Take food, cooking shows, aliens, a whole lot of endearing fun and slap them all together and you get Space Battle Lunchtime. We had the opportunity to talk to Natalie Riess back in July and she hinted at the events in this issue, but is it good?
Space Battle Lunchtime #5 (Oni Press)
So what’s it about? The Oni summary reads:
Peony was a breakout contestant on the hit cooking show, Space Battle Lunchtime. But right before the final episode, she disappeared! Now it’s up to Neptunia and Aris to find out where Peony’s gone—and whether fellow chef Melonhead had anything to do with it. Meanwhile, Peony finds herself on the set of a different—and deadlier—cooking show.
Why does this book matter?
This series feels fresh and new in large part due to the fun cooking montages Reiss–*ahem*–cooks up. It also has a fun look with layouts that are a breeze to read.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
That’s pretty funny.
Peony has been kidnapped and it’s a fun bit of storytelling to see how her friends learn about her situation and gather together to do something about it. Reiss continues to write a well-paced tale that’s filled with whimsy. That includes fun oddities, bits of humor, and more of the world revealed. The budding relationship between Neptunia and Peony is also developed as we see how Neptunia reacts to be shunned, and then figuring out her friend needs help.
The art is fun in a variety of ways too. Take for instance a scene where Peony is running down a hallway. Along the walls are ex-contestants of Cannibal Coliseum which range from wildly different aliens. Reiss also introduces a new alien contestant of Cannibal Coliseum who is all kinds of cute, but also furiously dangerous. There’s also a fantastic full page layout with Peony’s captor describing his relationship to Space Battle Lunchtime’s host and it’s science fictiony weird.
It can’t be perfect can it?
Unfortunately there’s no cooking, so there’s no fun montages! Given the plot that makes sense, but Reiss has spoiled us rotten with these which makes you miss it. There isn’t much action at all due to this, which makes this a table setting story more than anything.
Fun layouts.
Is It Good?
This issue is fun and filled with humor. Reiss continues to reveal this world and it only becomes more interesting with every issue.
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