1999 book by Dav Pilkey
Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds) is the third book of the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey.[1] The series of American children's books are about two fourth graders, George and Harold, and their mean principal Mr. Krupp, who can turn into Captain Underpants. It was published on September 1, 1999. It is the first book to feature the use of 'Extra-Strength Super Power Juice' (an invention of Zorx, Klax, and Jennifer, the antagonists of the book), which is used to give Captain Underpants superpowers later in the book. It has the longest title of all the books in the series, having 25 words. Its "annoyingly long title" becomes a running joke in the later books.
In September 2008 a collector's edition of the book was released. It features a 3D cover, and a CD of Captain Underpants-themed songs by Dav Pilkey's friend Koji Matsumoto.
Plot
Zorx, Klax and Jennifer, three evil extraterrestrials, suddenly and secretly land their UFO on the rooftop of Jerome Horwitz Elementary School and spy on those inside. Meanwhile, George and Harold mess with their science teacher by making meowing and barking noises while he is trying to demonstrate the dangers of mixing baking soda with vinegar. They then make the cafeteria ladies a fake cupcake recipe for Principal Krupp's "birthday". The lunch ladies decide to surprise Mr. Krupp and make cupcakes for the entire school, flooding it with sticky green goop when the recipe tells them to mix baking soda with vinegar.
A day after, as the school is cleaned, the lunch ladies show Mr. Krupp the mess. He becomes angry when he hears that they did it for his birthday, which it was not. Agitated, the lunch ladies blame George and Harold, but Mr. Krupp needs proof to punish them. Disappointed and angered by this and the boys' past actions, the lunch ladies decide to resign. Immediately after that, the alien invaders arrive disguised as people and Mr. Krupp hires them as cafeteria workers on the spot. For George and Harold's antics, Mr. Krupp eliminates cafeteria privileges from both of them and requires them to eat lunch in his office.
The next day, while the three of them have lunch, the boys eat such offensive foods that Mr. Krupp becomes sick and leaves his office for some fresh air. George and Harold go to vandalize the sign in the cafeteria, only to realize the sign is already oddly arranged by the aliens. They immediately notice that all of the students and staff at the school have become evil zombie nerds. Sneaking into the lunchroom, George and Harold learn that the aliens fed the students and faculty "Zombie Nerd Milkshakes" and plan to feed them "Super Evil Rapid Growth Juice" the next day, turning them into giant minions bent on taking over the world. George and Harold steal the carton of growth juice and pour the contents out the window, most of which lands on a dandelion, turning it into the massive Dandelion of Doom. When they inform Mr. Krupp, he doesn't believe them until teacher Miss Anthrope (as a zombie nerd) bites a sizeable chunk out of his desk. When they enter the cafeteria, Zorx grabs Harold, who escapes and pulls off the alien's gloves to reveal his tentacles. Zorx snaps his tentacle at them (despite tentacles not having fingers), turning Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants.
Captain Underpants and the boys temporarily defeat the aliens, but are spotted by the zombie nerds, causing them to climb up on the roof, where they run into the aliens' UFO to escape the Dandelion of Doom. Inside, they steal multiple cartoned juices before the aliens lock them in a jail cell. The aliens take off in the spaceship and plan to shower the zombie nerds with growth juce via the ship's spray gun. While the aliens gloat, the boys switch the labels of the growth juice with "Ultra Nasty Self-Destruct Juice", and the labels on the spray gun and fuel tank. The trio jump off the spaceship before it explodes using Captain Underpants's cape as a parachute. They end up landing in the mouth of the Dandelion of Doom, which begins to eat Captain Underpants. George reluctantly gives him some of the "Extra-Strength Super Power Juice", who fights and kills the dandelion with his new powers. Harold mixes the "Anti Evil Zombie-Nerd Juice" with root beer, which is fed to all the zombie nerds, transforming them back to normal. However, as a result of the Super Power Juice, Mr. Krupp (when Captain Underpants) permanently has superpowers.[2]
Comics
Wedgie Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Principal
A parody of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, this book explains the events of the previous two books and how Captain Underpants and Mr. Krupp can change.
The Night of the Living Lunch Ladies
The Lunch Ladies are cleaning Friday's leftovers when the janitor locks them in the school, where they die by Sunday night. The janitor unknowingly buries them at a haunted hill. The Lunch Ladies rise from the dead and attack the gymnastics teacher. Captain Underpants came and tried to give them wedgies, but it proves ineffective "Oh no! Wedgie Power doesn't work on the living dead!" (Captain Underpants). They get into a big fight, and they all end up on a building. Captain Underpants uses the Toilet Paper of Justice to tie the ladies, but they break free with the help of steak sauce. Captain Underpants then swings to safety using the toilet paper to swing on, while the lunch ladies fall to their deaths when they try to follow. The title is a spoof of the Goosebumps book Night of the Living Dummy.
Dog Man: The Wrath of Petey (Full-color version only)
Dog Man was the best cop of the world, but he only had one weakness. He was eating out of the garbage cans, rolling in the dead fish and sniffing the other dogs. The cops (even the chief) decided to give him a bath, but Dog Man ran away because he doesn't like baths. The cops searched all around the city looking for Dog Man, but they couldn't find him anywhere. Soon, Petey decided that he should escape. He put the newspaper in the toilet, and he clogged the toilet by flushing the chain. The water from the toilet began going higher and higher and Petey escaped cat jail to his crime spree by robbing banks, stealing jewels and hijacking cars. But the cops could never catch them, they wish Dog Man would return. Meanwhile, Dog Man was hiding in an alley, eating out of a garbage can, and saw a newspaper. He felt ashamed, but he knew he must be brave and returned "bravishly" to stop Petey. He searched for him and picked up a trail which led straight to Petey's house, but it was a trap. Petey sprayed water and Dog Man got scared, so he ran away from Petey by digging a hole to the zoo. Dog Man came up in a cage where the skunks live, and the skunks sprayed on Dog Man. Dog Man "liked stinky stuff but that was too much"! Petey ran out of the hole and got caught by a net. The cop sent Petey back to cat jail while the cops gave Dog Man a bath. Dog Man was now clean, but then he rolled on the dead fish again. This comic was both seen on the full-color version of the third Captain Underpants book in 2014 and Dog Man Unleashed in 2016.
