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)

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)

First edition cover
Author	Dav Pilkey
Illustrator	Dav Pilkey
Language	English
Series	Captain Underpants series
Genre	Children's novel, Humor, Science Fiction
Publisher	Blue Sky (US) Scholastic (US)
Publication date	September 1, 1999
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
ISBN	0-439-04996-2
Preceded by	Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets
Followed by	Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants

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, notable for its very long title, with 25 words (It was mentioned in the 5th book as "the book with the annoyingly long title"). 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.

Plot summary

Zorx, Klax and Jennifer, three evil aliens, land on the school roof and plan to take over the Earth by finding a way into the school turning the students and staff into giant monsters. Meanwhile, George and Harold learn in science class about the effects of mixing baking soda and vinegar together (into a paper mache volcano). After messing with the teacher, they decide to play a prank on the cafeteria ladies by giving them a fake recipe that involves mixing baking soda and vinegar. The recipe is disguised as a cupcake recipe with instructions to make a set of "Mr. Krupp's Krispy Krupcakes" for Mr. Krupp's birthday.

The lunch ladies decide to surprise Mr. Krupp and make cupcakes for the entire school. As a result, they make a batch 100 times the intended size, and the school is flooded with green goop. Furious, the lunch ladies go to Mr. Krupp's office and instantly blame George and Harold for the incident ("But it wasn't even my birthday!"). Mr. Krupp explains that although he knows very well that the duo was responsible, he needs proof to punish them. Furious from past harassment by the two boys, the lunch ladies quit.

Soon after, Zorx, Klax and Jennifer, come into Mr. Krupp's office very badly disguised as humans and apply for the vacant cafeteria job. Not suspecting anything, Mr. Krupp hires the three. As punishment for their antics, despite the fact that he still doesn't have any proof and that they did not mean for such a large batch to be mixed, Mr. Krupp takes away George and Harold's cafeteria food privileges and forces them to eat their lunch in Mr. Krupp's office from then on. The next day, the aliens, disguised as the lunch ladies, give "Zombie Nerd Milkshakes" for lunch, so everyone in the school except for George, Harold, and Mr. Krupp becomes a zombie nerd. After sneaking out of Mr. Krupp's office, George and Harold immediately notice what has happened to almost everyone in the school. Sneaking into the lunchroom, George and Harold learn that the aliens plan to feed the zombie nerds growth juice, 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 on a dandelion.

After convincing Mr. Krupp that something is wrong, the three go confront the lunch ladies. The boys are able prove to Mr. Krupp that the lunch ladies are aliens, but one of the aliens snaps his tentacle (noted by George as a physical impossibility) at them, turning Mr. Krupp into Captain Underpants and prompting him to run away and fight crime. The boys temporarily defeat the aliens and by that time Captain Underpants has returned. They are unable to defeat the zombie nerds, so the three escape to the school roof and into the alien spaceship. Inside they open the refrigerator and steal Anti-Evil Zombie Nerd Juice, Ultra Nasty Self-Destruct Juice, and Extra-Strength Super Power Juice before Zorx, Klax and Jennifer lock them in a cell. While the three aliens gloat, George and Harold switch the labels of the growth juice with the self-destruct juice and the signs of the Spray Gun with the Fuel Tank, tricking the aliens into making the spaceship self-destruct rather than putting Rapid Growth Juice in the Spray Gun.

Captain Underpants jumps off the spaceship with George and Harold before it explodes, claiming that he can use toilet paper to swing to safety. Of course, the toilet paper cannot support their weight and they instead use Captain Underpants cape as a parachute. They end up landing near a mutated dandelion which the boys accidentally created with the growth juice earlier, which begins to eat Captain Underpants. George reluctantly gives some of the "Extra-Strength Super Power Juice" to Captain Underpants, who kills the dandelion with his new powers.

Having triumphed over all the villains surprisingly quickly and easily, the three heroes' only task left is to change the Zombie Nerds back into the students and teachers. Harold mixes the Anti-Evil Zombie Nerd Juice with rootbeer, which transforms all the zombie nerds back to normal. At the end of the process, Captain Underpants is turned back into Mr. Krupp. However, as a result of the Super Power Juice, Mr. Krupp (when in his Captain Underpants form) permanently has super powers and the book ends with George and Harold hanging onto Captain Underpants's cape as he flies out the window.

Comic: Captain Underpants and the Night of the Living Lunch Ladies

This is a comic that George and Harold made to mock the original lunch ladies (They showed this to Mr. Krupp when demanding the duo to be punished). The comic in the book starts with the Lunch Ladies cleaning up the cafeteria on Friday afternoon and mix some of the trash into their cooking. The Janitor accidentally locks the school up for the weekend. Trapped inside, the Lunch Ladies are forced to eat their own food, which kills them. The Janitor appears after the weekend and finds the Lunch Ladies' bodies. He takes them up a hill to bury them, but he doesn't realize that the hill is haunted, and the lunch ladies come back as zombies. The Zombie Lunch Ladies attack the school, but Captain Underpants appears to stop them. After giving them wedgies is ineffective, Captain Underpants fights them and eventually leaps on the top of a building. The Zombie Lunch Ladies follow, but are wrapped up in "The Toilet Paper of Justice". The ladies escape by pouring Salisbury steak sauce on the toilet paper and push Captain Underpants off the building, but they fall as well. Captain Underpants uses the rest of the toilet paper to swing to safety. The Zombie Lunch Ladies, however, each fall into a trash bin and die as a result of their cooking inside. Captain Underpants sings his trademark, "Tra-La-Laaaaa!", as the comic ends.

See also

• Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets
• Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants

References

The beginning of the intro is a parody of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace which also came out the same year as the book.