Proceed With Caution: The Bad Guys Series Review and Why We Did Not Finish
- K.L. Miracle
- Jan 27
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 4
The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey
Quick Summary
Genre: Middle Grade, Graphic Novel, Humor
Recommended Age: Upper elementary with Parental Approval
Possibly Concerning Content: (details below)
🤬 Language: None
🛡️ Violence: Slapstick. No deaths. No injuries.
❤️ Romance: Cheek kiss.
‼️ Head's-up: We DNF due to occult characters and recommend caution if you continue the series after Book 3.
Jump to:
Why We Did Not Finish The Series
Book 1 The Bad Guys
Book 2 Mission Unpluckable
Review:
Our family really loved the Dreamwork's The Bad Guys movie, it's sequel and the spinoff animated series. As with, How To Train Your Dragon, we decided to give the original source material a try. There are twenty books in this series but the author is re-releasing them in full color editions, which is what we started with. We LOVED the first three books. They were funny, beautifully illustrated, and exactly the kind of wholesome content we wanted.
Why We Did Not Finish the Series:
After Book 4, themes and characters of the occult began to appear. We DNF as we are not comfortable with these characters but we have been told that the overarching theme of 'good vs evil' continues throughout. If you decide to read past Book 3, you might find parent reviews on Common Sense Media helpful in deciding for your family.
Read the reviews here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-bad-guys-series
Books in Series
Book 1: The Bad Guys
Review
This graphic novel made us laugh out loud more than once! It's a bit different from the movie starting with the fact that there is no tarantula, no Marmalade, no love interest for Mr. Wolf, etc, and all of the characters are animals (no humans). Similar to the movie, the entire book is told as if Wolf is talking to the audience but the book starts with Wold already deciding that the team is going to go good. (Fur-real-zies). Snake is still unsure about going good but Shark and Piranha are more or less on board. This is a quick funny read for middle grade readers.
Possible Concerning Content*
🤬 Language: None
🛡️ Violence: Slapstick. No deaths. No injuries.
❤️ Romance: None
‼️ Head's-up: None
Official Blurb
Dropdown for burb
"They sound like bad guys, they look like bad guys . . . and they even smell like bad guys. But Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, and Mr. Shark are about to change all of that...
Mr. Wolf has a daring plan for the Bad Guys' first good mission. They are going to break two hundred dogs out of the Maximum Security City Dog Pound. Will Operation Dog Pound go smoothly? Will the Bad Guys become the Good Guys? And will Mr. Snake please stop swallowing Mr. Piranha?!" - from Amazon
Book 2: Mission UnCluckable
Review
The second book is just as funny as the first! The Bad Guys are attempting to clean up their image, this time by saving 10,000 chickens from a chicken farm. Chaos ensues.
Fans of the movie may be surprised by the fact that Webs is missing and instead we have Mr. Tarantula. Marmalade is also introduced in this book in a very comical way. Very funny.
Possible Concerning Content*
🤬 Language: None
🛡️ Violence: Slapstick. No deaths. No injuries.
❤️ Romance: None
‼️ Head's-up: None
Official Blurb
Dropdown for Blurb
The Bad Guys next mission? Rescue 10,000 chickens from a high-tech cage farm. But they are up against sizzling lasers, one feisty tarantula, and their very own Mr. Snake...who's also known as "The Chicken Swallower." What could possibly go wrong? Get ready to laugh up your lunch with the baddest bunch of do-gooders in town!
Book 3: The Furball Strikes Back
Review
In the third book, the Bad Guys deal with the reprecutions of the last book. Marmalade is out for revenge and will stop at nothing to make the bad guys pay for freeing his chickens!
Agent Fox is introduce in this book, and Mr. Wolf is immediately smitten. The Furball Strikes Back was just as funny as the other two, though we were surprised by the turn it took in the end and the cliffhanger style ending.
Possible Concerning Content*
🤬 Language: None
🛡️ Violence: Slapstick. No deaths. No injuries.
❤️ Romance: Crush and cheek kiss
‼️ Head's-up: Zombie kittens...possible? (Glimpse of next book).
Official Blurb
Dropdown for Blurb
The Bad Guys are about to have a very BAD day!
Mr. Wolf and his bad buddies have messed with the wrong guinea pig -- one who is secretly an evil mad scientist. And the nasty little furball wants revenge! Will they survive? Will they be heroes? And will they ever stop trying to eat each other?!?
Pass it Forward
If you do continue to read the series, please leave reviews wherever you can that mention any possibly concerning content. Every family is different, but the more information we have the better we can decide what is best for our families.
Hopefully, we have given you enough information to decide if this series is right for your reader. That's why I created this blog, after all.
Until next time, stay Shelf-Aware
📍*Possibly Concerning Content Disclaimer: I try my best to include all relevant content notes, or possibly concerning content, but I may not catch everything and/or you may feel things are concerning that I do not. Please research individually if you’re sensitive to specific topics/subjects! 📍
Have you read this series yet? Want to add some P.C.C. we may have missed? Let us know in the comments or send us a message!
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