- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 7–10
- Comedy
The Bad Guys in Alien vs Bad Guys
Book 6 of 20 in The Bad GuysView the full series
A space-action sixth episode that continues the gang's leap from animal rescue into full comic-book sci-fi. It is broad, silly and highly readable, with aliens, danger and lots of visual chaos.
- Best for7–10
- FormatIllustrated
- Length144 pp
- Read aloud~58 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
- Onomatopoeic
Tone
- Funny
- Silly
- Irreverent
- Exciting
- Absurdist
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The Bad Guys are now far beyond their original good-deed missions, and Alien vs Bad Guys throws them into an even bigger science-fiction mess. Mr Wolf, Mr Snake, Mr Shark and Mr Piranha must face alien trouble, high-stakes danger and the usual problem that they are still a team of predators trying very hard to be heroes. The humour stays fast, visual and exaggerated, with Aaron Blabey's expressive faces and chunky comic layout making the story easy to follow even when the plot becomes increasingly ridiculous. This sixth episode works best after Intergalactic Gas, because it continues the space-adventure escalation, but it still has the series' core appeal: scary-looking animals doing their best, making mistakes, panicking, arguing and somehow stumbling towards heroism. It is especially good for reluctant readers who want momentum, jokes and minimal prose resistance.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 7–10
- Read aloud · 6–10
- Independent · 7–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
3 / 5 · Mostly fine
Graphic intensity
2 / 5 · Mild
Best for
- Dog man fans
- Captain underpants fans
- Reluctant readers
- Space comedy
- Fast reads
Avoid if
- Prefers calm books
- Needs realistic stories
- Dislikes toilet humour
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
In the classroom
How it works in school.
The wildly funny Bad Guys series — a legendary reluctant-reader hook and classroom-library staple.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is the first real loss — Marmalade summons an alien army, the Bad Guys are properly outmatched, and one of them doesn't make it through. The volume where a child reading the series sits up suddenly because the comedy has been hiding actual stakes. The Bad Guys that earns its readers' loyalty.
- Adventure and freedom
- Breaking the rules safely
- Making a difference
- Surviving danger
Why parents love it
The Bad Guys where Blabey trusts his readers with real loss — the first emotional gut-punch in the series, played at the right age. The volume that turns committed seven-year-old fans into completists. Best read after the first five; the loss only lands if the cast feels familiar.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Conversation starter
In the series
The Bad Guys.
20 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Aaron Blabey.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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