped in a deranged dentist's office members of the team meet a helpful bat named Abe who knows where the correct door, but his constant sharing of their whereabouts with their pursuers puts a wrinkle in their operation.

[Daniel Iskrov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly these books are getting repetitive with the whole multiverse story. It takes less than an hour to read but half a year for the next book to come out, so you'd have to re-read a few books to get back on track. They're also taking it to seriously compared to the first few books (you should read those if you haven't and still want to read this).

[Claudia Riendeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ils nous font toujours rire à leurs blagues et situations très premier degré. Je recommande particulièrement cette série à de jeunes lecteurs avec l'abondance d'illustrations très BD et les situations très comiques. Les garçons qui ne s'intéressent pas trop à la lecture risquent d'y trouver leur compte rapidement. Pour les 8 ans et plus.

[Tara Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really dislike the fonts in these books it makes it very difficult to read constantly changing them and some are so dark on the pages you might miss them. I don't like it flip flopping between what feels like 2 stories as well. The book just doesn't make sense to me. But my 7 year old said it was a 3 star. I would give it 2.

[Elan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love bad guys books I have been reading them since I was a kid and it has not lost its touch this is a series that is just truly amazing its funny, weird and so much more all factoring to make it a great book for all ages if your looking for a good laugh bad guy 1 is where it is and read from 1-17 what great read they are anyways bye.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blabey is reeeeeally stretching out the same plot lines at this point. Also, there are new magic powers that suddenly exist for no apparent reason except to keep the plot moving. I'm glad there are only a few more books published in the series, but we'll keep reading them as long as my 9-year-old still wants to read every night.