Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, Part 2: The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers
No. 7 in the Captain Underpants series
by Dav Pilkey
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Scholastic (New York): October 2003. Trade paperback: 175 pages. ISBN-10: 0-439-37612-2 Suggested retail price: $4.99 (US) Tags: elementary school; hamsters; Humor; oranges; robots; snot; superheroes; time travel; toilets; underwear; Youth Tactical strength: [4/10] |
At the end of the previous episode, the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers remained at large and the minds of Melvin and Mr. Krupp had been accidently swapped, and the Combine-O-Tron 2000 lay broken. Of course, our protagonists, Harold and George, want to restore Melvin and Mr. Krupp's minds to their correct bodies, especially since Melvin -- now endowed with all of Captain Underpants's powers -- makes trouble around town.
To set things right, Melvin invents a time machine: the Purple Potty. The boys plan to travel back in time to the previous day and recover the Combine-O-Tron 2000 before it gets broken. After some complications, the plan works -- except Captain Underpants's powers remain in Melvin's body. Now Melvin makes even more trouble, and the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers begin to attack the town in earnest. Through an accidental discovery, the Robo-Boogers have a vulnerability to oranges. The powerless Captain Underpants entices the Robo-Boogers into a trap and destroys them with sprays of juice. With nothing left to loose, Harold and George once again blast Melvin and Captain Underpants with the Combine-O-Tron 2000 hoping to restore the Captain's powers.
This second part of the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy, just doesn't have the same charm as the first part. The characters basically use the same invention -- the Combine-O-Tron -- several times to solve their problems. By reusing plot elements, part two doesn't have as much to offer, and it seems that the second part lacks in some of the fundamental gross-out jokes. Also, the characters rarely talk directly to the audience or the author, which weakens another enjoyable part of the post-modern adventures.
I hope Mr. Pilkey will stick to single volume-adventures when writing future installments of the Captain Underpants series. The repeated elements and the downplay of other trademark elements makes The Revenge of the Ridiculous Robo-Boogers one of the least interesting of the entire series.
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