Once again, it’s Wedgie Power to the rescue, in a book subtitled “And the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds).” When aliens Zorx, Klax, and Jennifer launch their invasion of Earth by converting the students and teachers of the Jerome Horwitz Elementary School into an army of zombies with pocket protectors, it’s up to inveterate troublemakers George and Harold, with their feckless ally Captain Underpants (he’s the mean principal’s alter-ego), to save the planet. The deed is done in a crowd-pleasing welter of plot twists and bathroom humor, wisecracks and free shots at school food; Pilkey’s black-and-white cartoons move from crudely-drawn comic books created by the boys to pages that readers are required to flip back and forth for an animated effect. As in the previous appearances of Captain Underpants (The Adventures of Captain Underpants, 1997, etc.), this gross but not gruesome adventure will have fans looking forward to the upcoming (and obviously perfectly tasteful) Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants. (Fiction. 8-10)
