Perhaps "bad guys"--be they wolf, snake, piranha or shark--are not all that bad. Maybe they're just misunderstood? In The Bad Guys, Mr. Wolf tries to get his much-maligned buddies to be good guys... with mixed results.
Mr. Wolf is a natural at motivational speaking: "Aren't you tired of being the VILLAIN?" he asks his fanged friends. "Aren't you tired of the SCREAMS?" Mr. Piranha says, "Not particularly," and Mr. Snake says, "Not in the slightest." Mr. Wolf is undeterred by their apathy and, determined to prove their capacity as heroes, takes them on an educational field trip in his car (correction: "a fuel-injected, 200-HORSEPOWER, rock 'n' rollin' chariot of flaming COOLNESS" that runs on "undiluted panther pee.") They come upon a cat up a tree. "So what are we going to do?" Mr. Wolf asks professorially. "Rescue the cat," says his peanut gallery in unison, resignedly. "And what are we NOT going to do?" asks Mr. Wolf. "Eat the cat," they answer lifelessly. The understandably freaked-out cat is unharmed during their absurd and ineffective rescue attempts, but Mr. Snake eats Mr. Piranha. Mr. Wolf spins Mr. Snake around by the tail until Mr. Piranha is launched from Mr. Snake's body and, conveniently, knocks the cat out of the tree. ("I should have stayed in Bolivia," quips Mr. Piranha.)
Australian author-illustrator Aaron Blabey's (Pig the Pug) short, snappy story is a full-on hoot for the Captain Underpants crowd, told in cartoon panels, funny black-and-white illustrations and very few words. (Next up in the Bad Guys series: Mission Unpluckable.) --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness